Chemometric Evaluation of Ultraviolet–Visible (UV–Vis) Spectra for Characterization of Silver Nanowire Diameter and Yield

The main tool used for routine screening of silver nanowire diameter and wire-to-particle yield is ultraviolet–visible (UV–Vis) spectroscopy. The normalized absorbance near 500 nm is generally taken to correlate with wire yield (lower absorbance means fewer particles and higher wire yield). The location of the UV–Vis peak near 375 nm is generally believed to correlate with wire diameter. These qualitative assessments are of unknown uncertainty. Improved microscopy-based analysis of wire diameter distribution and wire yield had recently been developed and were used to characterize synthesis products in parallel with UV–Vis data collection. Here we present results of leveraging this quantitative wire yield and diameter distribution data to quantitatively calibrate the UV–Vis methods for characterizing wire diameter and yield. Chemometric analysis was also applied to this UV–Vis data set and resulted in statistically significant models that can predict average wire diameter and wire/particle yield slightly better than the univariate method.