Electrodeposition of Metal Nanostructures by Galvanic Displacement Powered with Insoluble Crystals of a Ferrocene Derivative

The deposition of metal nanostructures (wires and particles) on a graphite surface from an aqueous electrolyte solution was induced by galvanic displacement, via the oxidation of insoluble crystals of a ferrocene derivative (either n‐butyl ferrocene or decamethyl ferrocene) present on the same substrate. Micron‐to‐millimetre‐scale crystallites of decamethyl ferrocene were deposited on the graphite surface by evaporation from a solution of a nonpolar solvent (1,2‐dichloroethane). Immersion of this modified surface into a dilute solution of a metal ion (e.g., CuII, AgI, PdII, PtII and others) caused the deposition of metal nanoparticles at step edges present on the graphite surface. The reducing equivalents required for the metal deposition process are provided by oxidation of the ferrocene derivative on the surface, as directly evidenced by elemental analysis and chronoamperometric experimental data presented here. Small electrochemistry: A novel method for the deposition of noble metal nanostructures on conducting substrates is reported. Modification of graphite surfaces with electron donors leads to the preferential formation of nanowires on substrate step edges following immersion in appropriate aqueous solutions (see picture).