Optimizing synthesis parameters of silver nanowires by polyol method

Silver nanowires are 1D nanostructures, with diameter of 10 – 200 nm and length of 5-100 μm.  Recently, polyol method has been known as a successful method for synthesis of silver nanowires. In the present work, silver nanowires were synthesized using Polyol method. A precise parametric study was performed to determine the effect of temperature, the injection rate of silver nitrate solution and PVP solution, stirring rate of solution and amount of copper chloride on the final morphology of synthesized silver nanowires.

X-ray diffraction method was used to determine the crystal structure and phase purity of synthesized silver nanowire. The morphology and size of silver nanowires were obtained by Field-Emission Scanning Electron Microscope. Electrical sheet resistance and visible light transparency of synthesized silver nanowires were measured by four-point probe test and UV-V spectrophotometer, respectively.

According to the obtained results, the temperature of 158 ° C, the injection rate of 0.55 cc/min, the stirring rate of 300 rpm and the copper chloride solution of 0.08 cc were determined as the optimal conditions for synthesis of silver nanowire. The optimized Ag nanowire coating showed 60% light transmittance and sheet resistance of 28 Ω/sq.