Mechanism and modeling of poly[vinylpyrrolidone] (PVP) facilitated synthesis of silver nanoplates. Issue 22 (29th May 2018)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Thomas, Neethu; Mani, Ethayaraja
• Is Part Of: Physical chemistry chemical physics. Volume 20:Issue 22(2018)
• Page Start: 15507
• Page End: 15517
• Publication Date: 2018-05-29
• Subjects: Chemistry, Physical and theoretical -- Periodicals; 541.3
• DOI: 10.1039/c8cp01610k
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1463-9076

Abstract

Abstract : A mathematical model to describe the growth of silver nanoplates is presented and quantitative comparison with experimental data is shown. Abstract : Silver triangular nanoplates (AgTNP) present unique surface plasmonic and catalytic properties depending upon the thickness and edge length. AgTNP are synthesized in a kinetically controlled growth process, by and large, using the polymer poly-vinylpyrrolidone (PVP) as a reductant. In this work, we present a systematic study to uncover the effect of the molecular weight (MW) of PVP and the PVP to silver salt (AgNO3 ) molar ratio ([P : S]) on the physical dimensions of AgTNP. The edge length of AgTNP shows a non-monotonic variation with respect to [P : S] for all MWs. Based on several control experiments, a kinetic mechanism is proposed and a mathematical model is developed to explain the formation of AgTNP. The elementary processes of the model include the reduction of Ag + by the –OH group in PVP, followed by instantaneous nucleation. This phase is then followed by a slow reduction of Ag + and growth of the nuclei to AgTNP. The model shows a reasonable agreement with experiments on the non-monotonic variation of edge length of AgTNP with respect to [P : S], as well as on the temporal evolution of the edge length.