“Nanostructured surfaces”
Formation of silver nanoparticles on the surface of silicon 
by galvanic replacement

M.V. Shepida, G.I. Zozula, O.I. Kuntyi

Lviv Polytechnic National University,
12 Bandera Str., Lviv 79013, Ukraine.
E-mail: maryana_shepida@ukr.net

Galvanic replacement of silver on a silicon substrate is one of the promising and economically feasible methods of its modification by nanoparticles of metals for the production of anti-reflective surfaces of photovoltaic converters [1]. In the last decade, such processes are studied in the environment of aprotic organic solvents, which prevents the secondary processes and provides controlled formation of nanostructures of metals on the substrate [2].
The possibility of deposition of silver nanoparticles, fixed on the surface of silicon, galvanic replacement in a medium of dimethylformamide is shown. The recovery of metal from stable complex ions – [Ag(CN)2]- provides significant cathode polarization, which promotes discrete nanoparticles with a relatively small range of their sizes (Fig.1). 

Fig.1 SEM image of a silicon surface deposited with silver galvanic replacement in solutions 0,1M (NH4)[Ag(CN)2] in DMF	

It was found out that the main parameters of influence on the geometry of discrete nanoparticles Ag is the composition of the solution, temperature and duration of the galvanic replacement process.

1.	Djokic S.S. Galvanic Deposition of Copper, Silver and Gold on Silicon Surfaces from Fluoride Free Aqueous Solutions // ECS Transactions. – 2017. – V.75. – P.15–25.
2. Dobrovets’ka O.Ya., Kuntyi O.I., Zozulya G.I., Saldan I.V., Reshetnyak O.V. Galvanic deposition of gold and palladium on magnesium by the method of substitution // Materials Science. – 2015. – V.51. – P.418–423.