Palladium-Coated Single Silver Nanowire Electrodes: Size-Dependent Voltammetry, Enhanced Chemical Stability, and High Performance for Methanol Oxidation.

Silver nanowires (AgNWs) have been extensively studied as promising nanomaterials in optics, next-generation flexible electronics, and energy-related fields, but the stability and the properties at single-nanowire level still need to be investigated carefully. We have successfully prepared single palladium@silver nanowire electrodes (Pd@AgNWEs) by using a laser-assisted pulling method, followed by a galvanic replacement reaction (GRR). The results show that the chemical stability of AgNWs can be improved greatly by coating a small amount of Pd, and the Pd@AgNWEs exhibit superior electrocatalytic performance in methanol oxidation. This work can give us a new insight to investigate the performance of devices/catalysts at the single-particle/nanowire level that will benefit research in flexible electronics and energy-related fields.