Lipid Nanotubes as an Organic Template for an Electrically Conductive Gold Nanostructure Network

Abstract

We demonstrate an approach to fabricate a gold nanowire network that presents a macroscopic electrical conductivity based on a lipid nanotube (LNT) template with attached gold nanoparticles. The poor electrical conductivity that we have previously faced was overcome by centrifugation and resuspension of gold nanoparticle solution for removing stabilizing agents, which increased the density of gold nanoparticles on the LNTs. An additional electroless metal plating further enhanced their contacts at nanoscale. Thanks to these procedures, the sheet resistance was improved by 11 orders of magnitude. As a proof of principle, transparent conductive films were fabricated with these gold nanowires, which exhibited sheet resistance of maximum 70 Ω/□ and transmittance of 50–75% in visible light.

Electroless Plating of Metal Nanomaterials

“…Coinage metal plating often employs organic reducers, notably formaldehyde, [82,85] but also milder variants such as tartrate, [54] glucose, [35,86] polyphenols, [87] ascorbic [41,88,89] or glyoxylic acid [90] . Due to its extraordinary nobility, gold can even be plated with H 2 O 2 [12,91] . Whereas carbon‐ and nitrogen‐based reducers yield pure deposits, [6,9,47] phosphorous‐ and boron‐based ones frequently cause heteroatom codeposition, which allows plating Ni−B and Ni−P alloys [27] .…”

“…[90] Due to its extraordinary nobility, gold can even be plated with H 2 O 2 . [12,91] Whereas carbon-and nitrogen-based reducers yield pure deposits, [6,9,47] phosphorous-and boronbased ones frequently cause heteroatom codeposition, which allows plating NiÀ B and NiÀ P alloys. [27] Heteroatom inclusion disturbs the deposit lattice, resulting in products of reduced crystallinity, down to semi-amorphous materials and metallic glasses, [27,66,92] albeit the exact nanostructure of such materials often is difficult to resolve and subject to debate.…”

Electroless Metallization of the Elements: Survey and Progress

“…The stringent requirements of modern electronics for the development of EL processes for precise control of the placement, dimensions, and morphology of metal components present as integral parts of ICs have, in turn, spurred uses in unrelated fields. Today EL metal applications also include Microelectromechanical Systems (MEMs), − magnetic materials, ,− advanced heating elements, chemical sensors, biodegradable electronics, forensic fingerprint visualization, enhancement, and preservation, − anticounterfeiting materials, , superhydrophobic surfaces for controlled wettability, − materials for enhanced electromagnetic interference (EMI) shielding, − lightweight battery, transparent, − and catalyst functionalized electrodes, − reproducible substrates for Surface-Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy (SERS), − passive electronic components, − permeable membranes, , wastewater remediation, energy storage, − self-healing materials, , composites, ,, supported metal and alloy catalysts, ,− and advanced optical materials, including metamaterials. , …”