Liquid-phase synthesis of thiol-derivatized silver nanocrystals

Abstract

A liquid-phase method is reported for the preparation of dodecanethiol-derivatized silver nanocrystals. Toluene sols of this material maintain as sols in air at room temperature at least on the timescale of months. X-ray diffraction (XRD) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) are used to obtain size and structural information about the nanocrystal core while solubility properties and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) are used to identify the passivating layer. Laser desorption time-of-flight mass spectra (LDTOFMS) of this material show broad peaks in the mass range from 40 to 300 kamu. These results are consistent with the synthesized material being a dodecanethiol-derivatized silver nanocrystal material with a mean crystalline silver core of 3.1 ± 0.6 nm.