Single-walled carbon nanotubes as templates and interconnects for nanoelectrodes

A bottom-up approach for metal nanoelectrode fabrication is described involving the electrodeposition of a noble-metal nanoparticle at the exposed end of a single-walled carbon nanotube (see figure). The nanotube end serves as a template for nanoparticle electrodeposition, while the tube itself interfaces the deposited nanoparticle with macroscopic leads. The fabrication method is general and can easily be adapted to generate single-particle electrodes or arrays.