Hi Rohan,

why do you want to dry them? Just keep them in liquid and measure your XRD with high energy Mo anode. Those high energy X-rays will easily penetrate several mm of water (or any other solvent). I think it is even better to measure them in liquid state, because then you are sure that you do not alter your nanoparticles (e.g. by drying at elevated temperatures, leading to crystal growth, Ostwald ripening, etc.) Good luck, Dirk

Silver nanoparticles will aggregate like nothing else. I am assuming your sample is a colloidal suspension in water, and not functionalized or coated with a surfactant?

The best suggestion for powder XRD would be to be to disperse your sample into IPA, let the solution settle (or centrifuge), draw off excess IPA/water and add more IPA.

After several such IPA "washings" you will have driven off most of the water.

If you use the Bragg-Brentano geometry you could then take your IPA colloidal solution and place a droplet of it on your sample plate or ZBH and heat the sample at ~100 C for a few hours under an N2 flow. You will be left with an evaporated spot that may give you a good volume. A possible drawback is that under evaporation you may induce pseudo-structure into the sample. You may have to experiment a bit.

Best of luck!

Rohan,

Agree with Dirk, above. Obviously attempt to keep solution volume to a minimum. You may be pleasantly surprised by the quality of data you obtain!

Thanks everyone and gratitude for your incredible suggestions. Actually our institute has no XRD analysis facility so I have enquired to the external analytical services. I was asked to supply silver nanoparticles in powder form by the external analytical services. As they could not analyse silver nanoparticles in liquid state and they have only XRD powder analysis facility. That's why I asked you the same question abovementioned.  Also I am new to study silver nanoparticles so I have no idea so much about instruments

During purification of your compound try to wash with alcohol and acetone, so that they will dry up easily and you can remove the compound easily.If it not possible so then use cellulose acetate membrane of very small pore size. I hope this will help .

Dear Siba Soren,

Thanks for suggestion

hi Rohan,

First centrifuge the colloidal solution of AgNs, take the pellet, wash it repeatedly with water, air dry it in watch glass, collect the dried material, make fine powder and analyze. Hope you will get good XRD.

Best luck. 

Hi Nilofar

Thanks for your suggestion.