Aggregation of silver nanoplates in the presence of L-cysteine and the application for separation.

A facile method was investigated to fabricate the aggregated silver nanoplates as products for separation materials. Initially, ageing of L-cysteine capped silver nanoplates in ethanol solvent led to fast aggregation. Then, the as-formed aggregates were easily prepared as powder due to the highly volatile properties of ethanol. Interestingly, the aggregated powder would be soluble again after the dispersion in water and the re-dispersed nanoplates could be obtained. Furthermore, the heavy metal ions such as Cu2+, Pb2+ and Hg2+ would soon accelerate the aggregation of the dispersed silver nanoplates again. The reversible aggregation process could be employed for separation applications in the future.