Direction-Controlled Growth of Five-Fold Ag and Ag/Au Nanocrystals: Implications for Transparent Conductive Films

Transparent conductive films based on silver nanorod/-wire networks exhibit high transparency and conductivity, which could exceed the performance of indium tin oxide. Controlling the diameter and length of the nanorod/-wire is essential to manipulate the outstanding properties and realize their applications in electronics. For size control, the approach is to manipulate the growth direction of nanodecahedrons (nanorods/-wires) between the one-dimensional (longitudinal) growth and the transverse growth. However, it is still a big challenge to efficiently control the transverse growth of five-fold nanocrystals and thereby tune the corresponding diameters of nanorods/-wires. Herein, we have demonstrated that the growth of a decahedron between the longitudinal direction and the transverse direction was deeply influenced by the growth kinetics. At a high growth rate, the growth of Ag on the decahedron or nanorod/-wire was mainly along the longitudinal direction and led to the formation of thin nanorods/wires. While at a relatively low growth rate, the transverse growth of nanorods/wires was significantly enhanced, and thick nanorods/-wires or even nanoshuttles were obtained after growth. This finding on the kinetic-dependent growth of five-fold silver nanocrystals provides a practical way for the synthesis of thin nanorods/-wires.

Automated summary

By manipulating the growth kinetics of silver nanocrystals, the growth direction and diameter of silver nanorods/wires can be efficiently controlled, leading to the synthesis of thin nanorods/wires with outstanding performance.