{111}‐ Faceted Silver Nanoplates: An Automated and Customized Design for Functionality

Abstract

Silver nanoparticles (Ag‐NPs) exhibit the highest efficiency of localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) excitation that can be tuned to any wave length in the visible spectrum. Its performance depends to a large extent on its physicochemical characteristics such as size and shape; which, in turn, can be modulated by the selective growth of their crystalline facets. We used a simple direct chemical reduction method with a precise manipulation of seed‐mediated growth control through an automated single‐phase continuous flow‐batch system to induce customized geometries on Ag‐NPs. Optimization of the experimental design was carried out from a multivariate analysis, where the height/width ratio of LSPR band was used as response signal. Proposed methodology controls the critical steps in the synthesis of Ag‐NPs that modulate their morphology to attain customized surface plasmon resonance in an interval of 380 nm (spherical‐shaped nanoparticles) to 925 nm ({111}‐ faceted prism‐shaped nanoplates) absorptions, leading to a versatile platform to extend their potential applications. Although the present work focused on silver nanoparticles, we believe that this methodology can be extended to any free‐electron metals.