A new procedure for the template synthesis of metal nanowires

A new procedure for the fabrication of metal nanowires by template assisted electrodeposition using porous polycarbonate templates is described. A thin sputtered film of silver (≤15 nm) was deposited onto one side of the template. The silver seed layer was used to catalyse electroless copper deposition and a copper layer was grown on top (300 - 500 nm) in less than 10 min. The copper layer served to seal the pores of the template and to form an electrode of high electrical conductivity. The copper layer was easily removed with a chemical etchant to aid the release of the nanowires from the template mask after growth. To demonstrate the process, copper nanowires were prepared by controlled potential deposition and characterised by SEM and TEM. This new procedure has the ability to be applied to the preparation of a wide range of metallic nanostructures over a wide range of scales. It avoids the need for an extended vacuum deposition step and has the advantage of using low cost metals in a combined short vacuum / wet chemical process so as to form the critical electrode layer for nanowire growth.

Publisher Statement: NOTICE: this is the author’s version of a work that was accepted for publication in Electrochemistry Communications. Changes resulting from the publishing process, such as peer review, editing, corrections, structural formatting, and other quality control mechanisms may not be reflected in this document. Changes may have been made to this work since it was submitted for publication. A definitive version was subsequently published in Electrochemistry Communications, [87, (2017)] DOI: 10.1016/j.elecom.2017.11.022

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