Synthesis of High Aspect-Ratio Gold Nanowires with Highly Porous Morphology

Figure 1

The process for synthesizing porous gold nanowires by template electrodeposition with chemical etching: a nanoporous template (a) is coated on one side with a conductive layer (b). Gold and the sacrificial metal are then simultaneously electroplated exclusively into the template pores onto the conductive layer (c). The resulting alloy filled template (d) is then treated to de-alloy the nanowires (and thereby form pores) (e), followed by removal of the template to isolate the nanowires.