Confined growth of Ag2S semiconductor nanocrystals in the presence of PDMAEMA-co-AA polyampholyte co-polymer

Silver sulfide (Ag2S) nanoparticles were synthesized in the presence of poly(2-(dimethylamino)ethyl methacrylate-co-acrylic acid) co-polymer. It was shown that this polyampholyte can stabilize the growth of the Ag2S in solution which resulted in formation of nanoparticles with relatively narrow size distribution. The obtained nanoparticles were characterized with structural and optical methods. The results showed that their average size depended on the number of acrylic acid units along the polymer chains.