Increasing the structural and compositional diversity of ion-track templated 1D nanostructures through multistep etching, plastic deformation, and deposition

Abstract

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.

Application of the Cu@PET Composite Track-Etched Membranes for Catalytic Removal of Cr(VI) Ions

“…Chemical template synthesis comprises several successive stages, namely sensitization and activation of the template and the final stage of deposition [21]. A group of authors led by F. Muench previously conducted several experimental studies on the influence of various factors on the process of chemical deposition of metals into polycarbonate TEMs.…”

Shaping the Plasmonic Response: Hollow Gold Elliptical Nanotubes

“…In a recent report, the ellipticity of elliptical nanowires prepared by a similar ion‐track template stretching method can reach 3.5. [ 37 ] The slight difference is mainly due to the thinner PC substrate we adopted (about 15 µm thickness). Here, the average thicknesses and heights of all samples are fixed at 50 ± 5 nm and 1.5 ± 0.1 µm.…”

Nanocones: A Compressive Review of Their Electrochemical Synthesis and Applications

“…Nanocones are an example of one-dimensional (1D) nanomaterials that are characterized by two nanometric dimensions in three perpendicular directions [5]. They are usually synthesized using templates [6]. Other examples of 1D structures are, among other things, nanowires [7,8], nanorods [9,10], and nanotubes [11].…”