Syntheses of Silver Nanowires in Liquid Phase

Abstract

Nanowires which were defined as having at least two dimensions between 1 and 100 nm, have received a great interest due to their unique optical, electrical, magnetic, and thermal properties with dimensionality and size confinement [1-10]. The intrinsic properties of nanowires are mainly determined by its size and composition. In order to study the size dependent properties, it is the crucial task to synthesize size-controlled nanowires. Among all these nanowires, the synthesis of silver (Ag) nanowires has been and continues to be an area of active research due to the high electrical and thermal conductivities of bulk silver, which is an important material in many fields. Moreover, silver nanowires have also been used as sacrificial templates to generate other nanostructures such as gold nanotubes, which are difficult to be fabricated [9,10]. The research progress in synthesis strategy is mandated by advancements in all areas of industry and technology. In the past ten years, owing to the efforts from many research groups, splendid strategies were developed for the synthesis of Ag nanowires with various levels of control over the growth parameters. These synthetics strategies have been conveniently categorized into vapor phase approaches and liquid phase growth approaches. Vapor phase approaches mainly utilize physical methods such as an electronic-beam. Limited by the space of the chapter, we lay a strong emphasis on the introduction of liquid phase synthesis of Ag nanowires. Liquid phase syntheses were most widely used because these approaches have the advantages of nature of homogeneous reaction, wide range of solvents, simple monitoring technology, and low cost. In this article, we review some current research activities that center on Ag nanowires. Representative techniques are discussed and supply a basic understanding of the methods and mechanisms for preparing Ag nanowires.