A simple hydrothermal route to large-scale synthesis of uniform silver nanowires

This paper describes the preparation of uniform silver nanowires by reducing freshly prepared silver chloride with glucose at 180degreesC for 18 hours in the absence of any surfactants or polymers. Scanning electron microscopy studies indicated that the silver nanowires are about 100 nm in diameter and up to 500 mum in length. High-resolution transmission electron microscopy analyses showed that the silver nanowires grow perpendicularly to the Ag(200) plane. The silver nanowires are believed to grow through a solid-solution-solid process. Some influential factors on the growth of silver nanowires are also discussed.