Curving of tellurium nanowires with gold in the presence of bovine serum albumin

Abstract

Controlling the shapes of one dimensional nanostructures could advance electronics at nanoscale. In this article the curving of Tellurium Nanowires (Te NWs) with gold in the presence of bovine serum albumin (BSA) is studied. The reactivity of Te NWs with NaOH showed that Te NWs were etched along their ends. When HAuCl4 was added, it was observed that gold nanoparticles formed on the Te NWs. Incorporation of BSA resulted in the formation of gold decorated curved nanowires at 50 mM NaOH. Also, the nanowires became curved. When the concentration of NaOH was increased to 250 mM the original shape of the Te NWs was preserved. XRD data indicated that gold and tellurium did not form any mixed phases. Photoluminescence and UV/Vis studies showed that the optical characteristics of gold decorated Te NWs is different from that of Te NWs. Photoluminescence and UV/Vis studies also showed that the optical characteristics of luminescent Au quantum clusters using BSA (BSA-Au NC) was modified in the presence of Te NWs. This research shows that nanowire could be curved using gold, protein and mild reducing agent (NaOH). This research could benefit fields such as nanoelectronics where controlling the shapes of the nanowires might of useful.