| In this thesis study, we employed electrochemistry based methods to fabricate nanostructured architectures for various applications. In particular, electroplating is employed to fabricate elemental nanowire arrays for bactericidal application, and alloy nanowire arrays for electro-catalysis; while electrophoretic deposition is used to deposit graphene-based composite for lithium ion battery electrode.;In order to electroplate elemental nanowire arrays, an anodic aluminum oxide (AAO) membrane with straight pores is employed as the template. Fixation of the template on a rigid substrate surface in a deposition stack is critical in guiding the growth of nanowires in the pores. After removal of the template, vertical nanowire arrays directly on the substrate preserve, making it possible for bactericidal applications.;The template-assisted electroplating is then extended to fabricate alloy nanowire arrays. The Au-coated AAO template, which is free of the deposition stack thus enabling sufficient electrolyte supply, is adopted to electroplate Cu-Ni alloy nanowire arrays via codeposition. However, removal of the template destroys the nanowire array configuration, and thus makes further applications difficult. An alternatively post thermal annealing approach is then adopted to induce the formation of alloy nanowire arrays from core/shell nanocable arrays without destroying the architecture. This approach is employed to fabricate Cu-Au alloy nanowire arrays, and the feasibility of these nanowire arrays for electrochemical reduction of CO2 is explored. |
