Zn, Ti and Si nanowires by electrodeposition in ionic liquid

An electrochemical route for the fabrication of zinc, titanium and silicon nanowires from ionic liquid (IL) based plating solutions is presented. Thanks to the large potential window of IL and good solubility of the corresponding anhydrous chloride salts, the presented method proceeds by a kinetically controlled electrochemical decoration of step-edges at highly oriented pyrolytic graphite surface. Resulting rather crystalline nanowires are more than a few hundreds of μm long while their diameter can be controlled in the 10 to 100 nm range by the electrolysis duration.     

In situ XPS study of template-free electrodeposition of antimony nanowires from an ionic liquid

Journal of Solid State Electrochemistry - Antimony nanowires have been synthesized by template-free electrodeposition at room temperature from the ionic liquid (IL) 1-butyl-1-methylpyrrolidinium...     

Three-dimensionally ordered macroporous silicon films made by electrodeposition from an ionic liquid

Three dimensionally ordered macroporous (3DOM) silicon films have been made via ordered polystyrene (PS) templates by electrodeposition from an ionic liquid (IL). For this purpose, the ionic liquid 1-butyl-1-methylpyrrolidinium bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)amide ([Py(1,4)]Tf(2)N) with SiCl(4) dissolved in it was used as an electrolyte and the electrodeposition of macroporous silicon could be achieved at room temperature (~20 °C). Self-assembled PS colloidal crystals with different diameters were used as templates. Scanning electron microscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy confirm the quality of the samples, and the optical transmission measurement demonstrates that the 3DOM silicon film has a bandgap in the near infrared regime. Such a material has the potential to make 3DOM silicon feasible for electrical and optical applications.     

Room-temperature ionic liquid for lanthanum electrodeposition

In this letter, we report for the first time lanthanum electrodeposition in ambient atmosphere using 1-octyl-1-methyl-pyrrolidinium bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)imide ionic liquid. This electrolyte exhibits an electrochemical window of 4.8 V with a strong cathodic stability and a low hygroscopic character that allows electrodeposition without the need of an inert atmosphere. A 350 nm thick lanthanum film was obtained after 2 h potentiostatic deposition.     

Electrochemical synthesis of gallium nanowires and macroporous structures in an ionic liquid

The electrochemical synthesis of gallium nanostructures in an ionic liquid is presented. Gallium nanowires and macroporous structures were synthesized by the template-assisted electrodeposition in the ionic liquid 1-butyl-1-methylpyrrolidinium bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)amide ([Py(1,4)]TFSA) containing GaCl(3) as the precursor. Track-etched polycarbonate membranes with an average pore diameter of 90 nm and a thickness of 21 μm were used as templates for the nanowire synthesis. Ga nanowires with a length of more than 4 μm and an average diameter corresponding to that of the template's pores were easily obtained by this method. Macroporous structures with an average pore diameter of 600 nm were obtained by the electrochemical deposition of Ga inside polystyrene colloidal crystal templates and the subsequent removal of the template by THF. The macroporous deposit showed a granular morphology with smallest grain sizes of about 40 nm and light reflections. The nanostructures of Ga were characterized by HR-SEM and EDX analysis.     

Anisotropic and passivation-dependent quantum confinement effects in germanium nanowires: a comparison with silicon nanowires

Electronic structures of hydrogen-passivated germanium nanowires (GeNWs) along the [100], [110], [111], and [112] directions are studied by using the density functional theory within the generalized gradient approximation. The band gaps of the fully relaxed GeNWs along the [100], [110], and [111] directions are all direct at the smaller sizes, while those of the wires along the [112] direction remain indirect. The magnitude of the band gaps of the GeNWs for a given size approximately follows the order of E(g)[100] > E(g)[111] > E(g)[112] > E(g)[110]. Compared with silicon nanowires, GeNWs exhibit stronger quantum confinement effects. Replacement of H by the more stable ethine group is found to lead to a weakening of the quantum confinement effects of GeNWs.     

Electrodeposition of stable and narrowly dispersed germanium nanoclusters from an ionic liquid

Germanium nanoclusters with a narrow height distribution have been electrodeposited from a dilute solution of GeCl4 in the ionic liquid 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium hexafluorophosphate [BMIm]PF6: under the reported conditions the lateral sizes of most of the clusters range between 20 and 30 nm while their heights vary from 1 to 10 nm with most of them between 1 and 5 nm.     

Template-assisted electrodeposition of highly ordered macroporous zinc structures from an ionic liquid

The present paper shows the template-assisted electrodeposition of highly ordered macroporous zinc films in the ionic liquid 1-butyl-1-methylpyrrolidinium trifluoromethylsulfonate ([Py_1,4]TfO). Polystyrene (PS) spheres were employed as templates, and zinc films were electrodeposited within the interstitial voids of the template. The results show that well-ordered two- or three-dimensional macroporous zinc films can easily be made. The obtained macroporous films showed diffractive light when illuminated with white light. The contact angle measurements revealed that the wettability of the employed ionic liquid on PS templates is much better than the one of aqueous solutions, leading to better infiltration into the interstitial voids of the PS spheres. Macroporous zinc is potentially interesting as host material for lithium ion batteries.     

Comparison of electrodeposition of silver in ionic liquid microemulsions

Both ionic liquid (IL) and water are typical green solvents and have high electric conductivity. The use of IL microemulsions as templates and media for electrochemical synthesis of nano-materials is attractive. In this work, water-in-ionic liquid (W/IL) microemulsion and ionic liquid-in-water (IL/W) microemulsion were prepared, in which hydrophobic ionic liquid 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium hexafluorophosphate was used. The cyclic voltammetry (CV) behavior and electroplating in the W/IL and IL/W microemulsion systems containing silver nitrate were investigated for the first time. Both the CV curves exhibit the presence of reduction and oxidation peaks corresponding to the deposition and dissolution of silver from the two microemulsion systems. However, the CV obtained from IL/W microemulsion system exhibits a crossover, which is different from that obtained from W/IL microemulsion system. The electrodeposits obtained from W/IL microemulsion system are nano-granular, while those obtained from IL/W microemulsion system are planar. These results are attributed to the different microenvironments of the microemulsions.     

Karman vortex street assisted patterning in the growth of silicon nanowires

A Karman vortex street was employed to pattern catalysts and grow nanomaterial arrays, which were made of a disk-like superstructure built of silicon nanowires; there also existed nanowires connected with the disks.     

Growth of silver nanowires by an unconventional electrodeposition without template

We describe an unconventional electrochemistry approach to the preparation of silver nanowires. By the electrodeposition in the dilute solution without supporting electrolyte, silver nanowires with diameter 10–50 nm and length up to several μm have been synthesized. It was found that the absence of the supporting electrolyte played a key role in the formation of silver nanowires, and the products from the solution without supporting electrolytes were very different from those with supporting electrolytes. A possible mechanism concerning the transportation of silver ions by electro-migration and the diffusion was proposed.     

Additive free electrodeposition of nanocrystalline aluminium in a water and air stable ionic liquid

This paper shows for the first time that nanocrystalline aluminium can be electrodeposited without any additives in the ionic liquid 1-butyl-1-methyl pyrrolidinium bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)imide saturated with AlCl₃. The advantages of this ionic liquid compared to chloroaluminate ionic liquids, which were intensively investigated in the past, are that it is water and air stable, easy to purify as well as it is easy to dry to water contents below 1 ppm. Interestingly, this ionic liquid shows biphasic behaviour above a concentration of AlCl₃ of 1.6 mol/L. A significant current loop attributed to nucleation was found for bulk deposition of aluminium at room temperature on gold, whereas at 100 °C there is no nucleation loop. The deposits obtained are generally uniform, dense, shining and adherent to the substrate with crystallites in the nanosize regime. At 100 °C, the quality of the deposit is even better with an average size of the crystallites of 34 nm.     

Template electrodeposition of metals. Review

The works devoted to the electrodeposition of metals, alloys, and semiconductors onto the substrates through the templates of various non-conducting materials with pores of various shapes and sizes are reviewed. The composite materials, nanowires, metal foams, and the parts with nanostructured surface obtained by this method are promising materials for the electrocatalysis, electroanalysis of media, development of various sensors, modern miniature magnetic memory devices, optoelectronics, power sources, etc.     

Novel ionic liquid assisted synthesis of SnO2 microspheres

Tin oxide (SnO2) microspheres with an average 2.5 microm in diameters have been successfully synthesized through a rapid hydrothermal process heating by microwave in the presence of an ionic liquid 1-butyl-3-methyl imidazolium tetrafluoroborate. X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy are used to characterize the morphology and crystalline structure of the microspheres. The as-synthesized SnO2 microspheres exhibit a tetragonal rutile structure. The mechanism of the microspheres formation is proposed.     

Molecular dynamics study of ionic liquid confined in silicon nanopore

Russian Journal of Physical Chemistry A - Molecular dynamics simulations was carried to investigate the structure and dynamics of [BMIM][PF6] ionic liquid (IL) confined inside a slit-like silicon...     

Direct electrodeposition of FeCoZn wire arrays from a zinc chloride-based ionic liquid

The use of Zinc chloride-1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium chloride ionic liquid enables facile template-free electrochemical fabrication of arrays of polycrystalline ternary FeCoZn nanowires with diameter of 100–200 nm by controlling the deposition potential. The nanowire arrays were characterized by scanning electron microscopy, powder X-ray diffraction and transmission electron microscopy.     

One-step electrodeposition of Ag-decorated ZnO nanowires

A new route for synthesizing Ag-decorated ZnO nanowires (NWs) on conductive glass substrates using a one-step electrodeposition technique is described here. The structural, optical, and photoelectrochemical properties of Ag-decorated ZnO nanowires were studied in detail using techniques such X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, UV-visible spectroscopy, photoluminescence, and photoelectrochemical measurements. Both pure and Ag-decorated ZnO nanowires were found to crystallize in the wurtzite structure, irrespective of their Ag contents. Increasing the Ag content from pure ZnO NWs to 3% Ag ZnO NWs decreases the photoluminescence intensity, shifts the optical band gap to the red, and increases the photocurrent up to threefold. This behavior was attributed to the surface plasmon resonance effect induced by the Ag nanoparticles, which inhibits charge recombination and improves charge transport on the ZnO surface.     

Simultaneous electrodeposition behavior of dysprosium and terbium in 1-ethyl-3-methyl-imidazolium tetrafluoroborate ionic liquid

The simultaneous electrodeposition of dysprosium and terbium on platinum electrode in 1-ethyl-3-methyl-imidazolium tetrafluoroborate (EMIMBF₄) ionic liquid was investigated. The cyclic voltammetry, chronoamperometry and constant electrolysis experiments have been employed to examine the electrochemistry of dysprosium and terbium ions in 0.01 mol/L DyCl₃-0.023 mol/L TbCl₃-0.27 mol/L LiCl-EMIMBF₄ ionic liquid. The electrochemistry experiments indicated that the reduction of dysprosium and terbium ions in 0.01 mol/L DyCl₃-0.023 mol/L TbCl₃-0.27 mol/L LiCl-EMIMBF₄ ionic liquid was an irreversible process and simultaneous process. In 0.01 mol/L DyCl₃-0.023 mol/L TbCl₃-0.27 mol/L LiCl-EMIMBF₄ ionic liquid the diffusion coefficient of the diffusion process of species which controlled the total electrochemical reduction process have been determined to be (3.79–7.07) × 10⁻⁶ cm²/s from cyclic voltammetry and chronoamperometry results. XRD spectrum of constant electrolysis samples showed that dysprosium and terbium deposits were obtained.     

Collective excitations in an ionic liquid

Collective dynamics in a representative model of ionic liquids, namely, 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium chloride, have been revealed by molecular dynamics simulation. Dispersion of energy excitation, omega versus k, of longitudinal acoustic (LA) and transverse acoustic (TA) modes was obtained in the wave vector range 0.17 < k < 1.40 Angstroms(-1), which encompasses the main peak of the static structure factor S(k). Linear dispersion of acoustic modes is observed up to k approximately 0.7 Angstroms(-1). Due to mixing between LA and TA modes, LA spectra display transverselike component, and vice versa. Due to anisotropy in short-time ionic dynamics, acoustic modes achieve distinct limiting omega values at high k when the cation displacement is projected either along the plane or perpendicular to the plane of the imidazolium ring. In charge current spectra, branch with negative dispersion of omega versus k is a signature of optic modes in the simulated ionic liquid. Conductivity kappa estimated by using ionic diffusion coefficients in the Nernst-Einstein equation is higher than the actual kappa calculated by integrating the charge current correlation function. From TA spectra, a wave vector dependent viscosity eta(k) has been evaluated, whose low-k limit gives eta in reasonable agreement with experimental data.