Surfactant-Mediated Synthesis of Anisotropic Particles at An Electrode Interface

The synthesis and characterization of micro- and nanoparticles, either in suspension or localized on a surface, are current areas of intense scientific interest due to potential applications in a wide range of technologies ranging from data storage, spintronics, quantum computing, drug delivery, and sensors. In this work, the electrochemical deposition of silver at varying overpotentials and in the presence of surfactants is studied. Cyclic voltammetry is used to identify and characterize the different regimes for silver deposition in the presence of CTAB. CTAB promotes the growth of anisotropic (nanowires) silver particles. This technique can potentially be used to grow complex-shaped particles by varying the surfactant(s) and the electrochemical deposition potential.