Influence of surfactant on the preparation of silver nanoparticles by polyol method

Abstract

In this study, silver nanoparticles were synthesized from silver nitrate via a polyol method in ambient atmosphere. In our synthesis route, polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) is used as both size controller and capping agent, ethylene glycol acts both as solvent and reducing agent. The obtained silver nanoparticles were characterized by ultraviolet-visible spectrophotometry which indicated the formation of nanoparticles. Investigation of Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy clearly demonstrated the coordination between silver nanoparticles and PVP. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) contributed to the particle size analysis. The surface plasmon resonance peak in absorption spectra of silver colloidal solution showed absorption from 406 to 409 nm. The average size of the resulting silver nanoparticles was below 10 nm with a dependency on the PVP concentration. © 2012 Vietnam Academy of Science & Technology.