Synthesis of Silver Nanoparticle and Its Morphological Control

Silver nanoparticles with different morphologies were prepared in AgNO3 aqueous solution using nanocarbon as template medium and polymer surfactant as protecting agent in an ultrasonic field. The polymer surfactant polyvinylpyrrolidone ( PVP) was self-prepared and used directly in aqueous solution form. The molecular weight of PVP was measured by viscosimeter. The crystalline phase,component, size, and morphology of the as-synthesized silver naoparticles were characterized by XRD, TEM,FTIR, and Laser Granularity Instrument. The results indicated that ultrasonic was the key factor to deoxidize Ag+to be Ag°nanocarbon and polymer surfactants accelerated the deoxidization reaction course and controlled the agglomeration of freshly formed silver nanoparticles, the category of polymer surfactant had decisive effect on the morphology of as-synthesized nanoparticle. Well-defined dendrites silver nanoparticle could be attained when choosing PVP as surfactant in AgNO3 aqueous solution,while regular sphere silver nanoparticle could be synthesized in the presence of polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) surfactant.Moreover, the concentration of AgNO3 and ultrasonic action time also had obvious effect on the morphology of silver nanoparticle, low concentration of AgNO3 and long time of ultrasonic were not in favor of forming dendrite silver.