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

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 H3PO4 at 160 V. It was found that pore aspect ratio and membrane porosity on the solutionside surface are influenced by tensiostatic charge, bath temperature and the presence of Al3+ 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 mm long) in the upper part of the channels. Long Ni nanowires (up to 25 mm) 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.