Silver Particles with Rhombicuboctahedral Shape and Effective Isotropic Interactions with Light

Truly spherical silver nanoparticles are of great importance for fundamental studies including plasmonic applications, but their direct synthesis in aqueous media is not feasible. Using the commonly employed copper-based etching processes, an isotropic plasmonic response can be achieved by etching well-defined silver nanocubes. Whilst spherical-like shape is typically prevailing in such processes, we established that there is a preferential growth toward silver rhombicuboctahedra, which is the thermodynamically most stable product of this synthesis. The rhombicuboctahedral morphology is further evidenced by comprehensive characterization with small-angle X-ray scattering in combination with transmission electron microscopy (TEM) tomography and high-resolution TEM. We also elucidate the complete reaction mechanism based on UV-vis kinetic studies, and the postulated mechanism can also be extended to all copper-based etching processes.