Cu-Au alloy nanotubes with five-fold twinned structure and their application in surface-enhanced Raman scattering

Cu-Au alloy nanostructures have received considerable attention in recent years due to their widespread use in applications such as catalysis, photonics and surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) detection. In this article, a template-based strategy has been developed to synthesize Cu-Au nanotubes with five-fold twinned structure by using Cu nanowires as templates and AuPPh3Cl as Au precursors in the organic phase of oleylamine. It was verified that high quality Cu- Au alloy nanotubes could result from the Cu-Au alloy effect, the Kirkendall effect, and the galvanic replacement reaction. It was also demonstrated that the Cu-Au alloy nanotubes may have potential applications in SERS detection because of their good stability and convenience for building hot spots.