Preparation of Ni/Cu composite nanowires

Ni/Cu composite nanowires were synthesized in an aqueous solution for the first time. The synthetic process consisted of two steps. Firstly, pure nickel nanowires were prepared through chemical reduction in solution under a magnetic field. Secondly, copper was reduced on the surface of the nickel nanowires, during which Ni/Cu composite nanowires with an average length of 80 µm and diameter of about 200 nm were synthesized. The products were characterized by XRD, SEM and TEM. The method has notable advantages: It is template-free, inexpensive, easy-to-operate, and it only needs a short reaction time, which makes it suitable for large-scale preparation.