The Crystal Structure Analysis of Silver Nanowires Using Rietveld Method for Optoelectronic Application

Abstract

In this study, the synthesis and analysis of the crystal structure of silver nanowires (AgNWs) have been performed using the polyol method. In this research, materials used as the main raw material were silver nitrate (AgNO3). Polyvinyl pyrrolidone (PVP) was used as a capping agent and stabilizer, and Iron (III) Chloride (FeCl3) for controlling the shape and size of AgNWs. AgNWs were synthesized using two different solvents i.e., ethylene glycol (EG) and propylene glycol (PG). The crystal structure of AgNWs was analyzed using X-ray diffraction (XRD) with a scanning 2θ in the range of 20° to 90°. Furthermore, the structure and electron diffraction patterns were analyzed using transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The XRD pattern of the AgNW sample also has five diffraction peaks, these five diffraction peaks were identified at 38.24°, 44.42°, 64.54°, 77.52°, and 81.68° representing lattice constants (111), (200), (220), (311), and (222), respectively. Based on the results of the calculation of lattice constant values of AgNWs-EG and AgNWs-PG were 4.084 Å. The TEM images of AgNWs-EG have a diameter of 84 to 133 nm, corresponding to the SEM calculation data having a diameter of 109 ± 22 nm. AgNWs-PG has a diameter of 84 to 264 nm. The study results revealed that the results of the characterization performed are interconnected. The XRD characterization results revealed that both samples were crystal-indexed. AgNWs-PG has a larger crystal size than AgNWs-EG.