Spontaneous formation of silver nanoparticles on polymeric supports

Silver nanoparticles with a size range of 2–4 nm were prepared on polyethylene glycol-coupled 2-chlorotrityl resins without using any reducing agents. In contrast to the polyol process, silver nanoparticles were simply reduced in the tetrahydrofuran/chloroform system on the resin without using any alcohols, and the resulting silver nanoparticles exhibited a uniform size distribution. The polyethylene glycol spacer on the resin played an important role in obtaining silver nanoparticles, probably acting as a polydentate-chelating agent for the silver ions.