The effect of pH of the medium on the reaction of formation of silver hydrosols

The kinetics of formation of silver hydrosol and variations in the characteristics of silver particles with pH are studied in the temperature range from 288 to 353 K. The characteristics of silver particles were determined from the absorption spectra in the range 350-550 nm with the use of the Mie theory and the theory of plasma-resonance oscillations. The rate of formation of sols was determined from changes in their optical density. An increase in the rate of formation of silver particles with increasing pH of the medium and the observed time dependences of the electronic parameters of particles are explained by a displacement of the electron density of adsorbed OH groups to the particle bulk and by an increase in the number of active sites of growth at the particle surface as the result of formation of hydroxyl shells.