Ion-track etching represents a highly versatile way of introducing artificial pores with diameters down into the nm-regime into polymers, which offers considerable synthetic flexibility in template-assisted nanofabrication schemes. While the mechanistic foundations of ion-track technology are well understood, its potential for creating structurally and compositionally complex nano-architectures is far from being fully tapped. In this study, we showcase different strategies to expand the synthetic repertoire of ion-track membrane templating by creating several new 1D nanostructures, namely metal nanotubes of elliptical cross-section, funnel-shaped nanotubes optionally overcoated with titania or nickel nanospike layers, and concentrical as well as stacked metal nanotube-nanowire heterostructures. These nano-architectures are obtained solely by applying different wet-chemical deposition methods (electroless plating, electrodeposition, and chemical bath deposition) to ion-track etched polycarbonate templates, whose pore geometry is modified through plastic deformation, consecutive etching steps under differing conditions, and etching steps intermitted by spatially confined deposition, providing new motifs for nanoscale replication.
When a metal is added to a layer of diamond-like carbon (DLC), the resulting particle size of the metal within the film usually depends on the metal content. To be more flexible in influencing the size of the particles that result when using a plasma based preparation process two different approaches were tested: on the one hand the combination of a gaseous precursor with magnetron sputtering, where a nanostructured coating is applied on top of the sputter target in advance; on the other hand, the addition of preformed metallic nanoparticles to a liquid. In both cases, the nanoparticles or -structures were prepared by a wet chemical process, whereas the DLC layer was prepared by a plasma process. The produced metal-containing DLC films were characterized regarding their metal content and distribution as well as regarding possible contaminations from the chemical preparation process.
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