Controllable Hydrocarbon Formation from the Electrochemical Reduction of CO2 over Cu Nanowire Arrays

In this work, the effect of Cu nanowire morphology on the selective electrocatalytic reduction of CO₂ is presented. Cu nanowire arrays were prepared through a two‐step synthesis of Cu(OH)₂ and CuO nanowire arrays on Cu foil substrates and a subsequent electrochemical reduction of the CuO nanowire arrays to Cu nanowire arrays. By this simple synthesis method, Cu nanowire array electrodes with different length and density were able to be controllably synthesized. We show that the selectivity for hydrocarbons (ethylene, n‐propanol, ethane, and ethanol) on Cu nanowire array electrodes at a fixed potential can be tuned by systematically altering the Cu nanowire length and density. The nanowire morphology effect is linked to the increased local pH in the Cu nanowire arrays and a reaction scheme detailing the local pH‐induced formation of C₂ products is also presented by a preferred CO dimerization pathway.     

阳极氧化铝模板法可控制备金属纳米线和纳米管阵列的生长机制

利用阳极氧化铝模板(AAO)进行Ni的电化学沉积, 通过在溶液中引入螯合剂控制电解质的有效浓度和电沉积的过电位, 实现了Ni纳米线和纳米管阵列的可控制备. 通过分析电沉积过程中纳米线和纳米管在不同位置生长速率(侧壁(Vw)和底端(Vb))的控制因素, 我们提出了纳米线和纳米管生长的可能机制. 当电解质浓度高而还原电位更负(如-1.5 V)时, 或者当电解质浓度低而还原电位较负(如-0.5 V)时, Vw>Vb, 可以获得Ni纳米管阵列; 当电解质浓度高而还原电位较负(如-0.5 V)时, 或者当电解质浓度低而还原电位更负(如-1.5 V)时, Vw≈Vb, 可以获得Ni纳米线阵列. 这种生长机制适用于多种金属纳米管或者纳米线阵列的可控制备.     

Patterned metal nanowire arrays from photolithographically-modified templates

An effective procedure for the fabrication of patterned nanowire arrays with micron-sized features is presented. Photolithographic methods are utilized to form set patterns onto porous anodic alumina membranes (AAM), and these modified membranes can then be used in the electrochemical growth of nanowire arrays. This approach readily allows the formation of a variety of nanowire array patterns with line widths down to several microns.     

Solution‐Liquid‐Solid Synthesis of Hexagonal Nickel Selenide Nanowire Arrays with a Nonmetal Catalyst

Inorganic nanowire arrays hold great promise for next‐generation energy storage and conversion devices. Understanding the growth mechanism of nanowire arrays is of considerable interest for expanding the range of applications. Herein, we report the solution‐liquid‐solid (SLS) synthesis of hexagonal nickel selenide nanowires by using a nonmetal molecular crystal (selenium) as catalyst, which successfully brings SLS into the realm of conventional low‐temperature solution synthesis. As a proof‐of‐concept application, the NiSe nanowire array was used as a catalyst for electrochemical water oxidation. This approach offers a new possibility to design arrays of inorganic nanowires.     

Multilayer assembly of nanowire arrays for dye-sensitized solar cells

Vertically ordered nanostructures synthesized directly on transparent conducting oxide have shown great promise for overcoming the limitations of current dye-sensitized solar cells (DSCs) based on random networks of nanoparticles. However, the synthesis of such structures with a high internal surface area has been challenging. Here we demonstrate a convenient approach that involves alternate cycles of nanowire growth and self-assembled monolayer coating processes for synthesizing multilayer assemblies of ZnO nanowire arrays and using the assemblies for fabrication of DSCs. The assembled multilayer ZnO nanowire arrays possess an internal surface area that is more than 5 times larger than what one can possibly obtain with single-layer nanowire arrays. DSCs fabricated using such multilayer arrays yield a power conversion efficiency of 7%, which is comparable to that of TiO(2) nanoparticle-based DSCs. The ordered structure with a high internal surface area opens up opportunities for further improvement of DSCs.     

Electrodeposition of Bi(x)Fe(1-x) intermetallic compound nanowire arrays and their magnetic properties

There have been few reports on Bi-Fe intermetallic compounds because Bi and Fe are immiscible in the equilibrium states and neither alloy nor intermetallic compound exists in the binary system. In this paper, we show that, by using the nanometer-scale templates based synthesis in conjunction with the electrochemical deposition, it is possible to mix in solid solution elements that are immiscible in traditional fabrication methods. The preparation of Bi-Fe intermetallic compound nanowire arrays was investigated via an electrodeposition route by using a polycarbonate (PC) membrane template. Cyclic voltammetry, potentiostatic transient, and potentiostatic stripping were used to study the formation of Bi(x)Fe(1-x) intermetallic compounds. The compositions of Bi(1-x)Fe(x) intermetallic compound nanowire arrays were sensitive to the bath compositions and the electrodeposition potentials, and the length could be easily adjusted by varying the electrodeposition time. The electrodeposited Bi(1-x)Fe(x) intermetallic compound nanowire arrays had a parallel-to-the-wire easy magnetization. Furthermore, the spin-glass such as behavior and an unusually large characteristic time, which was about 5.26 h, were found in Bi(1-x)Fe(x) intermetallic compound nanowire arrays at room temperature.     

In situ Synthesis of Oligonucleotide Arrays on Surfaces Coated with Crosslinked Polymer Multilayers

We report an approach to the in situ synthesis of oligonucleotide arrays on surfaces coated with crosslinked polymer multilayers. Our approach makes use of methods for the 'reactive' layer-by-layer assembly of thin, amine-reactive multilayers using branched polyethyleneimine (PEI) and the azlactone-functionalized polymer poly(2-vinyl-4,4'-dimethylazlactone) (PVDMA). Post-fabrication treatment of film-coated glass substrates with d-glucamine or 4-amino-1-butanol yielded hydroxyl-functionalized films suitable for the Maskless Array Synthesis (MAS) of oligonucleotide arrays. Glucamine-functionalized films yielded arrays of oligonucleotides with fluorescence intensities and signal-to-noise ratios (after hybridization with fluorescently labeled complementary strands) comparable to those of arrays fabricated on conventional silanized glass substrates. These arrays could be exposed to multiple hybridization-dehybridization cycles with only moderate loss of hybridization density. The versatility of the layer-by-layer approach also permitted synthesis directly on thin sheets of film-coated poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) to yield flexible oligonucleotide arrays that could be readily manipulated (e.g., bent) and cut into smaller arrays. To our knowledge, this work presents the first use of polymer multilayers as a substrate for the multi-step synthesis of complex molecules. Our results demonstrate that these films are robust and able to withstand the ~450 individual chemical processing steps associated with MAS (as well as manipulations required to hybridize, image, and dehybridize the arrays) without large-scale cracking, peeling, or delamination of the thin films. The combination of layer-by-layer assembly and MAS provides a means of fabricating functional oligonucleotide arrays on a range of different materials and substrates. This approach may also prove useful for the fabrication of supports for the solid-phase synthesis and screening of other macromolecular or small-molecule agents.     

模板法合成纳米结构材料

模板法（包括硬模板和软模板法）是制备纳米结构材料的常用方法,可用来制备多种物质的各种形状（如：球形粒子、一维纳米棒、纳米线、纳米管以及二维有序阵列等）的纳米结构,近年来关于这一领域的研究较为活跃。本文介绍了近年来利用氧化铝、二氧化硅、碳纳米管、表面活性剂、聚合物、生物分子等作模板制备多种物质的纳米结构材料的一些进展。     

Large-scale controllable patterning growth of aligned organic nanowires through evaporation-induced self-assembly

Organic one-dimensional nanostructures are attractive building blocks for electronic, optoelectronic, and photonic applications. Achieving aligned organic nanowire arrays that can be patterned on a surface with well-controlled spatial arrangement is highly desirable in the fabrication of high-performance organic devices. We demonstrate a facile one-step method for large-scale controllable patterning growth of ordered single-crystal C(60) nanowires through evaporation-induced self-assembly. The patterning geometry of the nanowire arrays can be tuned by the shape of the covering hats of the confined curve-on-flat geometry. The formation of the pattern arrays is driven by a simple solvent evaporation process, which is controlled by the surface tension of the substrate (glass or Si) and geometry of the evaporation surface. By sandwiching a solvent pool between the substrate and a covering hat, the evaporation surface is confined to along the edge of the solvent pool. The geometry of the formed nanowire pattern is well defined by a surface-tension model of the evaporation channel. This simple method is further established as a general approach that is applicable to two other organic nanostructure systems. The I-V characteristics of such a parallel, organic, nanowire-array device was measured. The results demonstrate that the proposed method for direct growth of nanomaterials on a substrate is a feasible approach to device fabrication, especially to the fabrication of the parallel arrays of devices.     

Electrochemical synthesis of poly(3,4‐ethylenedioxythiophene) nanotube arrays using ZnO templates

A new method toward vertically oriented poly(3,4‐ethylenedioxythiophene) (PEDOT) nanotube arrays on transparent conductive oxide substrates is presented. The approach is based on the use of ZnO nanowire arrays as templates for the electropolymerization of PEDOT. Robust arrays of vertically oriented PEDOT nanotubes with different lengths and wall thicknesses were obtained by modifying the ZnO nanowire length and charge density passed during the electropolymerization, respectively. Furthermore, PEDOT nanotubes with different morphologies (top‐closed and mushroom‐like) were successfully designed by varying the PEDOT electropolymerization kinetics or monomer diffusion or both. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem, 2010     

Pd nanowire arrays as electrocatalysts for ethanol electrooxidation

Highly ordered Pd nanowire arrays were prepared by template-electrodeposition method using anodic aluminum oxide template. The Pd nanowire arrays, in this paper, have high electrochemical active surface and show excellent catalytic properties for ethanol electrooxidation in alkaline media. The activity of Pd nanowire arrays for ethanol oxidation is not only higher that of Pd film, but also higher than that of commercial E-TEK PtRu(2:1 by weight)/C. The micrometer sized pores and channels in nanowire arrays act as structure units. They make liquid fuel diffuse into and products diffuse out of the catalysts layer much easier, therefore, the utilization efficiency of catalysts gets higher. Pd nanowire arrays are stable catalysts for ethanol oxidation. The nanowire arrays may be a great potential in direct ethanol fuel cells and ethanol sensors.     

Magnetic field assisting DC electrodeposition: general methods for high-performance Ni nanowire array fabrication

One-dimensional magnetic nanowires are generally thought to show fine axial magnetism for their special high aspect ratio of the shape. However, the magnetic nanowire arrays fabricated by DC electrodeposition in template pores always show a low squareness in parallel to the nanowire direction. We developed two general and simple methods to improve the squareness of the as-fabricated Ni nanowire arrays parallel to the nanowire direction. The nanowires are found to be polycrystalline. The magnetism of the nanowire is also analyzed based on the microstructure.     

SERS,AFM and Electrochemical Characterization of Metal Nanorod and Nanowire Arrays

Metal nanowires (nanorods) have novel properties and potential applications in a wide field^[1]. Many two-dimensional nanowire arrays of semiconductors and metals with different diameter and length have been made using template synthesis method^[2]. The nanorod arrays of various metals (e.g., Cu, Ag,Au, Ni and Co) with different diameters from about 15 nm to 130 nm were fabricated by electrodeposition of the metals into the highly ordered nanochannel arrays in alumina film followed by partial removal of the film in phosphoric acid or sodium hydroxide. In the present work, surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS), AFM and electrochemical methods have been used to characterize the metal nanorod (nanowire) arrays. Tapping mode AFM and SERS were performed on Nanoscope Ⅲa (Digital Instruments) and on confocal Raman microscopy (LabRam I,Dilor) respectively.     

大长径比有序多孔阳极氧化铝模板的制备及用于镍纳米线阵列

报道一种恒电流二次氧化制备大长径比(>1000)阳极氧化铝(AAO)模板的方法,研究氧化时间和氧化电流密度分别对制备的AAO模板的表面形貌、孔径大小、厚度等的影响.结果表明,AAO模板的表面形貌及厚度n受m氧、厚化度电约流为密2度00及μ氧m、化长时径间比的为影10响0;-当13氧00化的电高流质密量度A为AO8模m板A·.c采m用-2电时化,氧学化沉1积8方h能法在制制备备出的孔A径A为O模15板0-的20孔0中成功制备了Ni纳米线阵列,分别用扫描电镜(SEM)、高分辨透射电镜(HRTEM)、X射线衍射(XRD)和X射线能量散射光谱(EDS)对其进行了表征;结果显示,制备的Ni纳米线排列整齐有序,每根Ni纳米线直径几乎相同,约150nm,长度约为180-200μm,长径比为1200-1300,与AAO模板的参数一致.研究了Ni纳米线阵列的长径比对其磁性能的影响,发现大长径比的Ni纳米线阵列具有明显的磁各向异性,而长径比约为200的Ni纳米线阵列未表现出明显的磁各向异性.本文结果表明,恒电流二次氧化方法能制备大长径比的AAO模板,并能用于制备大长径比的一维纳米材料阵列,可望在制备具有特殊光学、磁学等性能材料方面得到应用.     

Conducting Polyaniline Nanowire Arrays Modified Electrode for High Performance Supercapacitor and Enhanced Catalysis of Nitrite Reduction

Vertically aligned conducting polymer nanowire arrays had great potential applications in supercapacitor electrode material and exhibited enhanced electrocatalytic behavior towards the reduction of nitrite. In this paper, a facial template‐free approach to synthesize large arrays of vertically aligned polyaniline (PANI) nanowires on electrochemically pretreated glassy carbon electrodes was reported by using a galvanostatic current method. The as‐prepared large arrays of PANI nanowires had very narrow diameters and were oriented perpendicular to the substrate, which was a benefit to the ion diffusion when being used as the supercapacitor electrode. The highest specific capacitance of PANI nanowire arrays was measured and kept high at a large charge‐discharge current density. Furthermore, it also can detect nitrite with ultrahigh sensitivity of 62.99 µA mM^?1 cm^?2 and a remarkable fast response time of less 1 s. The results indicated that the vertically aligned PANI nanowires could dramatically enhance the electrochemical performance.     

Solution-grown zinc oxide nanowires

We review two strategies for growing ZnO nanowires from zinc salts in aqueous and organic solvents. Wire arrays with diameters in the nanoscale regime can be grown in an aqueous solution of zinc nitrate and hexamethylenetetramine. With the addition of poly(ethylenimine), the lengths of the wires have been increased to 25 mum with aspect ratios over 125. Additionally, these arrays were made vertical by nucleating the wires from oriented ZnO nanocrystals. ZnO nanowire bundles have been produced by decomposing zinc acetate in trioctylamine. By the addition of a metal salt to the solution, the ZnO wires can be doped with a range of transition metals. Specifically, ZnO nanowires were homogeneously doped with cobalt and showed a marked deviation from paramagnetic behavior. We conclude by highlighting the use of these solution-grown nanowire arrays in dye-sensitized solar cells. The nanowire cells showed an improvement in the charge collection efficiency over traditional nanoparticle cells.     

Chemical bath deposition of ZnO nanowires at near-neutral pH conditions without hexamethylenetetramine (HMTA): understanding the role of HMTA in ZnO nanowire growth

Chemical bath deposition (CBD) is an inexpensive and reproducible method for depositing ZnO nanowire arrays over large areas. The aqueous Zn(NO(3))(2)-hexamethylenetetramine (HMTA) chemistry is one of the most common CBD chemistries for ZnO nanowire synthesis, but some details of the reaction mechanism are still not well-understood. Here, we report the use of in situ attenuated total reflection Fourier transform infrared (ATR-FTIR) spectroscopy to study HMTA adsorption from aqueous solutions onto ZnO nanoparticle films and show that HMTA does not adsorb on ZnO. This result refutes earlier claims that the anisotropic morphology arises from HMTA adsorbing onto and capping the ZnO {10 1 0} faces. We conclude that the role of HMTA in the CBD of ZnO nanowires is only to control the saturation index of ZnO. Furthermore, we demonstrate the first deposition of ZnO nanowire arrays at 90 °C and near-neutral pH conditions without HMTA. Nanowires were grown using the pH buffer 2-(N-morpholino)ethanesulfonic acid (MES) and continuous titratation with KOH to maintain the same pH conditions where growth with HMTA occurs. This semi-batch synthetic method opens many new opportunities to tailor the ZnO morphology and properties by independently controlling temperature and pH.     

Length‐Dependent Charge Generation from Vertical Arrays of High‐Aspect‐Ratio ZnO Nanowires

Aqueous chemical growth of zinc oxide nanowires is a flexible and effective approach to obtain dense arrays of vertically oriented nanostructures with high aspect ratio. Herein we present a systematic study of the different synthesis parameters that influence the ZnO seed layer and thus the resulting morphological features of the free‐standing vertically oriented ZnO nanowires. We obtained a homogeneous coverage of transparent conductive substrates with high‐aspect‐ratio nanowire arrays (length/diameter ratio of up to 52). Such nanostructured vertical arrays were examined to assess their electric and piezoelectric properties, and showed an electric charge generation upon mechanical compressive stress. The principle of energy harvesting with these nanostructured ZnO arrays was demonstrated by connecting them to an electronic charge amplifier and storing the generated charge in a series of capacitors. We found that the generated charge and the electrical behavior of the ZnO nanowires are strictly dependent on the nanowire length. We have shown the importance of controlling the morphological properties of such ZnO nanostructures for optimizing a nanogenerator device.     

Periodicity-controlled two-dimensional crystalline colloidal arrays

We developed a convenient and fast approach to preparing close-packed two-dimensional (2-D) particle arrays on mercury surfaces. Addition of cosolvents, such as alcohols, to aqueous colloidal particle suspensions induces spreading and self-assembly of the particles into 2-D arrays on top of the mercury surface. We can fabricate large-area close-packed 2-D arrays (>70 cm(2)) within 30 s. We attached these 2-D arrays to functional hydrogel films such that the 2-D array spacings were altered by the hydrogel volume response to the environment. We directly observed the hydrogel volume induced 2-D array spacing changes by using confocal laser scanning microscopy to monitor the spacings of fluorescent polystyrene particle 2-D arrays in response to changes in pH, solvent composition, temperature, etc.     

电化学技术制备纳米材料研究的新进展

利用电化学方法制备与组装纳米材料是近年来发展起来的一项新技术.本文对电化学方法在纳米材料制备中的应用及其研究进展做了较为全面的概述,着重介绍了模板电化学法合成纳米材料、稳定剂保护下电化学还原法制备金属溶胶、电化学台阶边缘修饰法制备一维纳米材料以及脉冲超声电化学法制备纳米粒子,并对其应用前景做了展望.