Control synthesis of silver nanosheets, chainlike sheets, and microwires via a simple solvent-thermal method

In this work, we present a facile method to synthesize silver nanosheets, chainlike sheets, and microwires via decomposition of the AgNO3 in ethanol in the presence of ammonia. The obtained samples have been characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and transmission electron microscopy (TEM), high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM), selected-area electronic diffraction (SAED), and energy dispersive X-ray analysis (EDXA). The experiments show that the concentration of ammonia, reaction temperature, and time are important factors for controlling the morphology of the products. On the basis of our experimental results, we propose an ammonia-tuning Oswald ripening mechanism to elucidate the formation of different morphologies of silver structures such as the nanosheets, chainlike sheets, and microwires. The current-voltage characteristic of the individual silver microwire shows linear behavior, and the electrical conductivity of the silver microwire is found to be comparable to that of the bulk silver materials, indicating that it can serve as interconnect in fabricating the micro/nanodevices.