Synthesis of highly stable silver colloids stabilized with water soluble sulfonated polyaniline

A simple technique was developed for the synthesis of silver nanoparticles (NPs) in an aqueous medium using water soluble sulfonated polyaniline as a new non-covalent effective stabilizer. The narrow size distribution of the NPs was achieved through the synthesis. In neutral and basic solutions the as-prepared silver NPs demonstrated resistance toward aggregation over several months and at least a few days at pH 1. The versatility of the procedure was demonstrated also for the preparation of gold nanoparticles. Transmission electron microscopy with electron microdiffraction, UV–vis spectroscopy, XRD, XPS and FTIR analyses were used to characterize the structure and chemical composition of as obtained silver NPs.