Preparation of Ag nanoparticles using hydrogen peroxide as a reducing agent

Abstract

Herein, we report a method for Ag nanoparticle preparation using hydrogen peroxide as a reducing agent. Ag nanoparticles were synthesized using silver(I) nitrate as a silver precursor, aqueous NH₃ as a pH adjustor, and poly(vinyl pyrrolidone) (PVP) as a dispersant. The PVP concentration, the reaction temperature, the pH of the reaction solution, and the silver precursor all have a great influence on the size of the Ag nanoparticles. These parameters affected the reduction speed of the Ag⁺ ions and the aggregation of Ag nanoparticles. Ag nanoparticles of uniform shape were obtained under optimized conditions. In this work, we discuss a Ag nanoparticle growth mechanism based on La Mer's model, and aggregation control using PVP. This is a promising Ag nanoparticle preparation method with a low environmental load. Antibacterial tests using the obtained Ag nanoparticles were also carried out.