Time dependence of nucleation and growth of silver nanoparticles generated by sugar reduction in micellar media.

Synthesis of silver nanoparticles in homogeneous aqueous solutions of the precursors silver nitrate and three saccharides (two mono saccharides i.e. glucose and fructose and one disaccharide such as sucrose) has been performed. These Ag-nanoparticles can be derivatized by other surface treatments, as required. The anionic surfactant SDS was tested to investigate its effect on the dependence of size, growth rate, photoluminescence (PL) emission and polydispersity of the nanoparticles. The time evolution of UV-vis absorbance suggested that nucleation and growth rate markedly vary in a first order fashion w.r.t. Ag(+) salt concentration. The differences in the reducing ability of the saccharides were discussed with reference to their structure dependent adsorption behavior onto the particles. Changes in UV-vis, PL and FT-IR spectra during nucleation and growth of the nanoparticles were used to establish plausible mechanisms for the adsorption of surfactant on the particle surface, so as to restrict the growth. The results revealed a simple and easy strategy for synthesizing metal nanoparticles with well controlled shapes, sizes and structures.