Preparation of dendritic nanostructures of silver and their characterization for electroreduction

Silver nanostructures of different morphologies including well-defined dendrites were synthesized on an Au substrate by a simple surfactant-free method without using any template. The morphology of the material was investigated by field-emission transmission electron microscopy and scanning electron microscopy. The crystal nature of the dendritic nanostructure was revealed from their X-ray diffraction and electron diffraction patterns. Effects of applied potential, electrolysis time, and the solution concentration were studied. The possible formation mechanism of the dendritic morphology was discussed from the aspects of kinetics and thermodynamics based on the experiment results. The H(2)O(2) electroreduction ability of the dendritic materials was characterized. Use of silver dendrite-modified electrode as H(2)O(2) sensor was also demonstrated.