Synthesis of metallic nanoparticles through X-ray radiolysis using synchrotron radiation

The potential to fabricate metallic nanoparticles directly on silicon substrates from liquid solutions is ideal for three-dimensional lithography systems, drug delivery materials, and sensing applications. Here, we report the successful synthesis of Au, Cu, and Fe nanoparticles from the corresponding liquid solutions [gold(I) trisodium disulphite, copper(II) sulfate, and potassium ferricyanide] by synchrotron (SR) X-ray irradiation. The deposition of gold nanoparticles in the gold(I) trisodium disulphite solution was performed by monochromatic X-ray exposure from synchrotron radiation. The use of ethanol as an additive enabled the nucleation and growth of Cu particles, while no Cu particles were produced in the copper sulfate solution without ethanol with polychromatic SR X-ray irradiation. Fe particles were generated by direct polychromatic SR X-ray irradiation. These results demonstrate the behavior of three-dimensional printers, enabling us to build composite material structures with metallic and plastic materials.