Growth of dendritic silver crystals in CTAB/SDBS mixed-surfactant solutions

Novel dendritic silver crystals, which consist of several branches with lengths up to 10 mu m, have been successfully synthesized by a simple wet chemical-route using L-ascorbic acid as reductant in cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) and sodium dodecyl benzyl sulfonate (SDBS) mixed surfactant solution at room temperature. Powder X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM), and UV-vis absorption spectroscopy have been used to characterize the obtained silver products. It is found that the architecture of silver crystals is drastically influenced by the molar ratio, concentration of CTAB/SDBS, and the concentration of the precursors. It is revealed that the mixed-surfactant solution might play both capping reagent and dispersion reagent roles.