pH-controlled growth of triangular silver nanoprisms on a large scale

Abstract

A simple, mild, and reproducible one-pot approach was developed to synthesize triangular silver nanoprisms (TSNPRs) on a large scale. The TSNPR size was tailored from 30 to 100 nm by varying the dosage of a sodium hydroxide pentanol solution in the water/polyvinylpyrrolidone/n-pentanol ternary system. The use of the sodium hydroxide pentanol solution modified the initial pH of the water/polyvinylpyrrolidone/n-pentanol system and made the synthesis of TSNPRs highly reproducible and independent of the polyvinylpyrrolidone pH. N,N-dimethyl formamide and formamide were used to control the system pH and improved the resultant TSNPRs in both syntheses repeatedly to have a well-defined shape. The extinction bands of the TSNPRs were relatively narrow, which makes them promising for chemical and biological applications.