In situ generation of silver microstructures by thermal decomposition of silver n-dodecanethiolate dispersed in an organic–inorganic hybrid coating

Although it is known that metallic silver can be produced by the thermal decomposition of silver n-dodecanethiolate (Ag-DDT), the use of this reaction to synthesize silver-modified coatings is difficult due to the insolubility of Ag-DDT in most solvents and coating precursors. We report that lamellar Ag-DDT crystals can be uniformly dispersed in an organic–inorganic hybrid coating based on a bridged silsesquioxane containing pendant dodecyl chains. Heating the dispersion for 4 h at 423 K (above the melting point of the Ag-DDT crystals) produced the transformation of the lamellar phase into a metastable crystalline phase together with a spiral-like microstructuration of the whole material. When the heating was continued for 24 h, the metastable crystalline phase led to metallic silver microstructures uniformly dispersed in the silsesquioxane matrix.