A simple method to synthesize triangular silver nanoparticles by light irradiation.

We describe a simple method to synthesize triangular silver nanoparticles by photoreducing the silver ions by citrate. A noteworthy difference of the present method as compared with the previous photo-induced methods is that good shape control over the nanoparticles can be realized in the absence of soft templates or polymer directing agents. The formation process of the silver nanoparticles was investigated by UV-vis spectroscopy and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). It was found that the concentration of reactant plays important role in the morphology control of produced silver nanoparticles. As one of the applications of these nanoparticles, they were used as surface-enhanced Raman scattering substrates and 1,4-bis[2-(4-pyridyl)ethenyl]-benzene (BVPP) was used as a Raman probe to evaluate the enhancement ability of the triangular silver nanoparticles.