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RESEARCH PRODUCT

Fabrication of metal nano-structures using anodic alumina membranes grown in phosphoric acid solution: Tailoring template morphology

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Abstract The influence of experimental parameters on the morphology of the porous structure and on the formation kinetics has been investigated for anodic alumina membranes (AAM) grown in aqueous H 3 PO 4 at 160 V. It was found that pore aspect ratio and membrane porosity on the solution-side surface are influenced by tensiostatic charge, bath temperature and the presence of Al 3+ ions in solution. Morphological and kinetic data, recorded in different conditions, give useful information on the growth mechanism of pore channels in phosphoric acid solution. Nickel nano-structures have been fabricated using AAM as template. Electroless deposition, performed by adding the reducing agent to a suitable bath in several steps, resulted in the formation of short metal nanotubes (about 5 μm long) in the upper part of the channels. Long Ni nanowires (up to 25 μm) with aspect ratio higher than 100 were obtained by pulsed unipolar electrodeposition from a Watt bath. In this case, both the influence of some experimental parameters on the nanowires growth and the fast current transients during the electrodeposition steps were analyzed.