Size-controlled synthesis of silver micro/nanowires as enabled by HCL oxidative etching

Abstract

The polyol method has been widely employed for the synthesis of uniform silver nanowires (Ag NWs) in high yields. In this article, we describe the utilization of HCl oxidative etching as an effective strategy to control the width of Ag NWs produced by the polyol approach. More specifically, the width of the produced Ag NWs could be tuned from 65 to 765 nm by varying the HCl concentration in the polyol recipe. Our results indicate that the obtained widths displayed a linear and steady increase according to the HCl concentration employed in the reaction. Although the width was also dependent on other experimental parameters such as the AgNO(3) and polyvinylpirrolidone (PVP) concentrations and temperature, the HCl oxidative etching enabled the controlled synthesis of Ag NWs over the widest range of widths. The size-dependent optical property investigations revealed that the transverse mode surface plasmon resonance peak for the produced Ag NWs red-shifted from 378 to 467 nm as their width increased from 77 to 584 nm. The application of Ag NWs (77 nm) as SERS substrates for the detection of 4-mercaptopyridine was also demonstrated. As the properties of metal nanostructures are strongly dependent upon size, the results reported herein can have important implications for designing the synthesis of uniform Ag NWs in high yields displaying controlled and/or desired dimensions for applications in areas including plasmonics, electronics, and sensing.

Ultra-Uniform and Very Thin Ag Nanowires Synthesized via the Synergy of Cl−, Br− and Fe3+ for Transparent Conductive Films

“…However, when the Cl − ion concentration increases to 900 µM (Figure 2(a4)), the large amount of AgCl colloids dramatically reduces the concentration of free Ag + ions, limiting the growth of AgNWs. In addition, excessively high concentrations of Cl − ions strengthen the etching of Cl − /O 2 , resulting in the dissolution of multiple twin seeds and the significant increase in silver particles [50][51][52][53][54]. Although AgNWs with a small diameter can be obtained at a Cl − ion concentration of 600 µM, the diameter of AgNWs is still relatively large.…”

Homopolar dihydrogen bonding in main group hydrides: discovery, consequences, and applications

“…7b). 32,45 The α′-phase of AlH 3 adopts the orthorhombic space group Cmcm (# 63) and consists of corner-sharing AlH 6 octahedra. For example, the hydride-hydride interaction in the structure of β-MgH 2 is only 0.1 Å shorter, but accumulates nearly three times the amount of density as its counterpart in α-AlH 3 (0.08 e Å −3 ).…”

Nanocatalysis by noble metal nanoparticles: controlled synthesis for the optimization and understanding of activities

“…In particular, the authors discussed how, guided by the intuitive explanation based on surface-to-volume ratios, the progressive decrease in the size is a powerful tool to maximize surface area and thus enhance the catalytic performances. [23][24][25]34,35 In addition, it was discussed how nanoparticle size and shape strongly inuences the chemisorption of substrates, intermediates, and products, therefore inuencing catalytic properties. 14 For example, quantum size-effects and the presence of under-coordinated surface can play an important role over catalytic properties as the NPs size is decreased.…”