Water-mediated polyol synthesis of pencil-like sharp silver nanowires suitable for nonlinear plasmonics

Chem Commun (Camb). 2019 Sep 24;55(77):11630-11633. doi: 10.1039/c9cc04743c.

Abstract

We report a simple method to control the end shape of silver nanowires by adding pure water in the conventional polyol synthesis. The use of 0.2-0.4% (v/v) water in ethylene glycol as a solvent provides pencil-like silver nanowires with sharp ends in a high yield. We have demonstrated remote excitation of SHG on the sharp nanowires, promising a point light source for super resolution microscopy.