Seedless, surfactantless wet chemical synthesis of silver nanowires

We report a method to make crystalline silver nanowires in water, in the absence of a surfactant or polymer to direct nanoparticle growth, and without externally added seed crystallites. The reaction is one in which silver salt is reduced to silver metal, at 100 degreesC, by sodium citrate, in the presence of NaOH. Hydroxide ion concentration is key to producing nanowires, which are up to 12 microns long, instead of nanospheres.