Iron Assisted Synthesis of Highly Monodisperse and Magnetic Citrate-stabilized Small Silver Nanoparticles

Herein, we present an optimized bottom-up approach for the fabrication of homogeneous small spherical silver nanoparticles, with average diameter sizes ranging from 10 to 30 nm and the associated plasmon resonances located between 390 and 410 nm. The presented method relies on the use of tiny amounts of Fe(III) as the silver dopant during the growth process, which enables the production of very homogeneous nanoparticles (standard deviations <6%). The characterization of the obtained materials with surface-enhanced Raman scattering spectroscopy shows optical enhancing properties similar to, or even better than, those observed with standard silver nanoparticles. Moreover, these noble nanomaterials are also endorsed with an intrinsic magnetic functionality.