Synthesis of highly stable silver colloids stabilized with water soluble sulfonated polyaniline

A simple technique was developed for the synthesis of silver nanoparticles (NPs) in an aqueous medium using water soluble sulfonated polyaniline as a new non-covalent effective stabilizer. The narrow size distribution of the NPs was achieved through the synthesis. In neutral and basic solutions the as-prepared silver NPs demonstrated resistance toward aggregation over several months and at least a few days at pH 1. The versatility of the procedure was demonstrated also for the preparation of gold nanoparticles. Transmission electron microscopy with electron microdiffraction, UV-vis spectroscopy, XRD, XPS and FTIR analyses were used to characterize the structure and chemical composition of as obtained silver NPs.