Formation mechanism of nanoporous silver during dealloying with ultrasonic irradiation

Nanoporous silver (NPS) with an extreme coarsened 3-dimensional bi-continuous ligament and nanopore structure could be prepared by chemical dealloying with high-intensity ultrasonic irradiation (UI). The formation mechanism of NPS dealloying with UI was different from NPS obtained through free corrosion. It evolved into NPS with a new lump forming-disintegrating mechanism. Ultrasonic irradiation had strong effects on the dealloying process of NPS. The stirring effect produced by ultrasonic vibration could promote the corrosion of Cu and facilitate the diffusion of Ag atoms. Therefore, the coarsening rate of the ligament was increased significantly. Dealloying assisted by UI could generate an extremely coarsened microstructure of which ligament and pore sizes were much larger than those obtained from free corrosion dealloying.