Figure 2.

Long-term dispersion stability and coagulation of optimized AgNCs. (a,b) Size distributions of the AgNC^opt measured by confocal DLS. The ordinates of (a) and (b) are the particle number fraction and intensity of the scattered light obtained by an analysis of the measured time autocorrelation function, respectively. The result of (b) clearly indicates that the aggregation of AgNPs progress with time. (c–f) SEM images of the dried surface of the AgNC^opt; (c) and (d) are those dried after 1 day has passed as a colloid after the synthesis, while (e) and (f) are those after 3 months have passed as a colloid after the synthesis.