Solid-State Synthesis of Silver Nanoparticles at Room Temperature: Poly(vinylpyrrolidone) as a Tool.

Silver nanoparticles have been used for a long time and recently various methods have been additionally developed for their production. Here we report for the first time a solid-state high-speed vibration milling method for the synthesis of silver nanoparticles, in which poly(vinylpyrrolidone) is used for the reduction of the silver salt. The synthesis is performed at room temperature and no surfactant to direct the anisotropic growth of the nanoparticles is required. The formation of the nanoparticles was studied by UV-Visible spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy, and powder X-ray diffraction techniques. The nanoparticles synthesized were found to be uniform in size and shape with an average diameter of less than 5 nm. In addition, the antimicrobial activity of these silver nanoparticles was investigated against Escherichia coli and found to be positive.