A novel wet-chemical method for preparation of silver flakes

A novel wet-chemical method for the preparation of silver flakes was studied. The well-defined particles were prepared by directly adding FeSO4 solution into AgNO3 solution containing citric acid at an agitation speed of 150 r/min at room temperature. The products were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). The results show that particles are irregular thin silver flakes. And the sizes of them range from 2 to 10 μm. It is found that citric acid plays an important role in the formation of sliver flakes. There is an optimum amount of citric acid for the preparation of silver flakes by this method. It is also found that high reduction rate is favorable for the formation of silver flakes.