Localized Surface Plasmon Resonance of Silver Nanotriangles Synthesized by a Versatile Solution Reaction

The surface plasmon resonance (SPR) of silver nanoparticles can be tuned throughout the visible and near-infrared region by their shape and size. Considering SPR applications, an easy and controllable method for preparing the silver nanocrystals with defined shape and size, is necessary. In this work, the triangular silver nanoplates were synthesized by reducing Ag⁺ ions with ascorbic acid in the presence of silver seeds and poly(vinylpyrrolidone) (PVP) at room temperature. Both the seeds (as the nucleation sites) and PVP (as the capping reagent) played an important role in determining the edge length of the silver nanotriangles. The SPR of silver nanotriangles showed three distinct bands corresponding to the in-plane dipole, quadrupole, and out-plane quadrupole plasmon resonance, and the SPR shifted to shorter wavelengths with the decreased edge length of the silver nanotriangles as the theoretical calculation.