Effect of additives on the morphologies of silver nanostructures prepared by galvanic displacement reaction

Abstract A simple galvanic displacement reaction for direct growth of Ag nanostructures on zinc substrate is developed. The effect of additives, including polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP), KI and cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB), on the morphologies of Ag nanostructure is investigated in detail. Controlling parameters including reaction time and reaction temperature are examined. X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscope (SEM) and UV–vis spectra are used to characterize the structure and morphology of the obtained products. Furthermore, these nanostructures constitute an active substrate material with significant surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) enhancement.