Dendrimer-mediated hydrothermal synthesis of ultrathin gold nanowires

We report the use of poly(amidoamine) dendrimers as stabilizers to synthesize ultrathin Au nanowires (NWs) with a diameter of 1.3 nm via a hydrothermal approach. The formation of uniform Au NWs was optimized by varying the Au/Ag salt molar ratio, dendrimer stabilizers and reaction solvent, temperature and time. A novel growth mechanism involving a synergic facet-dependent deposition/reduction of Ag(I) and oriented migration of Au atoms is proposed based on density functional theory calculations and the experimental results. This work can significantly expand the scope of dendrimers as stabilizers to generate metal NWs in aqueous solution that may be further functionalized for different applications.