• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.34 no.10
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• pp.2865-2870
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• 2013

Ni-Ag core-shell nanoparticles were synthesized by polyol process and microemulsion technique successfully. In the polyol process, a chemical reduction method for preparing highly dispersed pure nickel and Ag shell formation have been reported. The approach involved the control of reaction temperature and reaction time in presence of organic solvent (ethylene glycol) as a reducing agent for Ag cation with poly(vinyl-pyrrolidone) (PVP. Mw = 40000) as a capping agent. In microemulsion method, the emulsion was prepared by water/cetyltrimetylammonium bromide (CTAB)/cyclohexane. The size of microemulsion droplet was determined by the molar ratio of water to surfactant (${\omega}_o$). The core-shell formation along with the change in structural phase and stability against oxidation at high temperature heat treatments of nanoparticles were investigated by X-ray diffraction and TEM analysis. Under optimum conditions the polyol process gives the Ni-Ag core-shell structures with 13 nm Ni core covered with 3 nm Ag shell, while the microemulsion method gives Ni core diameter of 8 nm with Ag shell of thickness 6 nm. The synthesized Ni-Ag core-shell nanoparticles were stable against oxidation up to $300^{\circ}C$.

• Journal of the Korean institute of surface engineering
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• v.49 no.6
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• pp.507-512
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• 2016

Expensive silver powder is used to form electrodes in most IT equipment, and recently, many attempts have been made to lower manufacturing costs by developing powders with Ag-Ni or Ag-Cu core-shell structures. This study examined the sintering behavior of Ag-Ni electrode powder with a core-shell structure for silicon solar cell with high energy efficiency. The electrode powder was found to have a surface similar to pure Ag powder, and cross-sectional analysis revealed that Ag was uniformly coated on Ni powder. Each electrode was formed by sintering in the range of $500^{\circ}C$ to $800^{\circ}C$, and the specimen sintered at $600^{\circ}C$ had the lowest sheet resistance of $5.5m{\Omega}/{\Box}$, which is about two times greater than that of pure Ag. The microstructures of electrodes formed at varying sintering temperatures were examined to determine why sheet resistance showed a minimum value at $600^{\circ}C$. The electrode formed at $600^{\circ}C$ had the best Ag connectivity, and thus provided a better path for the flow of electrons.