Towards fabrication of synthetic metal nanowires

We characterise the adsorption of a simple organofunctional silane (PTMS) on a böhmite (γ-Al2O3·H2O) substrate and compare it to adsorption on the native oxide of aluminium. The adsorption isotherm of PTMS on böhmite is found to resemble the isotherm for the adsorption on the native oxide in structure but with a significantly reduced coverage. The contrast in adsorption properties on the two substrates provides a method of patterning potentially suitable for the fabrication of a synthetic metal nanowire.