Evaluation of the Theoretical, Structural and Morphological Properties of Selenium and Silver Nanomaterials for Photoluminescent and Biological Application

Abstract

Theoretical and experimental study of inorganic crystals is an interdisciplinary subject that is attracting intense research and development due to both fundamental and applied scientific value. Selenium-Silver based matrix exhibit interesting structural, optical and photoluminescent properties, which accounts for a great potential material in the field of physics, chemistry and biology. Moreover, the chemistry of Selenium and Silver is very prominent in biological systems due to in part from their interaction with molecules like proteins. This research project aims to investigate the theoretical, structural, photoluminescent and biological properties of pure and electron/femtosecond laser irradiated Silver Selenite and Selenate. This irradiation promotes the metallic growth of Silver/Selenium nanoparticles which in turn enhance the biological capacity of the nanocrystals among others modifications in the host lattice. The nanocrystals will be prepared by the Coprecipitation and Hydrothermal assisted microwave methods, which are fast, simple, and efficient experimental procedures to prepare inorganic materials. Also, these procedures yield different morphologies for applications in many scientific areas. The samples will be characterized by many structural, optical, morphological and biological techniques such as XRD, PL, TEM, XPS, among others. First-principles theoretical calculations within the framework of the density functional theory will be employed to provide information at the atomic level. In this sense, experimental results will be correlated to theoretical studies and will enable a deep understanding between structure and property. Biological tests will be performed to verify the ability of these materials for application in the health area. Inspired by the above considerations, these materials may present superior characteristics for new compounds with biological and photoluminescent applications.