Model Free Approach for Non-Isothermal Decomposition of Un-Irradiated and g-Irradiated Silver Acetate: New Route for Synthesis of Ag₂O Nanoparticles

Abstract: Kinetic studies for the non-isothermal decomposition of unirradiated and γ‑irradiated silver acetate with 10³ kGy total γ-ray doses were carried out in air. The results showed that the decomposition proceeds in one major step in the temperature range of (180–270 °C) with the formation of Ag₂O as solid residue. The non-isothermal data for un‑irradiated and γ-irradiated silver acetate were analyzed using Flynn-Wall-Ozawa (FWO) and nonlinear Vyazovkin (VYZ) iso-conversional methods. These free models on the investigated data showed a systematic dependence of Ea on a indicating a simple decomposition process. No significant changes in the thermal decomposition behavior of silver acetate were recorded as a result of γ-irradiation. Calcinations of γ-irradiated silver acetate (CH₃COOAg) at 200 °C for 2 hours only led to the formation of pure Ag₂O mono-dispersed nanoparticles. X-ray diffraction, FTIR and SEM techniques were employed for characterization of the synthesized nanoparticles.