Surfactant-Free Hydrothermal Synthesis of Ag/C Nanocables

Abstract

A facile method is described here on synthesis of high-aspect-ratio Ag/C core/sheath nanocables via a hydrothermal process in the presence of Ag 2 S and in the absence of any surfactant or polymers. We demonstrate that glucose can act as a reducing reagent and provide carbon source to form a core-shell structure. The S 2− ion plays an important role in controlling the Ag + concentration and then the anisotropic growth of nanocables, and at the same time, the uncoated Ag particles get eroded and reused via Ag 2 S intermediate. The formation of 1D Ag nanowire inner core is attributed mainly to the low growth rate of Ag nanocrystalline nuclei and the later carboncoating protection.

Surfactant-free synthesis of carbon-supported silver (Ag/C) nanobars as an efficient electrocatalyst for alcohol tolerance and oxidation of sodium borohydride in alkaline medium

“…The 1D nanostructures of Ag/C have been developed so far with the help of some types of surfactant. In 2012, Mu et al showed the surfactant-free synthesis of 1D carbon-supported silver nanostructure with a high aspect ratio in the presence of glucose, which plays the role of carbon source [23]. For energy device applications basically, catalysts have been prepared in a powder form and mixed with a conducting polymer solution to get the catalyst ink.…”

“…Therefore, a resurrection of interest has come out to synthesize a carbon-supported silver catalyst. In our work, we have followed the synthesis method of Mu et al [23]. The motivation of our work was the surfactant-free synthesis of 1D carbon-supported silver nanostructures using hydrothermal conditions and studies their electrochemical characterization for borohydride oxidation in alkaline solution for the promising application in alkaline borohydride fuel cells and alcohol tolerance.…”