High density silver nanowire arrays using self-ordered anodic aluminum oxide (AAO) membrane

Abstract

Highly ordered silver nanowire with a diameter of 10 nm was arrayed by electroless deposition in a porous anodic aluminum oxide (AAO) membrane. The AAO membrane was fabricated electrochemically in an oxalic acid solution via a two-step anodization process, while growth of the silver nanowire was initiated by using electroless deposition at the long-range-ordered nanochannels of the AAO membrane followed by thermal reduction of a silver nitrate aqueous solution by increasing the temperature up to 350°C for an hour. An additional electro-chemical procedure was applied after the two-step anodization to control the pore size and channel density of AAO, which enabled us to fabricate highly-ordered silver nanowire on a large scale. Electroless deposition of silver nitrate aqueous solution into the AAO membrane and thermal reduction of silver nanowires was performed by increasing the temperature up to 350°C for 1 h. The morphologies of silver nanowires arrayed in the AAO membrane were investigated using SEM. The chemical composition and crystalline structure were confirmed by XRD and EDX. The electroless-deposited silver nanowires in AAO revealed a well-crystallized self-ordered array with a width of 10 nm.