Synthesis of flower-like silver nanoarchitectures at room temperature

Novel flower-like silver nanoarchitectures were synthesized via a facile and environmentally benign route in the presence of citric acid and ascorbic acid. The flower-like structures are composed of nanopetals of ca. 20 nm in thickness. The products were characterized with X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy. The growth mechanism of flower-like silver nanoarchitectures involves a film-fold process. Some crucial factors affect the nanoarchitectures growth, such as, pH. the concentration of citric acid, and the concentration of ascorbic acid, have also been discussed. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.