Rapid Fabrication of Homogeneous Submicron Silver Particles via a Microfluidic Chip and Use as a SERS Detection Substrate

Abstract

Silver particles have been widely used in SERS detection as an enhancement substrate. The large-scale synthesis of Ag particles with controllable size and shape is still a challenge. We demonstrate a high-throughput method for the preparation of monodisperse submicron silver particles using S-shaped microfluidic chips. Submicron silver particles were prepared by a simplified reduction method. By adjusting the concentration of the reducing agent ascorbic acid and the stabilizer PVP, the particle size and morphology could be controlled, obtaining a size distribution of 1–1.2 μm for flower-like silver particles and a size distribution of 0.5–0.7 μm for quasi-spherical silver particles. This microfluidic system can be used to fabricate submicron silver particles on a large scale, continuously and stably, with a production efficiency of around 1.73 mg/min. The synthesized submicron silver particles could realize ultra-sensitive SERS detection, and the lowest concentration of rhodamine 6G (R6G) that could be detected was 10−9 M.

Infection-Free and Enhanced Wound Healing Potential of Alginate Gels Incorporating Silver and Tannylated Calcium Peroxide Nanoparticles

“…Higher PVP concentrations induced a bridging process between nanoparticles, promoting their sphere-like agglomeration. Our results line up with other findings on the microfluidic synthesis of silver nanostructures, pointing out a complicated kinetic pathway in which early crystallization that occurs during the formation of inorganic nanoparticles in the presence of a stabilizing agent allows for a better control over their size and shape [38,[75][76][77]. Also, this could indicate that the formation of silver nanostructures was principally mediated by the aggregation of small agglomerations of nanoparticles, and not by the possibility of coalescence which is characteristic for larger particles [78][79][80][81].…”

Extremely Monodispersed Micrometer-Scale Spherical Particle Synthesis of Ag Inside a Microdroplet Vaporizing in Plasma

“…Figure compares our CV value with previously reported values obtained using various particle synthesis methods, such as chemical reduction, − hydrothermal synthesis, , spray pyrolysis, laser ablation, , and laser melting. , For relatively small particle sizes (less than 300 nm), monodisperse particles with CV values less than 10% can be synthesized by using chemical reduction methods. For relatively large particle sizes (measuring micrometers), there are few reports of CV values below 10%.…”

“…Comparison of CV values and particle diameters of synthesized particles with those reported in literature for spherical or quasi-spherical Ag particles using various particle synthesis methods. − …”