Abstract Silver and ferrite nanotubes were obtained in nanoporous alumina templates (AAO) of 200 nm diameter by wetting chemical deposition followed by thermal crystallization. Iron filling in the nanotubes was fabricated by DC electrodeposition. Step by step fabrication in AAO was followed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) techniques. The core–shell nanowires were removed from the templates and verified by TEM and energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) techniques. Metallic (Ag) surfaces of nanowires were functionalized with alkenothiols terminated by methyl groups. Ferrite nanotubes were functionalized to –NH 2 groups on the surface. In addition, these groups were bonded to protein–trypsin in two ways: covalently bonded to amine groups by glutaraldehyde and noncovalent absorption to alkenothiols. All the modifications were observed by infra-red spectroscopy (IR).