The one-step preparation of nanowires using a facile ultrafiltration technique: the case for biomedical chitosan and/or iron oxide nanowires

This work presents the employment of a frequently-used ultrafiltration technique to drastically reduce the time required for the synthesis of chitosan nanowires, iron oxide nanowires and their complex nanowires. Instead of synthesizing iron oxide nanowires using time-consuming template and hydrothermal methods, a centrifugation force provides a tangential flow to force both iron ions and/or the diluted chitosan solution to pass through a filter and co-precipitate into nanowires within 1 min. Two parameters, centrifugation force and alkaline concentration, can directly control the diameters and lengths of nanowires.