(400g) Study of the Electrochemical Growth of Charge Transfer Complex Nanowires and Their Application in Gas Sensing

In this work we study the electrochemical growth mechanism of charge transfer complex nanowires. Using ultra-microelectrodes (UME), we analyzed the effect of the applied potential and the precursor concentration on the growth morphology. The results show a linear growth of the nanowires under a constant potential. The morphology of the nanowires changes from elongated single crystals at low potentials towards agglomerated feather-like structures at high potentials. The growth rate is exponentially dependent on the precursor concentration. This behavior suggests that the nanowire growth is limited by the formation of nuclei at the end of the nanowires during the epitaxial growth. The nanowires grown on the UME have higher aspect ratios than those grown on planar electrodes. The electric properties of the nanowires were studied and used in the fabrication of a single nanowire gas sensing device.