Facile synthesis and characterization of Au–Cu, Pt–Cu nanotubes by sacrificial template method

•Au–Cu and Pt–Cu nanotubes are synthesized in aqueous solution.•Cu nanowire is used as sacrificial template.•The structure of the alloy nanotubes could be tuned.•It is a general method for noble metal alloy nanotube synthesis.

Bimetallic nanotubes with noble metals have already shown more versatile performances than single-metallic nanotubes. However, most of the current methods to prepare bimetallic nanotubes are based on existed hard template, which could not be easily removed after the formation of bimetallic nanotubes. It is still a challenge for synthesizing bimetallic nanotubes without the template removing subsequently. In this research, we developed a novel method to prepare noble metal–copper (Cu) bimetallic nanotubes with Cu nanowires as the sacrificial template. The aqueous solutions with chloroauric acid or palladium chloride were used to bring displacement reaction with Cu nanowires. The simultaneous alloying effect and Kirkendall effect result in hollow nanostructures. The Cu nanowire was converted to a bimetallic hollow with Au–Cu or Pt–Cu alloy nanotubes. This facile method could achieve large-scale preparation of bimetallic nanotubes with noble metals. Furthermore, this alloy nanotube shows superior electrochemical catalytic performance than single-metallic nanoparticles.

Graphical abstractThe Au–Cu and Pt–Cu alloy nanotubes were synthesized by sacrificial template method based on Cu nanowires as templates. This synthesis was in aqueous solution, thus could be a green method for large-scale productions of alloy nanotubes with noble metal.Figure optionsDownload full-size imageDownload as PowerPoint slide