Radiolytic and Photolytic Reduction of Aqueous Silver Nitrate Solutions

Abstract

THE photoreduction of silver salts to silver metal has been known for many years. This unusual characteristic has made silver halides the basis of the photographic process. Ever since Becquerel discovered radioactivity in 1896 by exposing a photographic plate to uranium salts, silver halide salts have been used to detect ionizing radiations. These examples of silver metal formation take place in the solid phase. In this communication we report the formation of silver metal from aqueous silver nitrate solutions by the action of light and ionizing radiations. Representative electron micrographs, illustrating the characteristic features of the silver particles formed by several types of incident radiations, are presented in Figs. 1, 2 and 3.