Production of ultrafine single-crystal copper wires through electron beam irradiation of Cu-containing zeolite X

We report the controlled synthesis of bare, single-crystal copper nanowires, of high aspect ratio, through electron beam irradiation of copper-containing zeolite X. The precursor material was specially prepared from as-synthesized sodium zeolite X in a two stage process designed to maximize the number of copper ions bound within the zeolite. A high degree of experimental control over the copper wire length, its original location on the host crystallite and the crystal morphology has been achieved through judicious manipulation of the electron beam. Our results confirm that this promising new fabrication technique is not confined to silver but is applicable to other metals, which have previously been difficult to produce by other routes.