The work function of bulk silver is cited as 4.6eV. Will there be any change in the work function of the metal when the dimension is reduced to nanometer? In this case a nanowire whose diameter is less than 100 nm and length is about 10 um. Will a electrode composed of the above mentioned silver nanowire have the same work function as that of bulk silver or will there be any change due to the nanoscale dimensional constraint?
The work function is surface-dependent, so you already have
Ag(100) 4.64eV
Ag(110) 4.52eV
Ag(111) 4.74eV
Article Work function measurements on (100) and (110) surfaces of silver
Since I assume that your nanowires will not have only one of these facets, but also higher-index contributions, their work function would probably be between the range given above and the value for polycrystalline silver (4.26eV).
Article Solution Process Fabrication of Silver Nanowire Composite Tr...
You can go through this paper.