A new procedure for the fabrication of metal nanowires by template-assisted electrodeposition using porous polycarbonate templates is described. A thin sputtered film of silver (≤ 15 nm) was deposited onto one side of the template. The silver seed layer was used to catalyse electroless copper deposition and a copper layer was grown on top (300–500 nm) in less than 10 min. The copper layer served to seal the pores of the template and to form an electrode of high electrical conductivity. The copper layer was easily removed with a chemical etchant to aid the release of the nanowires from the template mask after growth. To demonstrate the process, copper nanowires were prepared by controlled potential deposition and characterised by SEM and TEM. This new procedure has the ability to be applied to the preparation of a wide range of metallic nanostructures over a wide range of scales. It avoids the need for an extended vacuum deposition step and has the advantage of using low-cost metals in a combined short vacuum/wet chemical process so as to form the critical electrode layer for nanowire growth.

描述了一种使用多孔聚碳酸酯模板通过模板辅助电沉积法制造金属纳米线的新方法。银的溅射薄膜（≤15 nm）沉积在模板的一侧。银种子层用于催化化学镀铜，并在不到10分钟的时间内在顶部（300-500 nm）上生长了一层铜。铜层用于密封模板的孔并形成高电导率的电极。易于用化学蚀刻剂去除铜层，以帮助生长后从模板掩模释放纳米线。为了证明这一过程，通过控制电位沉积制备了铜纳米线，并用SEM和TEM对其进行了表征。该新方法能够应用于制备各种规模的各种金属纳米结构。它避免了延长真空沉积步骤的需要，并且具有在组合的短真空/湿化学工艺中使用低成本金属的优势，从而形成了用于纳米线生长的关键电极层。