Electrochemical preparation and surface properties of gold nanowire arraysformed by the template technique

A new procedure for preparing free-standing nanowire arrays is described. T his is based on a template method which entails electrochemical metal depos ition into nanometer-wide parallel pores of porous anodic oxide films on al uminum. By varying the preparation conditions and by applying electrochemic al posttreatment methods, gold nanowire arrays are prepared, whose morpholo gical and dimensional properties and oxygen content in the nanowire surface can be varied and investigated by SEM and XPS-characterization. The voltam metric behaviour of such nanowire arrays shows a significant enhancement of the ratio between the total electrolytically exposed surface area and the diffusionally accessible surface area in comparison with macroscopic flat g old electrodes.