Facile Fabrication of Porous Nickel Films with Tunable Colors

Abstract

Metal-based photonic structures have extraordinary potentials in many applications. However, the processing difficulty of metals remains a major obstacle in this field. Here we report a facile method for constructing of porous Ni films by templating porous Si (P-Si) photonic structures. The P-Si templates were fabricated by a facile electrochemical etching method and feature periodically varied porosities along the film thickness direction. Metallic Ni was successfully electrodeposited into the mesoporous structure of the P-Si templates. After removal of the P-Si template by chemical dissolution, the nickel replica thus obtained exhibited a periodic multilayered nanoporous structure. Moreover, by changing the electrochemical etching parameters used for constructing the P-Si template, the structure of the Ni replica can be conveniently adjusted. The fabricated nickel films show distinct optical responses in the visible spectra which is dependent on their structural periodicities. Furthermore, optical sensing capability is demonstrated on the fabricated porous nickel films.

TiO2 nanotube structures for the enhancement of photon utilization in sensitized solar cells

“…The detailed morphologies in the interface region using triangular, sinusoidal or square current profiles show great disparity, which would affect the dye loading capacity when applied in sensitized solar cells [233]. Li et al fabricated periodic structures in Si, Fe and Ti substrates by anodization etching using sinusoidal, square or multi-step voltage or current pulses, and various porous structures of these materials with structural colors can be obtained [234][235][236]. Table 2 summarizes some representative oxide periodic structures with broad applications.…”