Synthesis of nanoporous activated iridium oxide films by anodized aluminum oxide templated atomic layer deposition

Iridium oxide (IrOx) has been widely studied due to its applications in electrochromic devices, pH sensing, and neural stimulation. Previous work has demonstrated that both Ir and IrOx films with porous morphologies prepared by sputtering exhibit significantly enhanced charge storage capacities. However, sputtering provides only limited control over film porosity. In this work, we demonstrate an alternative scheme for synthesizing nanoporous Ir and activated IrOx films (AIROFs). This scheme utilizes atomic layer deposition to deposit a thin conformal Ir film within a nanoporous anodized aluminum oxide template. The Ir film is then activated by potential cycling in 0.1 M H₂SO₄ to form a nanoporous AIROF. The morphologies and electrochemical properties of the films are characterized by scanning electron microscopy and cyclic voltammetry, respectively. The resulting nanoporous AIROFs exhibit a nanoporous morphology and enhanced cathodal charge storage capacities as large as 311 mC/cm².