Surfactant-assisted synthesis of Ag nanostructures and their self-assembled films on copper and aluminum substrate

Silver nanostructures with controlled morphologies, such as assembly of plates, rods, belts and sheets have been prepared on copper and aluminum substrates by a surfactant-assisted colloidal chemical method. [Display omitted] ► A facile surfactant-assisted chemical solution approach was exploited. ► Control the release rate of Ag atoms from AgNO 3 and the reaction rate in the solution. ► A cooperative effect of surfactant and chloride ion had great impact on the morphologies of Ag nanostructures on aluminum substrate. In this paper, silver nanostructures with controlled morphologies, such as plates, rods, belts, sheets and their self-assembled films have been prepared on copper and aluminum substrates by a surfactant-assisted colloidal chemical method. The X-ray powder diffraction (XRD) and the selected area electron diffraction (SAED) patterns indicated that the Ag nanostructures grew on the substrates with cubic symmetry and single-crystalline in nature. An oriented attachment with surfactant-assisted mechanism and a cooperative effect of surfactant and chloride ion on the morphology of Ag nanostructures were investigated systematically and synthetically.