Silver chloride was synthesized using a water-soluble polyelectrolyte as a capping agent. X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), atomic force microscopy (AFM) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) were employed to characterize morphology, structure and phase transition of as-prepared silver chloride. XRD, SEM and AFM confirms the formation of nanoplates of AgCl with a polygonal edge of diameter similar to 250-300 nm. These nanoplates are found to be thermally stable up to its melting temperature (similar to 455 degrees C) with smaller value of melting enthalpy and higher room temperature conductivity values compared to pristine silver chloride (sigma(Nanoplate)/sigma(Pristinc)approximate to 10(4)). (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.