Influence of the sintering temperature on morphology and particle size of silver synthesized by spark discharge

Abstract

The morphology and particle size of silver were investigated depending on the sintering temperature in the range from 25 to 1000 °C. Silver nanoparticles synthesized by the multi-spark discharge generator and then sintered in a tube furnace. It is found that the particle size decreases irregularly with increasing sintering temperature, according to TEM and aerosol measurements. Individual spherical nanoparticles are formed at the sintering temperature more than 200 °C. The size of the particles is almost constant of about 45 nm in the temperature range of sintering of 200-900 °C. However, the particle size is significantly reduced to 7 nm at a sintering temperature of about 1000 °C. Thus, it was found that the variation in sintering temperature makes it possible to significantly change the morphology and size of synthesized nanoparticles, which is relevant for a number of applications in optics and medicine.