Preparation And Growth Mechanisms Of Metal (Ag, Cu, Ni, Co) Nanowires

Metal nanowires (MNWs) have been the focus of intensive research because of their unique electrical, optical, magnetic, and thermal properties, which can lead to potential applications in microelectronics, optoelectronics, catalysis, and sensors. Much efforts have been devoted to the synthetic approaches of the MNWs, mainly including soft-template-assisted synthesis, hard-template-assisted synthesis, and non-template synthesis. Comparatively, among hard-template-assisted synthetic approach, porous anodic aluminum oxide (AAO) template assisted electrodeposition is the most popular techniques. Single-and poly-crystalline nanowires of various metals have been prepared using the AAO template methods. However, the growth mechanisms of metal nanowires are still poorly understood. The aims of this thesis are to develop the fabrication of MNWs in AAO template using electrodeposition and to study the growth mechanism of MNWs in small diameter's AAO template. The main points of the thesis are as follows:(1) The preparation of AAO template and the factors of forming ordered nanopores.(2) The fabrication of MNWs in AAO template by electrodeposition.(3) The discussion about the effects of electrodeposition conditions for the growth of nanowires.(4) The fabrication of metal oxide array through annealing MNWs array.(5) The research of growth mechanism and kinetics effects of MNWs on preferred orientation (220).In summary, this thesis developed the fabrication of MNWs in AAO template by electrodeposition and discusses the effects of electrodeposition conditions on the growth of nanowires. We proposed a model to explain the growth of MNWs in small diameter's AAO template.