Electrochemical fabrication of ordered Ag2S nanowire arrays

We have successfully fabricated ordered crystalline Ag2S nanowire arrays by direct current electrodeposition into the nanochannels of porous anodic aluminum oxide templates from a dimethylsulfoxide solution containing AgNO3 and elemental S. X-ray diffraction and the selected area electron diffraction investigations demonstrate that the Ag2S nanowires are a uniform actanthite structure. Electromicroscopy results show that the nanowires are quite ordered with diameters of about 40 nm and lengths up to 5 μm. X-ray energy dispersion analysis indicates that the atomic composition of Ag and S is very close to a 2:1 stoichiometry. Furthermore, a possible mechanism for the formation of the Ag2S nanowires is proposed.