A thermal decomposition route for synthesis of silver ribbons

In the presence of dodecylamine, which can serve as the medium and at the same time as the stabilizing reagent, ribbons made of metallic silver were produced by thermal decomposition of silver phthalate. As the reaction mixture was heated up to 170°C, thermal reduction took place in parallel. Silver ribbon is produced if growth proceeds by regular addition of silver atoms to the edges of nuclei. However, seed-form particles will be produced if growth proceeds by irregular addition of silver atoms to the nuclei. Synthesized silver ribbons were characterized by energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and UV-Vis spectroscopy. Surface morphological survey of silver particles was conducted by using SEM image, confirming the formation of agglomerated silver particles as well as silver ribbons.