Formation mechanism and characterization of Ag-metal chelate polymer prepared by a wet chemical process

Abstract

In this study, a metal chelate polymer (MCP) contained Ag(0) was prepared from commercial polyvinyl acetate (PVAc) and silver nitrate (AgNO3) by a wet chemical method using concentrate formic acid (HCOOH) as solvent. The characterization of these MCP materials, and the formation mechanism that involved in the MCP system, were studied by the analyses of Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), X-ray diffraction (XRD), nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM). The Ag(I) cations of silver nitrate (AgNO3) were found coordinated with polymer functional groups to form polymer-Ag(I) complexes. The XRD analysis revealed that these complexed Ag(I) ions were in-situ reduced to generate Ag(0) metal by HCOOH solvent in MCP system. The results of FTIR and NMR analyses demonstrated that there are hydrolyzed hydroxyl groups present in the MCP chains. The XPS analysis showed that the oxygen ligands that interacted with the Ag(0) were mostly contributed from the OH groups. The interaction between the reduced Ag(0) metal and the polymer chains was confirmed by transmission electron microscopy (TEM) investigation on the MCP materials. © 2005 The Japan Society of Applied Physics.