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Colloidal silver nanoparticles were prepared by -irradiating Ag þ in aqueous solution in the presence of 2% polyvinyl pyrrolidone (PVP) as stabilising agent and ethyl alcohol as free radical (OH . ) scavenger. The saturated conversion dose of Ag þ into Ag was determined by UV-Vis spectroscopy and the silver nanoparticles size was characterised by transmission electron microscopy. The influence of Ag þ concentration (1-50 mM) on the saturated conversion dose and average diameter of silver nanoparticles was investigated. Results showed that the saturated conversion dose was from 8 to 48 kGy and the silver particles size was in the range of 6-21 nm for Ag þ concentration from 1 to 50 mM. The effect of PVP molecular weight on silver particles size was studied as well.

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Purple shallot is an important vegetable crop in Vietnam and throughout the world. Its storage is difficult hence, it is dehydrated for value addition. Freeze drying is one of the options for dehydration of purple shallot. There are two main stages (freezing and drying) in the complete freeze-drying process after sample pretreatment. In this study, the sample was frozen at different temperatures and times (-20 to -60oC and 5 to 9 hrs, respectively). Controlling the selected temperature (from the second stage) and pressure 0.001 mbar, eight thin layer drying models were fitted to the experimental moisture content. The physical and chemical properties and antioxidant capacity of freeze-dried purple shallot were evaluated. The obtained results showed that the TPC values and DPPH% almost increased as the freezing time increased at the same freezing temperature. The best drying conditions were found at a freezing time of 7 hrs, freezing temperature of -60oC, a pressure of 0.001 mbar, and a lyophilization time of 12 hrs. Under these conditions, the moisture content, TPC and DPPH% of the final product were 1.56%, 16.95 mg GAE/g and 65.67%, respectively. Among the models proposed, Page's model gave a better fit for the freeze-drying condition used. In freeze-drying, effective moisture diffusivity was estimated to be 5.68×10-7 m 2 /s within the conditions studied.

Silver nanodecahedrons were successfully synthesized by a photochemical method under irradiation of blue light-emitting diodes (LEDs). The formation of silver nanodecahedrons at different LED irradiation times (0–72 h) was thoroughly investigated by employing different characterization methods such as ultraviolet–visible spectroscopy (UV–Vis), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and Raman spectroscopy. The results showed that silver nanodecahedrons (AgNDs) were formed from silver nanoseeds after 6 h of LED irradiation. The surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) effects of the synthesized AgNDs were also studied in comparison with those of spherical silver nanoparticles in the detection of 4-mercapto benzoic acid. Silver nanodecahedrons with a size of 48 nm formed after 48 h of LED irradiation displayed stronger SERS properties than spherical nanoparticles because of electromagnetic enhancement. The formation mechanism of silver nanodecahedrons is also reported in our study. The results showed that multihedral silver nanoseeds favored the formation of silver nanodecahedrons.