Self-assembled dendritic nanowires of Au-Pt alloy through electrodeposition from solution under AC fields

Au-Pt dentritic nanowires (DNWs) bridging a pair of 10-40 mu m spacing electrodes were successfully self-assembled from the corresponding ions solution via deposition of an alternating current (AC). The morphology and the composition of Au-Pt DNWs were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy-dispersion X-ray (EDX) spectrometer. In the electrolyte of various molar ratios of [AuCl4](-)/[PtCl6](2-), Au-Pt DNWs with 8-95 at% Pt were fabricated through applying a constant voltage 8-16 V-pp and varied frequencies of 300 Hz for nucleation and 1 MHz for growth. The DNWs have the diameter range of 100-200 nm. The X-ray diffraction (XRD) results confirmed that the DNWs of 20 or 80at% Pt have the alloy phase structure. Au-Pt DNWs are promising nanomaterials of chemical sensors, bioelectronic circuits and nanoelectronic interconnection. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.