Importance of poly(ethylene glycol) conformation for the synthesis of silver nanoparticles in aqueous solution

Silver nanoparticles (NPs) were prepared using silver nitrate (AgNO3) as a precursor in an aqueous solution of poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG), which acted as both a reducing and stabilizing agent. The UV/Vis spectra showed that PEG 100 (100 kg/mol) has a remarkable capability to produce silver NPs at 80 °C, but the production of silver NPs by both PEG 2 (2 kg/mol) and PEG 35 (35 kg/mol) was negligible. This difference was explained by the conformation of PEG in the reaction solution: the entangled conformation for PEG 100 and the single-coiled conformation for PEG 2 and PEG 35, which were confirmed by pulse-field-gradient 1H NMR and viscosity measurements. In an aqueous solution, the entangled conformation of PEG 100 facilitated the reduction reaction by caging silver ions and effectively prevented the agglomeration of formed NPs. The reaction in an aqueous PEG 100 solution was observed to be stable under the conditions of a prolonged reaction time or an increased temperature, while no reduction reaction occurred in the PEG 2 solution. The synthesis of silver NPs by PEG 100 was well controlled to produce fine silver NPs with 3.68 ± 1.03 nm in diameter, the size of which remained relatively constant throughout the reaction.