Swarnendra Banerjee,
This is difficult to deduce from what you have provided. EDX or EDS has inherent variability due to the large interaction volume associated with X-ray generation in the SEM. Therefore, you can be effectively getting signal from the mount, or even from residual tap water from cleaning (which can contain Cl), which I have personally found to be the case more times than not.
The way to see if your nanoparticles are Ag or AgCl is by other techniques, for example XRD and compare with ICDD database.
Cheers!
What about other elements? What did you see? What is a substrate? What solvent was used (did it contain any salts?) Additional spectrum of solvent dried on a substrate with no particles could be useful.
Swarnendra Banerjee
You should illustrate what you have done to get a proper answer. However, if you want to be assure XRD, and XPS will get you a primitive answer. AgCl peaks will appear XRD, and Cl, and Ag bands will appear in XPS
Regards
Swarnendra Banerjee
How can you/do you conclude that you material is 'nano'? I assume that you mean nanoparticles by 'NP's'?
Silver chloride is normally AgCl. From where do you get AgCl2? I assume from your Botany moniker that you are making or trying to make Ag nanoparticles by 'green synthesis'?
What is the route of preparation? Why do you expect AgCl instead of Ag, Ag2O, or something else?
My first thought is contamination of your sample from one of the precursors:
AgNO3 + Cl- → AgCl↓ + NO3-
Working with AgNO3 in acidic (HCl) media will precipitate silver chloride. The Ag+ ions are usually complexed into the diammine species for pH control and production of Ag nanoparticles (which are Ag2O on the surface in air or water). See this webinar (registration required):
Silver colloids and invisible ink
https://www.malvernpanalytical.com/en/learn/events-and-training/webinars/W150902SilverColloidInvisibleInk.html
Alec Ladonis
AgCl is insoluble in water - one of the few chlorides to be so.
Alan F Rawle,
Yes, thank you for your correction; AgCl has very low solubility in water. What I should have clarified is that AgCl2- is an aqueous ion, not AgCl. I've made the appropriate corrections.
Alec
Alec Ladonis
From a private message Swarnendra Banerjee tells me that AgCl2 (or AgCl2-) was a typo... That's why I like all the discussion to be on the public forum. I'm not a fan of this RG private messaging where it appears someone may want their own 'personal consultant'. In the latter way all do not benefit from good answers.
[Note in the question line it's not possible to provide sub- or superscripts - AgCl2 will always show rather than AgCl2 (or AgCl2-) which are possible in the answers part of a question. So, I forgive him on this point - I always try to get the correct formulation. Have contacted RG on this particular point but without response].
As I know the EDX spectra show the elemental composition. To determine that whether your particles are at nanoscale please use other techniques XRD, AFM, TEM
Jamil Ahmed Buledi , how so? EDS was definitely coupled with SEM or TEM. No need for any other technique
short anwers: yes, it is possible.
long answer: look at your spectrum on a log scale to identify all peaks - you need reasonable count rates, precise calibration of the energy axis and good quant procedures to separate a possible overlap of Cl K-lines at 2.62keV from the L-lines of Rh (2.69keV) or Ag L (2.98keV) or from the M-lines of Bi (2.42keV) as well as to watch out for sum peaks should your sample or its support contain significant amounts of Mg (1.25keV) and/or Al (1.49keV)...
Interesante pregunta, espero las respuestas aportadas por los expertos cumpla sus expectativas como investigadora.
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