Effect of Sodium Dodecyl Sulfate on the Formation of Silver Nanoparticles by Biphotonic Reduction of Silver Nitrate in Water

Abstract Nanocubes (NCs) were found to be produced by the irradiation of nanosecond UV pulses to an aqueous solution of silver nitrate. The photoproduct was turned to nanospheres (NSs) when irradiated with a certain amount of sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS). The SDS concentration to alter the photoproduct from NCs to NSs was about ten times lower than the critical micellar concentration (CMC) of SDS, which implies that a single layer of SDS adsorbed on silver surfaces assisted the growth of NSs.