Nanostructures formed by Ag nanowires

Abstract

Silver nanowires are prepared by electroplating into an anodic aluminium oxide (AAO)template. After the AAO template was removed by chemical etching, the surface of Agnanowires was further modified by pulse DC electroplating. Various Ag nanobranches aregrown on the surface of the Ag nanowire. This study discusses the influence of the pulseDC voltage and bias on the surface morphologies of Ag nanowires. The curvature of thenanowire surface is found to be the main factor in the growth of nanobranches. Thesurface morphology of the nanowire is adjustable by changing its growth rate. Radiiof curvatures of the surfaces of approximately 33, 12 and 3 nm are obtained byelectroplating at 1, 3 and 4 V DC voltages, respectively. The crystal size of a nanowiredetermined by x-ray diffraction analysis is almost independent of the growthconditions. Pulse DC electroplating conditions yield different growth rates of thenanobranch and create various surface morphologies of the nanowire. A morehighly curved surface has a more localized charge and grows nanobranches faster.Surface roughness dominates the growth of nanobranches from silver nanowire.