Crystallography and interfacial kinetic controlled ultra-uniform single crystal silver nanobelts and their optical properties

Abstract

We report an electrochemically modulated method for single crystal silver nanobelts with uniform thickness and width, which grow along the <110> direction with {111} facets. The procedure involves a crystallographically-oriented and interfacial kinetic controlled chemical reduction process by using a sacrificial cathode electrode with nanochannel templates. Silver nanobelt-bundle arrays are formed orientedly within nanochannels and can be easily dispersed into individual nanobelts by removing the template. These nanobelts exhibit two distinct surface plasmon resonances (SPR) at 456 and 980 nm, and show a strong spontaneous emission (SE) at 519 nm when excited by UV or blue light. These silver nanobelts with a quasi-two-dimensional planar nanostructure are an important material for surface plasmon resonance-based technology, which may open up many practical opportunities in the fields of optics, electronics and photoelectronics.