A Method for Preparing AgNWs with Accelerated Seed–Wire Conversion Time

Abstract

A synthetic method was developed to produce silver nanowires. The method utilized TBAC (tetrabutylammonium chloride) instead of conventional metal halides as crystal seed additives to obtain purer silver nanowires. Our synthesis strategy relies on accelerating the rate of seed–wire conversion. The method allows for the control of the nanowire aspect ratio by tuning the ratio of Ag+ ions to polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) monomer units and the molar mass of TBAC. The observed synthesis improvements meet the basic requirements of current industrial manufacturing.

Keywords

• polyol synthesis
• silver nanowires
• tetrabutylammonium chloride
• seed–wire conversion