Enhanced Growth Control of Silver Nanowires Through Silver Nitrate Concentration for the Optical, Thermal, Crystal Structure, and Morphology Properties
Abstract
Silver nanowires were successfully synthesized using the polyol method with silver nitrate concentrations of 0.3 M and 0.5 M. The synthesized silver nanowires were characterized using UV-Vis, FTIR, DTA/TGA, XRD, TEM, SEM–EDX, and SAED to investigate their optical, chemical, thermal, structural, and morphological properties. UV-Vis spectra exhibited characteristic surface plasmon resonance absorption bands at 350-390 nm, with peak positions influenced by changes in nanowire dimensions and aspect ratio as a function of silver nitrate concentration. FTIR analysis confirmed the interaction of polyvinylpyrrolidone and ethylene glycol with the silver surface, indicating effective surface stabilization during synthesis. Thermal analysis showed that silver nanowires synthesized at 0.5 M possessed higher thermal stability, as evidenced by higher decomposition temperatures and greater residual mass. XRD patterns revealed the characteristic face-centered cubic crystal structure of silver with dominant diffraction planes of (111), (200), (220), (311), and (222). TEM and SAED analyses confirmed the formation of one-dimensional polycrystalline silver nanowires, while SEM observations showed that increasing silver nitrate concentration produced nanowires with smaller diameters (185.79 ± 3 nm) and longer lengths (16.98 ± 2 µm). EDX analysis further verified the high purity of silver in the synthesized samples. These results demonstrate that silver nitrate concentration plays a crucial role in controlling the optical, thermal, structural, and morphological characteristics of silver nanowires synthesized via the polyol method. The improved properties obtained at higher precursor concentration highlight the potential of these silver nanowires as conductive nanomaterials for transparent conductive films, flexible electronics, optoelectronic devices, and sensor applications.
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