Facile Synthesis of Urchin-Like and Bouquet-Like Silver Nanoparticles Using Gas Assisted Wet Chemistry Method

A facile synthesis approach of urchin-like and bouquet-like silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) using gas assisted wet chemistry method with silver nitride as source materials, ascorbic acid as reducing agent, polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) as passivator and NO(2)/O(2) as ventilation mixture is proposed It was demonstrated that the urchin-like and bouquet-like AgNPs evolved from spherical nanoparti cles and/or clusters of Ag as a result of strong adsorption and passivation of newly-formed Ag {100} facets by PVP, which effectively boost preferential growth. The NO(2)/O(2) as the ventilation mixture provides an equilibrium of aggregation and detachment of Ag atoms on the surface, thus confining the shapes of AgNPs generated. This study provides an alternative approach for synthesis AgNPs in specific shapes and facilitates their applications.