Horrocks BR

Houlton A

Mohamed HDA

Watson SMD

Two methods for the preparation of rhodium nanowires are described: (i) electroless metal deposition at duplex DNA \u27template\u27 molecules in bulk solution and (ii) electrochemical reduction in DNA-containing solution at a modified electrode. Both methods render essentially similar 1D nanostructures with a Rh/Rh-oxide core-shell structure. AFM studies revealed the resulting nanostructures are typically &lt; 10 nm in diameter with continuous and smooth metal coatings. However, the latter method was less effective with samples containing an similar to 3-fold increase in the bare template DNA remaining. A combination of SPM methods demonstrated the structures to be electrically conducting, hence confirming their nanowire nature. The conductivity was, however, several orders of magnitude lower than that of bulk Rh; a fact attributed to the presence of resistance-increasing mechanisms, such as grain boundaries present in the Rh coatings and electron surface scattering

Chemical and electrochemical routes to DNA-templated rhodium nanowires

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