Synthesis and Characterization of Noble Metal Nanowires by Electrodeposition in Porous Anodic Alumina Membranes

Abstract

Electrochemical deposition is a very efficient method for producing many types of modern materials. This method is not expensive and does not have a limit for sample size. In our work, the preparation of Ag and Au nanowires is presented. The obtained nanowires had different diameter and length, which were tunable by template porous material and time of deposition, respectively. The quality of the prepared wires was dependent also on deposition mode. The smallest wires of the diameter around 29 nm were prepared in porous anodic alumina oxide obtained from sulfuric acid. The largest ones, around 44 nm, were produced in oxalic acid. The morphology and surface structure of the AAO films were examined before and after electrodeposition by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), atomic force microscope (AFM), and x-ray diffraction spectroscopy.