Polyol synthesis of single crystal silver nanoparticles and nanowires by adjustment of chlorine concentration for assembly purpose

• Main Author: Maria Regina Hartono.
• Other Authors: Wong Chee Cheong
• Format: Final Year Project
• Language: English
• Published: 2010
• Subjects: DRNTU::Engineering::Materials::Nanostructured materials
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10356/39839
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

Ag nanoparticles and nanowires have been prepared by polyol reduction with AgNO3 and poly-vinylpyrrolidone (PVP) as precursor solutions. Though frequently used as salt addition in the polyol synthesis process, the effect of Cl- ion in distinct concentration range has not been studied before. In this work, trace amount of CuCl2 with different concentrations were added to study their effect on the particle’s profile. UV-visible spectra and FESEM observation were used to examine the morphology evolution of the silver structure during different time interval of synthesis. It is found that the concentration of Cl- is the critical factors determining the growth and absence of O2 is not critical for nanowire or nanoparticle formation. We suspect that the formation of AgCl/Ag and assistance of PVP will give rise to anisotropic growth of nanowire with reaction time affecting the dimension of Ag nanostructures. This one step synthesis process could be used as alternative to synthesize single crystal Ag nanoparticle or Ag nanowires for assembly purpose by varying concentration of Cl- without the need of inert environment.