Silver effect on the structure of SiO2-CaO-P2O5 ternary system

In this study are reported results obtained from the structural, morphological and textural investigations of 56SiO2∙(40-x)CaO·4P2O5·xAg2O system, where 0 ≤ x ≤ 10 mol%. The samples obtained by sol–gel method were annealed and then characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), differential thermal analysis (DTA), thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA), vibrational spectroscopy (Raman, FTIR), N2-adsorption measurements, and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). XRD patterns of the investigated samples exhibit tricalcium phosphate (TCP) nanostructured phase and show the existence of metallic silver as dispersed phase. The presence of apatite-like phase is underlined by the recorded Raman and especially FT-IR spectra. TEM pictures indicate the presence of silver nanoparticles of almost spherical shapes and various sizes inside the matrix, depending on the Ag2O content. Regarding the textural properties, it was observed both a decrease of the specific surface area as well as a progressive change of the mesoporous characteristics with the silver addition, the latter behavior recommending the potential use of these samples for applications, where the morphology control is required.