A study of structure and properties of hollow silver halide microcrystal emulsion

The preparation methods of hollow silver halide microcrystals have recently been reported in the literature, however the study of their properties and application has not yet appeared. In this article the preparation of hollow cubic Ag[Cl,Br], Ag[I,Cl,Br] and tabular Ag[I,Br] microcrystal emulsions is reported. The relation between structure and property of the hollow cubic and tabular silver halide microcrystal emulsions compared with the solid cubic and tabular silver halide microcrystal emulsions comprising almost the same halide composition was studied by means of EDX, SEM, TEM, development with a diluted developer, chemical and spectral sensitization. The results show that the latent image centers are always formed preferentially around the holes of the hollow cubic and tabular silver halide microcrystals. The hollow microcrystal emulsion has a higher efficiency of latent image formation, higher surface reaction activity, and therefore higher chemical and spectral sensitivities. The advantages of hollow silver halide microcrystals can be ascribed to their unique hole structure.