SYNTHESIS OF HIGH ASPECT RATIO SILVER NANOWIRES: PARAMETRIC STUDY OF THE POLYOL PROCESS

Silver nanowires (AgNWs) are considered as one-dimensional nanostructures, which have received much attention due to their nanoscale size, high aspect ratio, high electrical and thermal conductivity, optical transparency and high mechanical stability. Preparation of AgNWs by polyol process is remarkably sensitive to the interactions between synthesis parameters. In this study, the effect of the simultaneous change of four synthetic parameters, namely the reaction temperature, the molecular weight of polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) stabilizer, the amount of sodium chloride, as well as, the solution mixing rate by the polyol process was reported. ­The results of field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) confirmed that the synthesized AgNWs were below 100 nm. X-ray energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS), ­X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis, as well as, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) confirmed that the formed AgNWs were free of impurities. It was also found that temperature, molecular weight of PVP, salt concentration and solution mixing rate caused a significant change in the morphology of AgNWs. More importantly, a strong interaction was created in the preparation process of AgNWs by adjusting the parameters.