Electrochemical synthesis of silver nanoparticles in poly(vinyl alcohol) solution

Abstract

In this work, silver/poly(vinyl alcohol), Ag/PVA, colloidal dispersions were obtained by electrochemical reduction of Ag+. The electrochemical synthesis of silver nanoparticles in aqueous solutions of 5 and 10 wt. % PVA, containing 0.1 M KNO3 and 3.9 mM AgNO3, was performed at a constant current density of 25 mA cm(-2) for a synthesis time of 10 min. The presence of silver nanoparticles was confirmed by UV-Vis spectroscopy. Cyclic voltammetry analysis and FT-IR spectroscopy indicated interactions between the silver nanoparticles and the PVA molecules. TEM analysis confirmed the spherical shape of the obtained silver nanoparticles, with a mean diameter of 15 +/- 9 nm.