The role of OH ⁻ in the formation of highly selective gold nanowires at extreme pH: multi-fold enhancement in the rate of the catalytic reduction reaction by gold nanowires

and the growth mechanism advocates elongation in the [110] facet of Au [110] as opposed to the [100] or [111] facets. Curcumin capped Au nanowires serve as excellent nano-catalysts for the reduction of nitro-compounds and the rate of reduction of 4-nitrophenol, a model compound, by curcumin capped Au NWs is found to be ∼10 fold higher, compared to Au NPs, which signifies that catalytic activities can be dictated by the size and shape of Au NPs.