Morphology-controlled transformation of Cu@Au core-shell nanowires into thermally stable Cu3Au intermetallic nanowires

Multimetallic nanowires with long-range atomic ordering hold the promise of unique physicochemical properties in many applications. Here we demonstrate the synthesis and study the stability of Cu₃Au intermetallic nanowires. The synthesis is achieved by using Cu@Au core-shell nanowires as precursors. With appropriate Cu/Au stoichiometry, the Cu@Au core-shell nanowires are transformed into fully ordered Cu₃Au nanowires under thermal annealing. Thermally-driven atom diffusion accounts for this transformation as revealed by X-ray diffraction and electron microscopy studies. The twin boundaries abundant in the Cu@Au core-shell nanowires facilitate the ordering process. The resulting Cu₃Au intermetallic nanowires have uniform and accurate atomic positioning in the crystal lattice, which enhances the nobility of Cu. No obvious copper oxides are observed in fully ordered Cu₃Au nanowires after annealing in air at 200 °C, a temperature that is much higher than those observed in Cu@Au core-shell and pure Cu nanowires. This work opens up an opportunity for further research into the development and applications of intermetallic nanowires.