Controlling the size of silver nanowires through one-pot polyol method with trace halide and its effect on kinetic process

Silver nanowires (Ag NWs) of different aspect ratios have emerged as promising materials toward manufacturing optoelectronic devices for various applications. We report herein a facile, polyol-based one-pot strategy that has allowed us to synthesize Ag NWs ranging in length from 4-7 to 20-34 mu m and diameter of 49 +/- 10 nm, by simply controlling the concentration of MnCl2 and KBr. The kinetics of Ag+ converted to Ag-0 have been thoroughly investigated, revealing that the introduction of MnCl2 and KBr plays a key role toward the growing of Ag NWs with a high aspect ratio. Cl- and Br- would significantly influence the reaction rate of Ag+ as well as the reaction activation energy, which controls the nucleation, seeding and growth process of Ag NWs. In addition, MnCl2 and KBr promote an efficient conversion of Ag+ and thus, productivity of Ag NWs up to 90% and 70%, respectively. Without further post-treatment, the conductive film made of this Ag NWs on glass had a sheet resistance of 24 Omega/sq and the specular transmittance of it were 92.4%, which proved it is highly potential for optoelectronic applications.