We describe the electrochemical deposition of lead selenide (PbSe) nanowire arrays by the lithographically patterned nanowire electrodeposition (LPNE) method. The nanowires were electrodeposited using a constant potential method from an aqueous solution containing Pb(2+) and HSeO(3)(-) at room temperature onto an electrode that had been photopatterned in unfiltered laboratory air. The resulting polycrystalline nanowires. were stoichometric, face-centered cubic PbSe and had a rectangular cross section with lengths > 1 mm, widths between 80 and 600 nm, and heights between 40 and 80 nm. The synthesized nanowires were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive X-ray fluorescence (EDX), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), selected area electron diffraction (SAED), and powder X-ray diffraction (XRD). The electrical resistivity of the nanowires is comparable to that of other PbSe nanowires.

The separate fields of conducting polymer-based electrochemical sensors and virus-based molecular recognition offer numerous advantages for biosensing. Grafting M13 bacteriophage into an array of poly (3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) (PEDOT) nanowires generated hybrids of conducting polymers and viruses. The virus incorporation into the polymeric backbone of PEDOT occurs during electropolymerization via lithographically patterned nanowire electrodeposition. The resultant arrays of virus-PEDOT nanowires enable real-time, reagent-free electrochemical biosensing of analytes in physiologically relevant buffers.