Alkynyl ligands-induced growth of ultrathin nanowires arrays.

Ligands are almost essential in the synthesis of nanostructures. In this work, we introduce the alkynyl ligands into the synthesis of ultrathin gold (Au) nanowires arrays. The strong binding affinity of the alkynyl ligands enables one-dimensional (1D) growth via the active surface growth mechanism. The scope of the ligand generality was systematically investigated, and the alkynyl ligand-induced nanowire growth processes were compared and contrasted with those involving thiolated ligands. While strong ligands are usually difficult to dissociate from the nanostructure surface and therefore problematic for post-synthetic processing, the alkynyl ligands are readily dissociable, making the alkynyl ligand-stabilized Au nanowires potentially more modifiable and applicable. As a demonstration, direct palladium (Pd) deposition on the Au nanowires was successfully carried out without any ligand exchange process.