Synthesis of Cu-Ag@Ag particles using hyperbranched polyester as template

In this manuscript, the third-generation hyperbranched polyester was synthesized with 2, 2-dimethylol propionic acid as AB 2 monomer and pentaerythrite as core molecule by using step by step polymerization process at first. Then, the Cu-Ag particles were prepared by co-reduction of silver nitrate and copper nitrate with ascorbic acid in the aqueous solution using hyperbranched polyester as template. Finally, the Cu-Ag@Ag particles were prepared by coating silver on the surface of Cu-Ag particles by reduction of silver nitrate. The synthesized hyperbranched polyester and Cu-Ag@Ag particles were characterized by Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy, UV-vis spectra, x-ray diffraction, Laser light scattering, thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and SEM. UV-vis spectra results showed that the Cu-Ag@Ag particles had a strong absorption band at around 420 nm. Laser light scattering and SEM studies confirmed that the most frequent particle sizes of Cu-Ag@Ag particles were 1.2 um. TGA results indicated that the Cu-Ag@Ag particles had good thermal stability.