One-pot fabrication of various silver nanostructures on substrates using electron beam irradiation

The one-pot fabrication of various silver nanostructures on substrates is achieved through electron beam irradiation of the surface of silver dodecanethiolate (Ag(I)- SC(12)). The Ag(I)-SC(12) films are simply prepared by spin-coating silver salt and dodecanethiol solution. Various silver nanostructures such as particles, rods, cubes, and networks are prepared from the Ag(I)- SC(12) film with an electron beam voltage from 0.3 to 2 MV, current from 0.06 to 0.24 mA, and/or irradiation time from 30 to 80 s. The morphology and chemical composition of the irradiated samples are characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and x-ray diffraction (XRD).