Microwave synthesis of branched silver nanowires and their use as fillers for high thermal conductivity polymer composites

We report a rapid synthesis approach to obtain branched Ag nanowires by microwave-stimulated polyvinylpyrrolidone-directed polyol-reduction of silver nitrate. Microwave exposure results in micrometer-long nanowires passivated with polyvinylpyrrolidone. Cooling the reaction mixture by interrupting microwave exposure promotes nanocrystal nucleation at low-surfactant coverage sites. The nascent nuclei grow into nanowire branches upon further microwave exposure. Dispersions of low fractions of the branched nanowires in polydimethylsiloxane yield up to 60% higher thermal conductivity than that obtained using unbranched nanowire fillers. Our findings should be useful for realizing nanocomposites with tailored thermal transport properties for applications.