Soft-chemical approach of noble metal nanowires templated from mesoporous silica (SBA-15) through vapor infiltration of a reducing agent

Noble metal (Pt, Ag, and Au) nanowires are synthesized by using mesoporous silica (SBA-15) powders as templates through vapor infiltration of a reducing agent (dimethylamine borane, DMAB) under the same reduction conditions. Because SBA-15 has micropores connecting mesochannels, Pt nanowires are connected and periodically packed, reflecting the micropores and the mesochannel arrangements in the original mesoporous silica. On the other hand, other metal (Ag and Au) nanowires are mainly unconnected. Such a difference is attributed to the relatively faster deposition rate of Ag and Au than Pt. Therefore, Ag and Au tend to grow rapidly along the mesochannels, and the metal deposition in micropores is insufficient to occur. The length of the metal nanowires is controlled by the reduction time. As a typical case, the surface plasmon resonance spectra of the Au nanowires embedded in SBA-15 change depending on the length of the nanowires. The present reduction is a soft-chemical, straightforward, and general approach, which has advantages for the synthesis of metal nanowires in large amounts.