Electrochemical synthesis of copper nanowires

Large-scale copper nanowires have been fabricated by potentiostatic electrochemical deposition (ECD) of copper sulphate solution within the nanochannels of porous anodic alumina templates. Scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, selected-area electron diffraction and x-ray diffraction techniques were used to characterize the copper nanowires obtained. It is found that the individual copper nanowires are dense and continuous, with uniform diameters (60 nm) along the entire lengths of the wires (30 mum). The single-crystal and polycrystal copper nanowires can be prepared by choosing suitable applied potentials in the copper ECD processes. Moreover, the formation of copper oxides in nanochannels is also discussed in detail. The investigation results reveal that a lower overpotential is necessary to fabricate copper nanowires with fine crystalline structures by the potentiostatic ECD technique.