Electrochemical Synthesis of Silver Nanoparticles under Protection of Poly(N-vinylpyrrolidone)

Abstract

A novel electrochemical method for size-controlled synthesis of spherical silver nanoparticles in aqueous phase was developed for the first time. In this method the poly(N-vinylpyrrolidone) (PVP) was used as the stabilizer for the silver clusters. PVP was found to greatly promote silver particle formation rate and significantly reduce silver deposition rate, thereby making monodispersed silver nanoparticles to be synthesized very convenient by means of electroreduction of the bulk silver ions. It is possible to control the particle size by adjusting electrolysis parameters and to improve homogeneity of silver particles by changing the composition of electrolytic solutions. The results also showed the fact that the rate of transfer of PVP-stabilized silver clusters from the cathodic vicinity to the bulk solution played an important role in preparation of the monodispersed nanoparticles. In addition, the silver nanoparticles synthesized electrochemically may be directly employed to prepare the silver-doping tin electrodeposited coating.

Preparation of colloidal silver nanoparticles in poly(N-vinylpyrrolidone) by γ-irradiation

“…According to our results, such an explanation was inadequate due to the fact that PVP with higher molecular weight can effectively prevent agglomeration of clusters or primary nanoparticles to form larger size. Yin et al [14] studied electrochemical synthesis of silver nanoparticles under protection of PVP with different molecular weight, particularly PVP K17, PVP K30 and PVP K90. They also reported that silver nanoparticles stabilised by PVP with higher molecular weight (PVP K30, PVP K90) exhibited a well-defined absorbance peak, whereas those obtained by stabilisation with lower molecular weight (PVP K17) did not show any peak under identical condition [14].…”

“…Yin et al [14] studied electrochemical synthesis of silver nanoparticles under protection of PVP with different molecular weight, particularly PVP K17, PVP K30 and PVP K90. They also reported that silver nanoparticles stabilised by PVP with higher molecular weight (PVP K30, PVP K90) exhibited a well-defined absorbance peak, whereas those obtained by stabilisation with lower molecular weight (PVP K17) did not show any peak under identical condition [14]. This meant that silver colloids obtained under protection of PVP K17 were of large silver particles.…”

“…chemical [10][11][12][13], electrochemical [14] and photochemical reduction [15], ultrasound [16], microwave [17] gamma and electron irradiation [18][19][20][21][22][23][24]) for the synthesis of silver nanoparticles with different stabilisers have been developed.…”

“…A method using ionising radiation (gamma and electron) provides several advantages compared to other methods [13][14][15][16][17], such as: (1) the process is carried out at room temperature; (2) reducing agents fairly uniformly occur in the irradiated solution; (3) the reaction rate can be reliably controlled by varying irradiation time; (4) colloidal silver nanoparticles can be purely prepared without contamination of excessive reductant and silver ion residue; (5) the size of the particles is easily controlled by varying silver ion concentration; (6) mass production can be carried out at a comparatively reasonable cost.…”

Preparation of nano-Cu2O/TiO2 photocatalyst from waste printed circuit boards by electrokinetic process

“…where C o is the initial concentration of MB and C t the MB concentration after illumination time t. There have been several reports about the synthesis of metal nanoparticles by direct electroreduction of bulk metal ions in aqueous electrolytes [21][22][23]. The main difficulty is that electroreduction of metal ions involves a competition of two completely opposite cathode surface processes: the formation of metal nanoparticles and the metal electrodeposition on cathode [24].…”