The synthesis of monodispersed Ag nanosphere particles from silver nitrite in ethylene glycol at room temperature essentially promoted with the use of an electrochemical method was demonstrated. Poly(N-vinylpyrrolidone) (PVP) behaves electrochemically stable and facilitates the formation of well-defined Ag nanospheres of average size in the range of similar to 11 nm. Further characterization by high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) image and nano-beam electron diffraction (NBED) pattern indicate that the growth direction of Ag nanosphere particles is the < 111 > direction. The time evolution of absorption spectra by UV-Vis spectroscopy illustrates that silver nanoparticles in the electrolyte increase rapidly upon electrochemical process. (c) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.