A Mechanistic Study on the Formation of Silver Nanoplates in the Presence of Silver Seeds and Citric Acid or Citrate Ions

The world on a plate: In addition to their role as a capping agent that selectively binds to the {111} faces of silver, the carboxylate group can coordinate with Ag+ ions to form complexes and thus substantially reduce the reduction rate of Ag+ ions, leading to the formation of silver seeds with both twin planes and stacking faults.