The influence of Ni nanoparticles and Ni (II) on the growth of Ag dendrites immobilized on the chelating copolymer membrane

Preparation of Ag dendrites on the surface of chelating copolymer membranes (PBAGI), which was synthesized by using the soap-free emulsion copolymerization of n-butylacrylate (BA) and acrylonitrile (AN), as well as 2-methacrylic acid 3-(bis-carboxymethylamino)-2-hydroxy-propyl ester (GMA-IDA) that was used as a chelating group, is presented in this study. The characteristics of polymer membranes were investigated by Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy and elementary analysis (EA). The weight fraction of GMA-IDA in the polymer was 4.2 wt% as revealed by elemental analysis. The chelating group, -N(CH ₂COO ^-Na ⁺) ₂ on the polymer was used to coordinate different amounts of Ni(II), controlled by different chelating times and subsequently reduced to Ni nanoparticles, as templates for growing Ag nanocrystals from 1.67 wt% AgNO ₃ aqueous solution with 55.7 ppm poly(vinyl pyrrolidone) (PVP) added. In addition, the effect of Ni ²⁺ concentration on the growth of the Ag dendrites was studied. Crystallinity and morphology of Ag dendrites were examined with X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electronic microscopy (SEM), respectively. Amount of Ag dendrites increased with the increasing of Ni nanoparticles on the PBAGI membrane or the dose of Ni ²⁺ present in the aqueous solution. Notable, under higher amount of Ni nanoparticles (over 200 mmol Ni ²⁺/g PBAGI membrane), Ag dendrites could be successful grown on the membrane. However, higher dose of Ni ²⁺ (over 41.3 ppm) might inhibit the growth of Ag dendrites.