Crystalline silver nanowires by soft solution processing

This paper describes a soft, solution-phase approach to the large-scale synthesis of uniform nanowires of bicrystalline silver whose lateral dimensions could be controlled in the range of 30-40 nm, and lengths up to similar to50 mum. The first step of this procedure involved the formation of platinum nanoparticles by reducing PtCl2 With ethylene glycol heated to similar to160 degreesC. Due to their close match in crystal structure and lattice constants, these platinum nanoparticles could serve as seeds for the heterogeneous nucleation and growth of silver that was produced in the solution via the reduction of AgNO3 with ethylene glycol. When surfactants such as poly(vinyl pyrrolldone) (PVP) were present in this solution, the silver could be directed to grow into uniform nanowires with aspect ratios as high as similar to1000. Measurements of transport property at room temperature indicated that these nanowires were electrically continuous with a conductivity of approximately 0.8 X 10(5) S/CM.