Template-Directed, Near-Ambient Synthesis of Au–TiO2–Au Heterojunction Nanowires Mediated by Self-Assembled Monolayers (SAMs)

The feasibility of synthesizing metal–oxide–metal (MOM) heterojunction nanowires in the Au–TiO2–Au system is demonstrated. The synthesis method presented here entails sequential metal-electroplating and SAMs-mediated deposition of oxide from liquid precursors, inside nanoholes of anodic aluminum oxide (AAO) templates. This synthesis method could be used to synthesize MOM nanowires in other systems, and it has the potential to provide control over the structure and characteristics of the resulting MOM nanowires. The heterojunction nature of the MOM nanowires has several potential advantages over all-oxide nanowires, and MOM nanowires are likely to be useful as 1-dimensional building blocks in nanoelectronics applications, and in fundamental studies of nanoscale functional oxides.