Asperical silver nanoparticles by thermal decomposition of a single-source-precursor

Abstract The synthesis and characterization of silver(I) 2-phenyl-3,6,9-trioxadecanoate ( 3 ) is described. Thermal decomposition of 3 at 100–165 °C in a long-chained amine resulted in the formation of monodisperse silver nanoparticles with sizes of about 7–10 nm. By variation of the reaction conditions aspherical silver nanoparticles with hexagonal contours could be obtained, which is a novelity for silver nanoparticles prepared by thermal decompositon.