Electrodeposition of Pd–Ag alloy nanowires on highly oriented pyrolytic graphite

Abstract

This paper reports findings of an investigation of Pd–Ag alloy nanowires on the step edges of highly oriented pyrolytic graphite (HOPG) by electrochemical deposition at room temperature. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) images reveal that these alloy nanowires (109–430 nm) are uniform in diameter, and have lengths up to 100–500 μm. The electrodeposition process involves the initial formation of nanowires induced at the step edges of the oxidized HOPG substrate at a very negative potential and subsequent growth at a constant low current density to coalesce the discontinuous nanowires. Alloy nanowires with a 20–25% silver content can be obtained when the ratio of Pd and Ag in the solution is carefully controlled. The SEM images demonstrate that the alloy nanowire arrays are continuous, parallel, ordered, well-aligned and have a narrow distribution of diameters. The Pd–Ag alloy nanowire arrays are promising materials for fabricating hydrogen nanosensors.