Demonstrating the Photochemical Transformation of Silver Nanoparticles

摘要

A laboratory experiment is described in which students synthesize silver nanospheres and transform them into other anisotropic morphologies (decahedral and disks) through a photochemical process. The photochemical transformation was followed by visible spectroscopy, and the resulting morphologies were analyzed using scanning electron microscopy. This experiment, which may be included in a nanotechnology or materials chemistry laboratory course, introduces students to nanotechnology and shows how anisotropic nanoparticle synthesis methods are not limited to chemical reduction or seed regrowth.