title: Rapid continuous microwave-assisted synthesis of silver nanoparticles to achieve very high productivity and full yield: from mechanistic study to optimal fabrication strategy.
abstract: Systematic studies of silver nanoparticle synthesis in a continuous-flow single-mode microwave reactor using polyol process were performed, revealing that the synthesis is exceptionally effective to give very small metal particles at full reaction yield and very high productivity. Inlet concentration of silver nitrate or silver acetate, applied as metal precursors, varied between 10 and 50 mM, and flow rates ranged from 0.635 to 2.5 dm3/h, to give 3-24 s reaction time. Owing to its much higher reactivity, silver acetate was shown to be far superior substrate for the synthesis of small (10-20 nm) spherical silver nanoparticles within a few seconds. Its restricted solubility in ethylene glycol, applied as the solvent and reducing agent, appeared to be vital for effective separation of the stage of particle growth from its nucleation to enable rapid synthesis of small particles in a highly loaded system. This was not possible to obtain using silver nitrate. All the observations could perfectly be explained by a classical LaMer-Dinegar model of NPs' formation, but taking into account also nonisothermal character of the continuous-flow process and acetate dissolution in the reaction system. The performed studies indicate an optimal strategy for the high-yield fabrication of metal particles using polyol method.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical Engineering and Process Design, Faculty of Chemistry, Silesian University of Technology, Ks. M. Strzody 7, 44-100 Gliwice, Poland.
authors.forename: Grzegorz
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Dzido
authors.affiliation: Department of Inorganic, Analytical Chemistry and Electrochemistry, Faculty of Chemistry, Silesian University of Technology, Ks. M. Strzody 7, 44-100 Gliwice, Poland.
authors.forename: Piotr
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Markowski
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental Biotechnology, Faculty of Energy and Environmental Engineering, Silesian University of Technology, Ks. M. Strzody 5, 44-100 Gliwice, Poland.
authors.forename: Anna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Małachowska-Jutsz
authors.affiliation: Institute of Materials Science, University of Silesia, Bankowa 12, 40-007 Katowice, Poland.
authors.forename: Krystian
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Prusik
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical Engineering and Process Design, Faculty of Chemistry, Silesian University of Technology, Ks. M. Strzody 7, 44-100 Gliwice, Poland ; Institute of Chemical Engineering, Polish Academy of Sciences, Bałtycka 5, 44-100 Gliwice, Poland.
authors.forename: Andrzej B
authors.initials: AB
authors.lastname: Jarzębski
keywords: Microwave; Polyol process; Silver nanoparticles