Selective synthesis of novel in and in3 sn nanowires by an organometallic route at room temperature.

Simply decomposing InCp at room temperature in the presence of hexadecylamine leads to the formation of indium nanowires with a crystalline bct structure, a mean diameter of about 200 nm, and lengths in the micrometer range. The method can be extended to the preparation of In3 Sn nanowires of about 100 nm in diameter (a transmission electron micrograph is shown in the picture). Cp=C5 H5 (-) .