Carbon-Nanotube-Templated and Pseudorotaxane-Formation-Driven Gold Nanowire Self-Assembly

A cation-modified multiwalled carbon nanotube is used to template the noncovalent self-assembly in solution of a gold nanowire from crown-modified gold nanoparticles. The driving force for self-assembly is formation of the surface-confined pseudorotaxane that results from the electron-poor cation threading the electron-rich crown.