Electrodeposition of gold nanowires is carried out in cyanide solution in polycarbonate templates with pore diameter of 80 nm. Electrochemical methods are utilized to characterize the gold electrodeposition and to obtain the nucleation and growth mechanism. The analysis of cyclic voltammograms shows that the electrodeposition of gold nanowires takes place under diffusion control. Current transients reveal that nucleation mechanism is instantaneous with a three-dimensional growth process. The transition-time measurements show that the gold elecrodeposition occurs as one-electron valence involved in the reaction mechanism. Charge transfer coefficient is also found to be 0.67 +/- 0.01. The value of diffusion coefficient is (3.5 +/- 0.1) x 10(-6) (cm(2)/s). In addition, the number of nucleation sites increases with an increase in overpotential. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.