High Surface Clay-Supported Silver Nanohybrids

Conventionally, silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) have been prepared by using either physical methods such as electron beamand photo-reductions or chemical methods with various reducing agents and organic stabilizers. Many researches have been conducted previously in the following areas: tailoring of particle size, polydispersity, geometric shape, and nucleation. Low-molecular-weight surfactants or functional polymers such as poly(vinylpyrrolidone) have also been commonly employed for stabilizing the generated AgNPs. The presence of organic stabilizers may provide soft templates for controlling the growth of the AgNPs with different shapes such as spherical, triangular, and fibrous. In this review, various syntheses involving the applications of inorganic supports such as alumina and aluminosilicate clays in place of organic stabilizers are discussed; in this manner, the synthesis of AgNPs supported on inorganic substrates is reviewed. The function of inorganic supports is primarily to stabilize the homogeneity of colloidal Ag0. In the absence of contamination by organic components during the synthesis, the prepared AgNPs were found to exhibit unique properties such as catalytic performance, high stability for longterm storage, low-temperature Ag melting, and high efficacy for antimicrobial properties. This new class of AgNP nanohybrids on inorganic supports is expected to have considerable impact on biomedical fields and on several applications such as optoelectronic devices.