Recent advances in synthetic methods and applications of silver nanostructures

As the advanced functional materials, silver nanoparticles are potentially useful in various fields such as photoelectric, bio-sensing, catalysis, antibacterial and other fields, which are mainly based on their various properties. However, the properties of silver nanoparticles are usually determined by their size, shape, and surrounding medium, which can be modulated by various synthesis methods. In this review, the fabrication methods for synthesizing silver nanoparticles of different shapes and specific size are illustrated in detail. Besides, the corresponding properties and applications of silver nanoparticles are also discussed in this paper.