Gold nanowires: Deposition, characterization and application to the Mass Spectrometry detection of low-molecular weight analytes

• Published in: 2009 3rd International Workshop on Advances in sensors and Interfaces pp. 20 - 24
• Main Authors: Colaianni, L., Kung, S.C., Taggart, D., De Giorgio, V., Greaves, J., Cioffi, N., Penner, R.M.
• Format: Conference Proceeding
• Language: English
• Published: IEEE 01.06.2009
• Subjects: Atomic force microscopy; Electron beams; Fabrication; Gold; Lithography; Mass spectroscopy; Nanowires; Photoelectron microscopy; Scanning electron microscopy; Transmission electron microscopy
• ISBN: 9781424447084; 1424447089
• DOI: 10.1109/IWASI.2009.5184761

Nanowire fabrication methods are usually classified either as dasiatop downpsila, including for example photo- or electron beam-lithography, or dasiabottom uppsila, involving the synthesis of nanowires from smaller precursors. Lithographically patterned nanowire electrodeposition (LPNE) combines the attributes of the photolithography approach with the versatility of bottom-up electrodeposition methods. In the present study, gold nanowires (Au-NWs) have been electrodeposited using LPNE. The nanomaterials have been then subjected to a spectroscopic and morphological characterization by means of X-Ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS), Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM), X-Ray Diffraction (XRD) and Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM). Finally, Au-NWs have been successfully used as desorption/ionization promoters for the Laser-Induced Desorption-Ionization Mass Spectrometry (LDI-MS) detection of low-molecular weight analytes, such as amino acids and peptides.