Reduction and morphology of silver nanoparticles via liquid–liquid method

1-Hexanethiol-capped silver nanoparticles of about 10–20 nm in diameter were prepared using a liquid–liquid two-phase method.With the UV-Vis absorbance spectra, it was found that large particles were formed at the beginning of reaction and then disintegrated into small ones. In late reaction stage, the small particles became a bit larger with time and kept its size after 5 h, which was stable in 3 weeks. The reaction rate was strongly influenced by initial silver salt concentration in a first-order fashion and by reaction temperature. The transmission electron microscopy (TEM) images showed that size distribution and the morphology of fabricated alkylthiol-capped silver particles were different when they were prepared under different solvent, indicating that the reduction and capping process may depend on various solvents. # 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved