Review: Recent research progress on preparation of silver nanowires by soft solution method and their applications

Owing to the unique and tunable optical, plasmonic and electrical properties of silver nanowires, they are widely used as the templates for the preparation of Au or Pt nanotubes, as substrates for surface‐enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) and detectors for some chemicals. Soft solution method is a facile and effective method for the preparation of silver nanowires with well‐controlled morphology and uniform size. By this approach, silver nanowires can be readily prepared with mild reaction condition, general materials available and facile procedure. This review concentrates on the preparation of silver nanowires via various soft solution methods and their applications in the formation of metallic nanotubes, SERS and detection for some chemicals. (© 2011 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Simple extraction‐solvothermal synthesis of single‐crystalline silver microplates

Single‐crystalline silver microplates, with average edge length of about 1.5 μm and thickness of 100 nm, have been synthesized by a simple extraction‐solvothermal method. Samples were characterized in detail by X‐ray diffraction (XRD), field‐emission scanning electron microscopy (FE‐SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and High‐resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) technologies. Extractant primary amine N1923 can also act as reducing agent. It has been found that microstructure of the silver can be controlled by the n‐octanol during the solvothermal treatment. Based on a series of experimental analysis, the possible formation mechanism of these microplates was discussed briefly. (© 2009 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Synthesis of high aspect ratio ZnO nanowires with an inexpensive handcrafted electrochemical setup

In this work, high aspect ratio zinc oxide nanowires are synthesized using templated one-step electrodeposition technique. Electrodeposition of the nanowires is done using a handcrafted electronic system. Nuclear track-etched polycarbonate membrane is used as a template to form the high aspect ratio nanowires. The result of X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy shows that nanowires with a good crystallinity and an aspect ratio of more than 30 can be achieved in a suitable condition. The height of electrodeposited nanowires reaches to about 11 μm. Based on the obtained results, high aspect ratio ZnO nanowires can be formed using inexpensive electrodeposition setup with an acceptable quality.     

Morphology of silver bromide crystals produced at presence of N,N ‐dimethylformamide

The study deals with examination of conditions that are necessary to obtain flat crystals of silver bromide that grow in a water and gelatine crystallization environment where N,N ‐dimethylformamide is used as the agent that is conducive to complexing of sparingly soluble silver bromide. The examination focused on the issue how changes in volumetric concentration of N,N ‐dimethylformamide as well as concentration of excessive ions of silver bromide in the dispersive solution affect morphology and size of newly created of silver bromide. The completed experiments enabled to determine boundary limits of both N,N ‐dimethylformamide and bromide ions concentration where suspensions of silver bromide crystals exhibit predominant content of triangular, transient and hexagonal flat forms with very high aspect ratio. (© 2010 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Synthesis of nanoflakes‐based self‐assembling crossed structure of stannous oxide and photocatalysis property

Self‐assembling nanoflakes‐based crossed architectures of stannous oxide (SnO) were successfully synthesized via template‐free hydrothermal growth method by using SnCl₂·2H₂O and KOH as precursors. Crystal structures, morphology, chemical composition and optical properties were examined by X‐ray diffraction (XRD), field‐emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), energy dispersive X‐ray analysis, and Raman spectroscopy, respectively. The results indicate that the as‐synthesized product belongs to tetragonal phase SnO with crossed morphology self‐assembled by nanoflakes. Furthermore, UV‐vis spectrophotometry was used to determine optical band gap of the SnO nanostructures and the direct band gap of 2.90 eV was obtained. The photocatalysis of the product has been evaluated with methyl orange and the high degradation ratio of 87% is obtained in 240 minutes under the measuring condition which is attributed to the wide band gap and large specific surface area of the nanoflakes‐based crossed SnO architectures. A possible growth mechanism is proposed in the end.     

Large‐scale synthesis of SiC nanowires from polysiloxane and wood powder composites

Large‐scale SiC nanowires were prepared by directly annealing polysiloxane and wood powder composites without catalyst assistant at 1420 °C under argon atmosphere. SiC nanowires are up to tens of micrometers in length and the diameters are in the range of 30–150 nm. Most nanowires are smooth and straight in morphology. High‐resolution TEM image shows that SiC nanowires grow along the [111] direction. The vapor–solid mechanism was proposed to explain the growth procedure of SiC nanowires. The present work provides an efficient and simple strategy for large‐scale production of SiC nanowires.     

Synthesis of colloidal NiO nanocrystals by a hot‐injection approach with a protecting ligand

We synthesize small and uniform NiO nanocrystals, which can be potential for hole‐transporting of organic solar cells and transparent conducting material, based on a protecting ligand of lithium stearate by a hot‐injection method. And the reaction mechanism is alcoholysis of metal carboxylate salts with the protection ligand of lithium stearate binding to the surfaces of NiO nanocrystals to prevent them reduction into Ni. We find that the hot‐injection method is an effective way to prepare narrow size distribution and small size of NiO nanocrystals. The relatively superior optical transparency and flat surface features of the NiO nanocrystal thin films are also obtained.     

Rapid synthesis and catalytic performance of α‐Mn2O3 single‐crystal nanowires

Single‐crystal α‐Mn₂O₃ nanowires were prepared via a “self‐sacrificing template” route, simply by calcining the prepared α‐MnO₂ nanowire precursors at 550 °C for 1.5 h. XRD, TEM, SEM and HRTEM characterizations show that the as‐prepared α‐Mn₂O₃ samples are all phase pure and the nanowires have uniform diameters of approximately 15‐30 nm and lengths up to several micrometers. The catalytic performances of the prepared α‐Mn₂O₃ nanowires were studied in the degradation of coking wastewater with H₂O₂ as the oxidant, and the technological conditions were optimized by single‐factor and orthogonal experiments. (© 2011 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Controllable synthesis,characterization and optical properties of Ag@AgCl coaxial core‐shell nanocables

Core‐shell structures often exhibit improved physical and chemical properties. Developing a relatively general, facile, and low temperature synthetic approach for core‐shell structures with complex compositions is still a particularly challenging work. Here we report a general chemical conversion route to prepare high quality Ag@AgCl coaxial core‐shell nanocables via the redox reaction between Ag nanowires and FeCl₃ in solution. The powder X‐ray diffraction of the Ag@AgCl coaxial core‐shell nanocables shows additional diffraction peaks corresponding to AgCl crystals apart from the signals from the Ag nanowire cores. Scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy images of the Ag@AgCl coaxial core‐shell nanocables reveal that the Ag nanowires are coated with AgCl nanoparticles. The effect of the molar ratio of Fe:Ag on the morphology and optical absorption of the Ag@AgCl coaxial core‐shell nanocables is systematically investigated. The result shows that the optical absorption of Ag nanowires decreases gradually and that of AgCl nanoparticles improves gradually with the increase of the molar ratio of Fe:Ag. The formation process of the Ag@AgCl coaxial core‐shell nanocables has been discussed in detail. The present chemical conversion approach is expected to be employed in a broad range of applications to fabricate innovative core‐shell structures with different compositions and shapes for unique properties. (© 2010 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Microstructure and cathodoluminescence study of GaN nanowires without/with P‐doping

In this work, P‐doped GaN nanowires were synthesized in a co‐deposition CVD process and the effects of P‐doping on the microstructure and cathodoluminescence (CL) of GaN nanowires were studied in details. SEM observation and CL measurments demonstrated that P‐doping has led to a rough morphology evolution and a depression of the band‐gap emission of GaN nanowires, whereas the visible emission of GaN nanowires was obviously enhanced. Finally, the corresponding morphology transition and optical properties of GaN nanowires with P‐doping were discussed. (© 2012 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Mechanical improvement of P(VDF-TrFE) /nickel nanowires conductive nanocomposites: Influence of particles aspect ratio

Nickel nanowires with high aspect ratio (250) were elaborated and incorporated into poly(vinylidene difluoride-trifluoroethylene) up to 30 vol% via solvent mixing way. These nanocomposites are characterized by a conductive behavior with a high electrical conductivity value (10² S m^?1) above a very low percolation threshold (0.75 vol% of metallic nanowires). The introduction of nanowires strongly depressed the matrix crystallinity. Static and dynamic mechanical analysis have been realized at low nanowire volume fraction (< 10 vol%). Below 5 vol% of nanowires, nanocomposites remain ductile. The dynamic mechanical properties are related to the volume fraction of nanowires. A strong increase of the viscoelastic contribution related to the increase of the percentage of amorphous phase is observed. The major effect is the increase of the rubbery modulus. The highest increase of 300% is obtained for only 5 vol% of nanowires; it represents an original mechanical result for low filled composites. The dependence versus nanowire content has been described by adapting the Halpin–Tsai model to high aspect ratio filler. Metallic nanowires create additional entanglements that are randomly distributed in the rubbery polymeric matrix. With their low percolation threshold, metallic nanowires based nanocomposites constitute a new class of multifunctional materials with a high conductivity associated with a ductile polymer matrix characterized by a high rubbery modulus.     

Catalyst‐free thermally‐evaporated growth and optical properties of ZnO nanowires on Si,GaN and sapphire substrates

Vertically well‐aligned zinc oxide nanowires (NWs) with high density were successfully synthesized on Si, sapphire and GaN/sapphire substrates by thermal evaporation of zinc powders without catalysts or additives. The growth behavior of ZnO NWs was strongly dependent on the substrate materials. The effects of the substrate position on the structures and properties of ZnO NWs were primarily discussed. The morphology and crystallinity of the resultant NWs were studied by scanning electron microscope, transmission electronic microscope and X‐ray diffraction. The photoluminescence (PL) characteristics of the ZnO NWs on the different substrates were studied. The results showed that the as‐grown ZnO NWs exhibit a sharp and strong ultraviolet emission at 3.27 eV and a very weak green emission at around 2.48 eV, indicating that the a‐synthesized NWs have excellent PL properties with good crystalline quality and can be an ideal candidate for making luminescent devices. By comparison of PL spectra, we revealed that the green‐to‐UV emission intensity ratios were considerably dependent on the substrate materials, which was explained by the difference in the structural morphology of the produced nanowires.     

A simple route to large-scale synthesis of silver sulfide nanowires

In this paper, long silver sulfide nanowires have been successfully synthesized by microwave irradiation-assisted method. The results indicated that nanowires with diameters of about 100 nm and lengths of up to several dozens of micrometers can be obtained through this method. The selected area electron diffraction pattern indicated that the Ag₂S nanowires thus formed were amorphous. The mechanism for the microwave irradiation synthesis of Ag₂S nanowires was proposed.     

Oriented action of some solid substrates to liquid crystal layer

The orienting action of three types of layers on liquid crystal is investigated. Homogeneous orientation of the liquid crystal layer is obtained under the action of a transparent conductive SnO₂ film and carbon film. Such an orientation is achieved with gelatin films as well. Homeotropic orientation of the liquid crystal can be also obtained by exposing the latter to ion bombardment with Ar ions.     

Nano‐sized silver crystals and their dispersion over α‐alumina for ethylene epoxidation

Ethylene oxide catalyst is a high metal loading catalyst, in which silver crystals is impregnated on α‐Al₂O₃ support. In this type of catalyst, metal dispersion plays an important role on catalyst selectivity for desired products. In this work, silver nitrate and silver oxide together with oxalic and lactic acid as the raw materials were used with different impregnation techniques to make catalysts with high silver content and dispersion. It is also known that the use of promoters affect the metal dispersion on the catalyst support and for that cesium was used as the promoter to improve the silver crystal dispersion. Physical and chemical characteristics of the prepared catalysts, i.e., surface area, pore volume, silver content, nano‐sized silver crystals and their dispersion were measured using BET method, Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy, X‐ray diffraction and TEM. (© 2009 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Structural and optical properties of CdO nanowires synthesized from Cd(OH)2 precursors by calcination

CdO nanowires were produced by calcination process using Cd(OH)₂nanowires as precursors. The Cd(OH)₂ nanowires were synthesized via arc discharge method submerged in de‐ionized water. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) analysis of the as‐synthesized Cd(OH)₂ nanowires revealed that nanowire morphology was abundant form with the diameters range from 5 to 40 nm. In addition to the nanowire morphology, Cd(OH)₂ nanospheres and hexagonal shaped nanoparticles were also displayed. The Cd(OH)₂ nanostructures were used as precursors to produce CdO nanowires and calcinated in air at 400 °C for four hours. After calcination, the structural, morphological and optical properties of the as‐synthesized CdO nanowires were characterized by means of TEM, selected area electron diffraction (SAED), X‐ray diffraction (XRD) and UV‐vis spectroscopy. The XRD and SAED techniques showed that the as‐synthesized Cd(OH)₂ nanostructures could be transformed into CdO nanostructures after the calcination process. TEM results revealed that the as‐synthesized CdO nanowires were 5–30 nm in diameter and shorter than corresponding Cd(OH)₂ nanowires. In addition, the diameters of the spherical or irregular CdO nanoparticles ranged from 20 nm to 50 nm. UV‐vis spectroscopy analysis was showed that the direct gap of the CdO nanowires were found to be 2.60 eV which is slightly higher than the earlier reported values of the bulk CdO for direct band gaps (2.3 eV) due to quantum size effect. (© 2011 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

3D型冷阴极结构形态对场发射影响研究

通过在圆铜片上用导电银胶固定圆柱体和长方体形成3D型冷阴极,采用有限元分析软件ANSYS仿真分析了圆柱体和长方体上表面的电场分布,圆柱体直径为12.7 mm,长方体阴极上表面为正方形,边长为12.7 mm.两种阴极高度相同,采用化学气相沉积法(CVD),以酞菁铁(FePc)为催化剂,在圆柱体和长方体上表面合成了碳纳米管薄膜(CNTs),合成的碳纳米管形貌由场发射扫描电镜(FESEM)进行表征,采用二极管结构,以涂有荧光粉的ITO导电玻璃作为阳极,在真空室中真空度为2×10-4 Pa测设了两种3D型冷阴极的场发射特性,结果表明,随着两种阴极场强最大值比值增大,长方体阴极的场发射性能优于圆柱体阴极.     

Three‐step process improves crystal quality of Cu2ZnSnS4 absorber layer and efficiency of solar cell

Cu₂ZnSnS₄ (CZTS) films are fabricated using the three‐step process, including deposition, preheating and sulfurization of Cu–Zn–Sn (CZT) precursors. The effect of preheating temperature on structures, morphologies, and optical properties of CZTS films is investigated detailedly by X‐ray diffraction, Raman spectra, scanning electron microscopy, and UV spectrophotometer. It is found that the proper preheating temperature can improve the crystal quality of CZTS films. The prepared CZTS film by sulfurizing the preheated precursor at 300 °C presents high crystallinity, uniform surface morphology, and suitable optical properties. Compared with two‐step process, three‐step method can not only improve crystal quality of CZTS films but also decline sulfurization temperature. We also discuss the mechanism of improving the properties of CZTS absorber layer by the preheating route in detail. In addition, the experimental results also indicate that solar cell prepared by three‐step method displays higher conversion efficiency.     

Inorganic and organic templates‐assisted solvothermal synthesis of trigonal selenium microrods

A facile and environment‐friendly solvothermal method has been developed for the controlled growth of nano‐ and micro‐structured trigonal selenium (t‐Se) by using green templates. And, the morphology of trigonal selenium can be tuned by using different kinds of templates. The as‐obtained products were characterized by X‐ray powder diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscope (SEM). Furthermore, the formation mechanism of trigonal selenium nano‐ and microcrystals was rationally suggested. This method will open a new avenue to synthesize other functional inorganic nano‐ and microcrystals. (© 2009 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Silicon nanowire growth on poly‐silicon‐on‐quartz substrates formed by aluminum‐induced crystallization

The vertical growth of Si nanowires on non‐monocrystalline substrates is of significant interest for photovoltaics and other energy harvesting applications. In this paper, we present results on using poly‐Si layers formed by aluminum‐induced crystallization (AIC) on fused quartz wafers as an alternative substrate for the vapor‐liquid‐solid (VLS) growth of vertical Si nanowires. Oxidation of the Al surface to Al₂O₃ before the a‐Si deposition was shown to be a key requirement in the formation of the poly‐Si template since it promotes the crystallization of the a‐Si into Si(111) which is required for vertical silicon nanowire growth. The effect of Al deposition technique (DC sputtering versus thermal evaporation) on a‐Si crystallization and Si nanowire growth was investigated. The use of Al thermal evaporation yielded AIC poly‐Si layers with the highest fraction of 〈111〉 grains as measured by orientation imaging microscopy (OIM) which enabled the growth of vertical Si nanowires. Cross‐sectional transmission electron microscopy analysis confirmed that the 〈111〉 Si nanowires grew epitaxially off of {111}poly‐Si grains in the AIC layer. This study demonstrates the potential of using AIC poly‐Si as a template layer for the vertical growth of silicon nanowires on amorphous substrates.