Superlattices and Microstructures 46 (2009) 858–863 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Superlattices and Microstructures journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/superlattices Nanoplates controlled synthesis and catalytic activities of silver nanocrystals Babak Sadeghi a,∗ , M.A.S. Sadjadi b , R.A.R. Vahdati c,1 a Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Islamic Azad University, Tonekabon Branch, Tonekabon, Iran b Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Islamic Azad University, Science and Research Branch, Hessarak, Tehran, Iran c Islamic Azad University of Tonekabon, Iran article info Article history: Received 6 July 2009 Received in revised form 15 September 2009 Accepted 12 October 2009 Available online 27 October 2009 Keywords: Nanocomposites Chemical synthesis Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM) abstract The silver nanostructures, from nanoparticles (NPs) to nanorod and nanoplate, can be synthesized quantitatively with DMF (N, N ′ - dimethyl formamide) and PVA (Polyvinyl alcohol). Due to the anisotropic shape feature, the absorption spectra of the nanoplates prove to be quite different from that of spherical NPs. It may be due to the specific interaction between OH groups and Ag+ ions, which affect selective growth of various planes of silver nanocrystals. In addition, the catalytic activity of the obtained different shaped sil- ver nanocrystals for hydrogen production has also been investi- gated. The silver nanoplates exhibit higher catalytic activities than silver NPs. © 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction In recent years, controlling the shape as well as size of metallic NPs has been the focus of chemical and material research fields because it provides an effective strategy for tuning the physical and chemical properties of a metal [1]. In the nanometric material domain, it has been demonstrated that physical properties are usually closely related to the NP shape, independent of size. Synthesis of one- or two-dimensional (1D or 2D) nanostructures for gold and silver attracts much attention for their important potential applications in catalysis [2], sensing [3], recording media [4], optics [5], and so on. However, the control of particle shape through a general method of synthesis has met limited success although a number of very specific solution chemistry procedures have been reported for preparing ∗ Corresponding author. Tel.: +98 912 289 8500; fax: +98 192 427 4409. E-mail address: b_sadeghi@tonekaboniau.ac.ir (B. Sadeghi). 1 Basic Science Student, member of Young Researchers Club. 0749-6036/$ – see front matter © 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.spmi.2009.10.006