Abstract:β-Ag₂Se and β-AgCuSe nanoparticles were synthesized using AgCl precursor instead of conventional AgNO₃ by simple precipitation method. It was found that orthorhombic structures were obtained for both β-Ag₂Se and β-AgCuSe nanoparticles. The result shows Ag₂S as impurity while increasing the concentration of AgCl. Moreover, the microstructural images show polyhedral- and pebble-like particles. The band gap energy is increased for β-Ag₂Se owing to small crystallite size. The AgCl precursor can effectively produce pure nanoparticles. Hence, it is interesting in terms of identification of potential precursor for synthesizing β-Ag₂Se and β-AgCuSe nanoparticles.

Key words: β-Ag₂Se; β-AgCuSe; nanoparticle; AgCl precursor; precipitation method