Method for producing silver nanofilaments

1. A method of producing silver nanofilaments, the method comprising the steps of:

adding a solid silver salt to liquid ether to form a mixture;

adding a liquid fatty acid to the mixture;

adding a reducing agent to the mixture;

allowing the mixture to react; and

recovering silver nanofilaments, wherein the method is carried out at temperatures ranging from about 15° C. to about 25° C.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the silver salt is selected from the group consisting of silver nitrate and silver acetate.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the liquid ether has a dipole moment ranging from about 0.4 to about 1.9.

4. The method of claim 3 , wherein the liquid ether is selected from the group consisting of diethyl ether, di-tert-butyl ether, diglycol methyl ether, diisopropyl ether, dimethoxyethane, dimethoxymethane, dioxane, ethyl tert-butyl ether, methoxyethane, methyl tert-butyl ether, 2-methyltetrahydrofuran, tetrahydrofuran, dioxane, and tetrahydropyran and combinations thereof.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the liquid fatty acid is an unsaturated fatty acid.

6. The method of claim 5 , wherein the unsaturated fatty acid is a long-chain fatty acid.

7. The method of claim 6 , wherein the long-chain fatty acid is selected from the group consisting of myristoleic acid, palmitoleic acid, sapienic acid, oleic acid, linoleic acid, and alpha-linoleic acid and combinations thereof.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the reducing agent is a polyamine.

9. The method of claim 8 , wherein the polyamine is a diamine.

10. The method of claim 9 , wherein the polyamine is a diamine having from two to six carbon atoms.

11. The method of claim 10 , wherein the diamine is tetramethylethylene diamine.

12. The method of claim 1 , wherein the mixture is allowed to react for between about 15 minutes and about 180 minutes.

13. The method of claim 1 , wherein the method is conducted as a continuous or semi-continuous method.

14. A method of producing silver nanofilaments comprising the steps of:

adding solid silver salt selected from the group consisting of silver nitrate and silver acetate to a liquid ether selected from the group consisting of diethyl ether, di-tert-butyl ether, diglycol methyl ether, diisopropyl ether, dimethoxyethane, dimethoxymethane, dioxane, ethyl tert-butyl ether, methoxyethane, methyl tert-butyl ether, 2-methyltetrahydrofuran, tetrahydrofuran, dioxane, and tetrahydropyran and combinations thereof to form a mixture;

adding a long-chain fatty acid selected from the group consisting of myristoleic acid, palmitoleic acid, sapienic acid, oleic acid, linoleic acid, and alpha-linoleic acid and combinations thereof to the mixture;

adding a diamine reducing agent to the mixture;

allowing the mixture to react for between about 15 minutes and about 180 minutes; and

recovering silver nanofilaments, wherein the method is carried out at temperatures ranging from about 15° C. to about 25° C.

15. The method of claim 14 , wherein the diamine reducing agent has from two to six carbon atoms.

16. The method of claim 15 , wherein the diamine reducing agent is tetramethylethylene diamine.

17. A method of producing silver nanofilaments, the method comprising the steps of:

adding solid silver nitrate to tetrahydrofuran to form a mixture;

adding oleic acid to the mixture;

adding a diamine reducing agent to the mixture;

allowing the mixture to react for between about 15 minutes and about 180 minutes; and

recovering silver nanofilaments, wherein the method is carried out at temperatures ranging from about 15° C. to about 25° C.

18. The method of claim 17 , wherein the diamine reducing agent is tetramethylethylene diamine.