ZnO films were grown on polycrystalline Zn foil by cathodic electrodeposition in an aqueous zinc chloride/calcium chloride solution at 80 °C. Variation in the electrochemical parameters resulted in a variation in growth morphology from 1D (nanorods), 2D ('nanoplates') to 3D crystal growth. An as-received or mechanically polished substrate proved the most suitable substrate finish and allowed more highly aligned, dense structures to be grown; in contrast, electropolished substrates formed inhomogeneous deposits. Substrate annealing gave rise to large homogenous areas of nanorod deposition. Two-dimensional sheet growth was found to occur in conjunction with nanorods under specific electrochemical conditions. Hexagonal 'plates' approximately 50 nm in thickness and several microns in diameter were formed normal to the substrate.

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ZnO nano-rods were grown on polycrystalline Zn foil by cathodic electrodeposition in an aqueous zinc chloride/calcium chloride solution at 80 • C. Variations in the solution concentration and substrate surface preparation were explored to shed light on the nucleation of the nano-rods. It was found that the nano-rod diameter increased with increasing solution concentration. Rolling striations and native ZnO on the surface of the Zn appeared to enhance nucleation and allowed more highly aligned, dense structures to be grown. By using low solution concentrations (5.0 × 10 −4 M ZnCl 2 ) and non-electropolished Zn substrates, well faceted, hexagonal nano-rod structures of dimension ∼80 nm diameter and >1 µm length were obtained. X-ray studies showed the samples to be highly aligned but containing a Zn-oxychloride impurity phase. Annealing caused the impurity phase to disappear and resulted in the films having a sharp photoluminescence double peak at 380/396 nm.

The formation of nanoporous gold by open circuit dealloying of 100 nm AgAu foils in nitric acid is investigated in situ and in real time by combining synchrotron small angle X‐ray scattering (SAXS) and X‐ray diffraction (XRD). The time dependence of the dealloying is followed as a function of acid concentration. For all concentrations, several characteristic dealloying stages are observed. Firstly, there is a fast initial dissolution stage with an increase in surface area due to pore and mound formation; this leads to strain in the nanoporous gold that results from an increase in capillary pressure. After dissolution is complete, there is rapid coarsening of the quasi‐periodic, pore–ligament morphology. During this later stage, we deduce strong strain anisotropies that can be explained by preferred crystallographic orientation of ligaments. This rapid coarsening stage is followed by a slow coarsening stage where the SAXS patterns, and hence the quasi‐periodic morphology, is self‐similar in time. There is a strong correlation between the morphology evolution and strain development, which can be explained by capillary forces.