Preparation and Characterization of Silver Powders with Spheric Shape and Different Sizes

The preparation and characterization of silver powders with spheric shape and different sizes by chemical reduction of silver ions in the presence of ethanol amine using hydrochinone (C6H6O2) as the reducing agent are described. The size distribution, microstructure, and the phase composition of the obtained Ag Powders were characterized by the Laser Particle Size Analyzer, Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM), Transmission Electron Microscope (TEM) and the X-ray diffraction (XRD). The Ag powder was in face-centered cubic crystal structure with spheric morphology. The average tap density of silver powders is up to 4.0g/cm3. It was also found that the size of the Ag particles can be adjusted conveniently to a certain degree by varying the silver ions content, the addition amount of dispersing agent, the aging time, the temperature of the reaction, and the concentration ratio of hydrochinone to Ag+.