Synthesis of Organic-Metal Hybrid Nanowires by Cooperative Self-Organization of Tetrathiafulvalene and Metallic Gold via Charge-Transfer

Organic-metal hybrid nanowires were synthesized by cooperative self-organization of the one-dimensional stacking of tetrathiafulvalene (TTF) via charge-transfer interaction with metallic gold originating from the redox reaction between TTF and gold ions. The nanowires can be easily obtained as purple precipitates just by mixing TTF and HAuCl4 in a CH3CN solution at room temperature. The feed molar ratio of TTF to HAuCl4 was 4.4. The average diameter and length of the observed nanowires were 90 +/- 36 nm and 15 +/- 3 microm, respectively. The formation was facilitated by the arrangement of the neutral and oxidized TTF along the one direction in a mix-valence state, which was confirmed by a broad absorption that appeared in the region of 2000 nm and the composition of the nanowires of [(TTFCl(0.78))Au(0.12)].