- Materials
- Forms
- Reference Materials
-
Services
-
Services
-
-
Sectors
-
Supporting cutting edge research and development with advanced materials to your needs.
High performance materials for extreme conditions.
Innovative and lightweight materials with high mechanical properties and durability.
Materials used in chemical engineering from consumables to innovative solutions.
Advanced materials characterized by high electrical or insulation performance.
High quality materials for renewable energy.
Biocompatible and biodegradable materials to the highest standards.
High purity, biocompatible materials for high performance devices and applications.
High purity metals and alloys in various forms and crucibles suitable to your needs.
State of the art materials for the next generation of technologies.
High performance materials for extreme conditions.
Durable materials for corrosive environments.
Foils, disks or windows across a range of materials to facilitate your innovation.
Polymers, metal foils, and sustainable materials for your packaging needs.
Your requirements for unique products and attributes will be met across our 170,000+ product range and customization capabilities.
High-quality materials across branded products in various forms including rods, wires, and foils support space technology needs.
Highest quality materials to support your need for small-quantity specialist materials such as graphite and lithium compounds.
High purity materials to improve the reproducibility and reliability of your evaporation processes.
-
- Brands
-
Resources
-
Find out our latest news.
Read our latest insights, and opinions.
Discover our Innovation Discovered podcasts on innovation, products, interesting topics, and more.
Find out how we've worked with our partners
Our latest updates on what we are doing, find out more.
Find out more about us and the great roles we have available for talented individuals. Find out more.
Take a look at our global distributors.
Explore our FAQ resource to help answer your key questions.
Gain a clearer picture of the language used in scientific study
-
- About Us
Gold Spooled Wire
Available Configurations
Properties common to all products in this list
| Purity | Diameter | Length | Temper Options |
|---|---|---|---|
| 99.95% to 99.999% | 0.01mm to 1mm | 0.025m to 150m | Annealed, As Drawn, Hard |
Need custom configurations? Please contact our Technical Solutions team.
Key Features
Gold wire possesses a combination of material characteristics that make it particularly well suited for electronics, aerospace, biomedical, and scientific applications:
Exceptional Chemical Inertness
Gold is highly resistant to oxidation and corrosion, maintaining chemical stability in a wide range of environments, including strong acids, alkalis, and oxidising gases. Its stability under aggressive conditions ensures long-term reliability in corrosive or reactive systems.
High Melting Point (1,064 °C)
With a high melting point of 1,064 °C, gold remains stable in extreme thermal conditions. This makes it ideal for high-temperature wiring in furnace thermocouples, soldering fixtures, and aerospace wiring harnesses.
High Density (19.32 g/cm³)
Gold's high density provides excellent structural stability, helping it resist stretching or deformation over time — even in ultra-thin gauges. This makes it ideal for precision applications like inductors, resonators, RF coil windings, and MEMS devices.
High Electrical Conductivity (22.14 nΩ·m)
Gold wire's excellent electrical conductivity ensures low resistivity, making it ideal for high-reliability electrical contacts, microelectronic interconnects, and bonding wires in semiconductor packages. Its stable performance minimises voltage drop and ensures consistent signal transmission.
Optical Reflectivity & Infrared Performance
Gold wire's excellent infrared reflectivity and optical stability support its use in photonic circuits, plasmonic waveguides, and near-field optical probes. These properties are valuable in nanoscale light manipulation, biosensing platforms, and high-resolution spectroscopy techniques.
Exceptional Ductility & Tensile Strength
Gold wire offers exceptional ductility and can achieve greater tensile strength through work-hardening. It withstands repeated bending and coiling without cracking, enabling reliable spring contacts, wire bonding, and flexible circuit interconnects.
Biocompatibility
Naturally bioinert and non-toxic, gold wire is used in implantable medical leads, neuroelectrodes, biosensor wiring, and even dental applications. It does not trigger adverse immune responses, making it suitable for prolonged contact with biological tissues and fluids.
Industrial Applications
High-purity gold wire is employed across high-technology sectors for its high electrical performance, chemical inertness, mechanical resilience, and biocompatibility:
- ✦ Aerospace & Space Systems
- Used in spacecraft wiring harnesses, thermocouple leads, and precision coil windings. Gold wire's resistance to oxidation, radiation, and vacuum environments ensures reliable power and signal transmission over long durations.
- ✦ Electronics & Semiconductor Packaging
- The industry standard for integrated circuit wire bonding, gold wire forms ultra-fine interconnects between chips and their external contacts. Its oxide-free surface and excellent weldability help ensure reliable connection in microprocessors, memory chips, and other advanced electronic devices.
- ✦ RF & Microwave Engineering
- Used in precision inductors, transformers, and RF coil windings for satellite communications and defence electronics. Its excellent conductivity and resistance to oxidation ensure stable performance at high frequencies.
- ✦ Medical & Bioelectronic Devices
- Used in pacemaker wires, neurostimulation electrodes, and biosensors. Gold wire's bioinertness, flexibility under repeated movement, and consistent conductivity enable safe, long-term use inside the body without adverse tissue reactions.
- ✦ Scientific Instrumentation & Extreme Temperature Sensors
- Used in thermocouples for stable temperature measurement in ultra-cold environments. Also employed as bonding wire in MEMS sensors and actuators, where durability through temperature changes and resistance to environmental degradation are essential.
Mentions in Scientific Literature
Goodfellow's gold wire features prominently in research including but not exclusive to domains such as:
Nanoscale Imaging & Spectroscopy, where it is used for fabricating sharp tips for advanced imaging techniques like tip-enhanced Raman spectroscopy, allowing scientists to study materials at the atomic level
[1–8]
.
Biosensors & Medical Devices, playing a key role in developing sensors for health monitoring, such as skin analysis and detecting harmful microbes, and in technologies that support nerve healing and brain activity tracking
[9–15]
.
Electrochemical Research, enabling cutting-edge research into how electricity interacts with liquids and supporting the development of highly sensitive systems for studying light-triggered chemical reactions and creating custom-designed electrodes
[16–18]
.
Microfluidics & Particle Sensing, used to create microelectrodes integrated into microfluidic devices, enabling precise measurement of electrical signals and accurate counting of particles in liquid samples
[19]
.
Neutron Activation Analysis, serving as a high-purity reference material in techniques that measure radiation levels, helping researchers determine neutron flux parameters in high-radiation environments
[20]
.
Across these disciplines researchers have utilised our gold wires as
sharp nanoscale imaging tips for tip-enhanced Raman and atomic-level spectroscopy
[1–8]
,
biocompatible sensing and stimulation electrodes for medical and neuroscience applications
[9–15]
,
electrochemical working electrodes for photoelectrochemical and pulsed-field studies
[16–18]
,
3D microelectrode elements in microfluidic impedimetric sensors
[19]
, and
high-purity neutron flux reference standards
[20]
— applications that all benefit from gold's excellent electrical conductivity, chemical inertness, and biocompatibility.
References & Citations
Click to expand
- Dib, O. H., Assaf, A., Grangé, E., Morin, J. F., Cordella, C. B. Y., & Thouand, G. (2023). Automatic recognition of food bacteria using Raman spectroscopy and chemometrics: A comparative study of multivariate models. Vibrational Spectroscopy, 126, 103535. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.vibspec.2023.103535
- Lopes, M., Toury, T., de La Chapelle, M. L., Bonaccorso, F., & Giuseppe Gucciardi, P. (2013). Fast and reliable fabrication of gold tips with sub-50 nm radius of curvature for tip-enhanced Raman spectroscopy. Review of Scientific Instruments, 84(7). https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4812365
- Dib, O., Assaf, A., Grangé, E., Morin, J. F., Cordella, C., & Thouand, G. (2023). Chemometrics Tools for the Non-Targeted Research of Food Bacteria By Raman Spectroscopy. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4347438
- Foti, A., Venkatesan, S., Lebental, B., Zucchi, G., & Ossikovski, R. (2022). Comparing Commercial Metal-Coated AFM Tips and Home-Made Bulk Gold Tips for Tip-Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy of Polymer Functionalized Multiwalled Carbon Nanotubes. Nanomaterials, 12(3), 451. https://doi.org/10.3390/nano12030451
- Assaf, A., Cordella, C. B. Y., & Thouand, G. (2014). Raman spectroscopy applied to the horizontal methods ISO 6579:2002 to identify Salmonella spp. in the food industry. Analytical and Bioanalytical Chemistry, 406(20), 4899–4910. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00216-014-7909-2
- Malinowski, T. (2016). Electroluminescence à l'échelle du contact métallique ponctuel. https://theses.hal.science/tel-01419774
- Foti, A., C. Toccafondi, & R. Ossikovski. (2019). Study of the Molecular Bending in Azobenzene Self-Assembled Monolayers Observed by Tip-Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy in Scanning Tunneling Mode. The Journal of Physical Chemistry C, 123(43), 26554–26563. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jpcc.9b08299
- Gemma, A., Anel Zulji, Femke Hurtak, Shadi Fatayer, Kittel, A., Calame, M., & Bernd Gotsmann. (2021). Ultra-stable dry cryostat for variable temperature break junction. Review of Scientific Instruments, 92(12). https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0064107
- Ruffien-Ciszak, A., Baur, J., Gros, P., Questel, E., & Comtat, M. (2008). Electrochemical microsensors for cutaneous surface analysis: Application to the determination of pH and the antioxidant properties of stratum corneum. IRBM, 29(2–3), 162–170. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rbmret.2007.11.020
- Cooper, A. M. W., Pfeiffer, K., Reif, K., Silver, K., & Mitzel, D. (2024). AC-DC Electropenetrography for the Study of Probing and Ingestion Behaviors of Culex tarsalis Mosquitoes on Human Hands. Journal of Visualized Experiments, 213. https://doi.org/10.3791/66877
- Gall, J. L. (2020). Transistor organique à effet de champ à grille électrolytique pour le suivi d'organismes photosynthétiques. https://theses.hal.science/tel-03177551
- Vidal, Juan-C., Espuelas, J., & Castillo, Juan-R. (2004). Amperometric cholesterol biosensor based on in situ reconstituted cholesterol oxidase on an immobilized monolayer of flavin adenine dinucleotide cofactor. Analytical Biochemistry, 333(1), 88–98. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ab.2004.06.005
- Desenvolvimento de Sensores para Registo Eletroencefálico Baseados num Polímero de Pedot Dopado com Nanotubos de Carbono. (2016). ProQuest. https://search.proquest.com/openview/19971c9d0f08ff10cdf824a687d60bd4/1
- Gisbert Roca, F., Serrano Requena, S., Monleón Pradas, M., & Martínez-Ramos, C. (2022). Electrical Stimulation Increases Axonal Growth from Dorsal Root Ganglia Co-Cultured with Schwann Cells in Highly Aligned PLA-PPy-Au Microfiber Substrates. International Journal of Molecular Sciences, 23(12), 6362. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms23126362
- Isabel, A. (2022). Fabrication of an organic electrochemical transistor for the detection of Escherichia coli O157:H7 in liquid samples. ERA. https://doi.org/10.7939/r3-trq7-p340
- Ma, W., Ma, H., Peng, Y.-Y., Tian, H., & Long, Y.-T. (2019). An ultrasensitive photoelectrochemical platform for quantifying photoinduced electron-transfer properties of a single entity. Nature Protocols, 14(9), 2672–2690. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41596-019-0197-8
- Jesorka, A., Stepanyants, N., Zhang, H., Bahanur Örtmen, Bodil Hakonen, & Owe Orwar. (2011). Generation of phospholipid vesicle-nanotube networks and transport of molecules therein. Nature Protocols, 6(6), 791–805. https://doi.org/10.1038/nprot.2011.321
- Mahnič-Kalamiza, S., & Miklavčič, D. (2020). Scratching the electrode surface: Insights into a high-voltage pulsed-field application from in vitro & in silico studies in indifferent fluid. Electrochimica Acta, 363, 137187. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.electacta.2020.137187
- Tahsin Guler, M., Bilican, I., Agan, S., & Elbuken, C. (2015). A simple approach for the fabrication of 3D microelectrodes for impedimetric sensing. Journal of Micromechanics and Microengineering, 25(9), 095019. https://doi.org/10.1088/0960-1317/25/9/095019
- Murrie, R. P., Quinton, J. S., & Popelka-Filcoff, R. S. (2013). Determination of the f parameter for k0-neutron activation analysis at the Australian 20 MW OPAL research reactor. Journal of Radioanalytical and Nuclear Chemistry, 298(1), 77–86. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10967-013-2542-7
Synonyms
Material Properties
| Element | Value |
|---|---|
| Atomic number | 79 |
| Crystal structure | Face centred cubic |
| Electronic structure | Xe 4f¹⁴ 5d¹⁰ 6s¹ |
| Valences shown | 1,3 |
| Atomic weight( amu ) | 196.9665 |
| Thermal neutron absorption cross-section( Barns ) | 98.8 |
| Photo-electric work function( eV ) | 4.8 |
| Atomic radius - Goldschmidt( nm ) | 0.144 |
| Ionisation potential( No./eV ) | 1/ 9.22 |
| Ionisation potential( No./eV ) | 2/ 20.5 |
| Element | Value |
|---|---|
| Material condition | Soft |
| Material condition | Hard |
| Poisson's ratio | 0.42 |
| Poisson's ratio | 0.42 |
| Bulk modulus( GPa ) | 171 |
| Bulk modulus( GPa ) | 171 |
| Tensile modulus( GPa ) | 78.5 |
| Tensile modulus( GPa ) | 78.5 |
| Hardness - Vickers( kgf mm⁻² ) | 20-30 |
| Hardness - Vickers( kgf mm⁻² ) | 60 |
| Tensile strength( MPa ) | 130 |
| Tensile strength( MPa ) | 220 |
| Yield strength( MPa ) | 205 |
| Yield strength( MPa ) | - |
| Element | Value |
|---|---|
| Electrical resistivity( µOhmcm ) | 2.20@20°C |
| Temperature coefficient( K⁻¹ ) | 0.004@0-100°C |
| Thermal emf against Pt (cold 0C - hot 100C)( mV ) | 0.74 |
| Element | Value |
|---|---|
| Boiling point( C ) | 3080 |
| Density( gcm⁻³ ) | 19.3@20°C |
| Element | Value |
|---|---|
| Melting point( C ) | 1064.4 |
| Latent heat of evaporation( J g⁻¹ ) | 1738 |
| Latent heat of fusion( J g⁻¹ ) | 64.9 |
| Specific heat( J K⁻¹ kg⁻¹ ) | 129@25°C |
| Thermal conductivity( W m⁻¹ K⁻¹ ) | 318@0-100°C |
| Coefficient of thermal expansion( x10⁻⁶ K⁻¹ ) | 14.1@0-100°C |
Tolerances
| Diameter | ±10% | |
|---|---|---|
| Length | +5% / -1% |