Tunable synthesis of ultrathin AuAg nanowires and their catalytic applications

Metallic nanowires (NWs) are very interesting and important nanomaterials with unique properties and a number of potential applications. Herein we report a tunable synthesis of water soluble ultrathin AuAg NWs. By using TEM and UV-vis spectroscopy, we demonstrate that these NWs can be produced by a new two-step process, which involves the formation of NW templates during the aging period and the subsequent formation of thicker NWs by a solvent driven fusion and wetting process. Our control studies further show that silver concentration plays a key role in the formation of these nanowires. We also demonstrate that these nanowires can effectively catalyse the reduction of 4-nitrophenol to the corresponding 4-aminophenol. Interestingly, the larger diameter ultrathin nanowires (av. 8 nm) exhibit a greater catalytic performance than the thinner nanowires (av. 3 nm). We believe that these studies are important for further development of one dimensional metal based nanomaterials, which may find a range of potential research and technological applications.