Continuous flow nano-technology: manipulating the size, shape, agglomeration, defects and phases of silver nano-particles.

Spinning disc processing (SDP) is an instantaneously scalable, continuous flow and high throughput flash nano-fabrication technology which embraces green chemistry metrics. It has been used to prepare silver nano-particles with remarkable control in size (5-200 nm), shape (spheroidal, acicular or agglomerate rosettes), surface characteristics, and phase (cubic versus hexagonal), along with imparting defects for particles >10 nm diameters. The control is associated with changing the nature of the stabilising surfactant (respectively, starch, polyethylene glycol and poly(4-vinylpyridine)), the concentration of the reactants, and flow rates.