Recent Progress in the Fabrication and Optical Properties of Nanoporous Anodic Alumina

Abstract

The fabrication of a thick oxide layer onto an aluminum surface via anodization has been a subject of intense research activity for more than a century, largely due to protective and decorative applications. The capability to create well-defined pores via a cost-effective electrochemical oxidation technique onto the surface has made a major renaissance in the field, as the porous surfaces exhibit remarkably different properties compared to a bulk oxide layer. Amongst the various nanoporous structures being investigated, nanoporous anodic alumina (NAA) with well-organized and highly ordered hexagonal honeycomb-like pores has emerged as the most popular nanomaterial due to its wide range of applications, ranging from corrosion resistance to bacterial repelling surfaces. As compared to conventional nanostructure fabrication, the electrochemical anodization route of NAA with well-controlled pore parameters offers an economical route for fabricating nanoscale materials. The review comprehensively reflects the progress made in the fabrication route of NAA to obtain the material with desired pore properties, with a special emphasis on self-organization and pore growth kinetics. Detailed accounts of the various conditions that can play an important role in pore growth kinetics and pore parameters are presented. Further, recent developments in the field of controlling optical properties of NAA are discussed. A critical outlook on the future trends of the fabrication of NAA and its optical properties on the emerging nanomaterials, sensors, and devices are also outlined.

Integration of supercapacitor with solar cell based on NiO 2 and CdS nanopillars embedded in porous anodic alumina templates

“…The manufacturing steps are described below. Deposition of ITO and aluminium layers by magnetron deposition simultaneously on both sides of the glass substrate: first ITO and then Al 70 Simultaneous anodic oxidation of Al on both sides of the glass substrate in order to the creation of AAO templates on both sides of the glass plate 61‐66 Electrochemical deposition of both CdS nanowires and Ni nanotubes in AAO templates on the front and rear sides 54,55,70 …”

“…32,33,42,43 As noted earlier, active SC electrodes are made of a nanoporous carbonaceous material with both high porosity and specific surface area. Anodic aluminum oxide (AAO) template-directed fabrication by anodization of aluminum is one of the fabrication techniques for selforganized, highly ordered nanoporous thin-film arrays [60][61][62][63][64][65] with hexagonal honeycomb-like pores with controlled dimensions and very high density (10 10 cm À2 ). Anodic alumina membranes can be used as the mold for a number of deposition methods, such as atomic layer deposition (ALD), chemical vapor deposition (CVD), electrochemical deposition, and so forth, to create nanowires, nanopillars, nanotubes, and other nanostructured materials made of various semiconductor and conductor materials.…”

Control of the Nanopore Architecture of Anodic Alumina via Stepwise Anodization with Voltage Modulation and Pore Widening

“…Such processability of the anodization techniques facilitates the control of the resultant nanostructures for various applications [ 1 , 5 , 12 ]. In particular, the pore diameter ( D p ) and the interpore distance determine the porosity of the nanoporous layer and directly influence their performance in applications such as solar cells [ 13 ], chemical sensors [ 14 ], photonic nanodevices [ 15 , 16 ], metallic nanowires [ 17 , 18 ], and anticorrosion coatings [ 19 , 20 ]. The self-ordered hexagonal nanopore array of the anodic alumina with a uniform pore arrangement also serves as an effective template for nanofabrication, having advantages to cover a large surface area in a parallel way, compared to the other serial nanolithography techniques such as nanoindentation [ 21 ] and electron beam lithography [ 22 ].…”

Overview of Engineering Carbon Nanomaterials Such As Carbon Nanotubes (CNTs), Carbon Nanofibers (CNFs), Graphene and Nanodiamonds and Other Carbon Allotropes inside Porous Anodic Alumina (PAA) Templates

“…Very interesting review articles were published recently that provide an extensive description of the signs of progress made on the PAA fabrication [ 38 , 39 ], characterization [ 40 ], formation mechanisms [ 41 , 42 ] and applications [ 43 , 44 ]. All these works agree that the porous materials based on alumina templates are a very attractive platform to develop a wide range of applications but are still fundamental to get a better understanding of their growth mechanisms to gain more advanced control over their structure and the interaction with other materials.…”