In Situ Fabrication of Novel Ag Dendrites Film by a Simple Replacement Reaction on Zn Foil Substrate

Abstract

In this work, well-defined silver dendrites were fabricated by a simple electroless, template-free, and surfactant-free replacement reaction method using Zn foil and AgNO3 as the precursors. The products were studied by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, transmitting electron microscopy, selected area electron diffraction, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The effect of the reaction time on the formation of Ag dendrites was investigated, which will open a new way to synthesize silver dendrites as electrodes applied in the field of solar cells and QLEDs. An oriented attachment-based aggregation model has been proposed to rationalize the formation of Ag dendrites.