Polymer-Template-Assisted Growth of Gold Nanowires Using a Novel Flow-Stream Technique

• Published in: Langmuir 2009-10, Vol.25 (19), p.11815-11821
• Main Authors: Metwalli, E, Moulin, J.-F, Perlich, J, Wang, W, Diethert, A, Roth, S. V, Müller-Buschbaum, P
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adsorption; Chemistry; Colloidal state and disperse state; Exact sciences and technology; General and physical chemistry; Gold - chemistry; Materials: Nano-and Mesostructured Materials, Polymers, Gels, Liquid Crystals, Composites; Nanowires - chemistry; Physical and chemical studies. Granulometry. Electrokinetic phenomena; Polymers - chemistry; Scattering, Small Angle; Surface physical chemistry; X-Ray Diffraction
• ISSN: 0743-7463; 1520-5827
• DOI: 10.1021/la901432j

By utilizing a fluidic device, a gold nanoparticle dispersion is cast onto a nanostructured polymer template using solution subjected to hydrodynamic flow. With in situ grazing incidence small-angle X-ray scattering (GISAXS), the progressive gold deposition from a stream of gold solution onto the polymer template of a diblock copolymer with parallel cylinder morphology arranged into powder-like domains is investigated. The continuously flowing solution causes a systematic increase in the X-ray contrast between both of the microphase-separated blocks of the block copolymer film, indicating flow-induced selective gold immobilization on one block. Both in situ GISAXS data and atomic force microscopy of the metal-deposited polymer film prove the 1D coalescence of nanoparticles into continuous nanowires. With additional gold nanoparticle upload by the continuous flow-stream method, the selectivity of the nanoparticle deposition diminishes as a result of the formation of a pseudo uniform gold layer. Consequently, this flow-stream deposition technique introduces an easy alternative method to the vapor deposition technique for surface gold nanopatterning.