Preparation of Ag/Cu Janus nanowires: Electrodeposition in track-etched polymer templates

Bimetal (Janus) nanowire has been widely used as a promising nanoscale motor. In this paper we present a highly controllable method to fabricate Ag/Cu Janus nanowires using track-etched polymer templates. Ag/Cu Janus nanowires with uniform size and stabilized structure have been successfully fabricated by electrodepositing Ag nanowires, and subsequently Cu nanowires in track-etched polymer templates. The pore size of nanopores prepared by this template is uniform and continuously controlled, so aperture of achieved nanowires are uniform and can be regulated. This polymer template can dissolve inorganic solvents that do not react with the nanowires, making it is easy to release the nanowires into solution. The nanopore shape in the track-etched templates is adjustable (e.g. conical), nanowires with more special shapes could be fabricated. Thus, these features make this simple and inexpensive method very suitable for the preparation of Janus nanowire.