The metallisation of insulating substrates with nano-structured metal films of controllable pore dimension

Bromley, Michael A.; Boxall, Colin

doi:10.1039/c3ta10421d

Cited by 2 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 22 publications

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“…SEM analysis reveals that this metallic Ag layer is highly granular, more so than similar layers formed on glass substrates, attributed to the irregularity of the substrate surface and potentially a reduced efficiency of the non-annealed photocatalyst. While a slower electroless deposition is typically expected to produce a deposit of finer granularity, here we see a photocatalytic initiation stage producing fewer nucleation sites than previously observed on m-TiO 2 sensitised glass substrates within the same deposition time (3,4,7). This, combined with a translation of substrate morphology into the deposited metal results in a rougher and more granular film.…”

Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 53%

“…This, combined with a translation of substrate morphology into the deposited metal results in a rougher and more granular film. Despite this, the metal film displays good electrical conductivity with a sheet resistivity, R s , of 0.5 Ω/sq, a value comparable to the R s of 0.2 Ω/sq observed on fully conductive Ag layers on glass (4,7).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 67%

“…In each case, the microsphere template is removed postdeposition, by dissolving in toluene, to leave a metal film with a regular nanostructure. Furthermore, polystyrene spheres are commercially available in sizes ranging from 50 nm to 3 µm, allowing for the production of metal films with a wide range of pore sizes using the same deposition technique as demonstrated in parallel work from this laboratory (7).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The Nanoporous Metallization of Polymer Membranes through Photocatalytically Initiated Electroless Deposition

Bromley

Boxall

2013

ECS Trans.

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We present the novel use of Photocatalytically Initiated Electroless Deposition (PIED) for the deposition of metal films with highly ordered arrays of sub-µm (hemi)spherical pores directly onto the surface of insulating organic membrane-based substrates. This is achieved by sensitisation of the target substrate with a TiO2 photocatalyst followed by the self-assembly of a hexagonally close packed polystyrene microsphere template at the substrate surface. Metallisation then occurs through PIED into the template interstices and directly onto the TiO2 sensitised membrane surface. The dimensions of the resultant pores in the deposited metal are determined by the size of the template microspheres while metal film thickness may be controlled by the deposition period. The fabrication of nanoporous metal by this novel method adds a conductive and permeable metallic structure of high surface area to an otherwise electrically insulating polymer membrane surface. Such metallised insulating membranes have potentially wide applications in membrane and separation technology, desalination and electrode / solid electrolyte composites for fuel cells.

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Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 53%

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 67%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The Nanoporous Metallization of Polymer Membranes through Photocatalytically Initiated Electroless Deposition

Bromley

Boxall

2013

ECS Trans.

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“…[14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21] The regular morphology with better ligament connectivity endows nanoporous platelet structures with rather high permeability and remarkable catalytic properties relative to their monolithic foams. [25][26][27] Although signicant efforts have been made to develop effective strategies that provide tunable porosity, 28,29 a slight improvement has been achieved. structures have been reported by multiple de-alloying steps to produce hierarchical porous architecture with controlled multimodal pore size distribution.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…22,23 However, an unresolved issue with this strategy is the large shrinkage of the sample due to a corrosion process, 24 even though the microscopic failure behaviour is remedied partly by employing annealing aer de-alloying. [25][26][27] Although signicant efforts have been made to develop effective strategies that provide tunable porosity, 28,29 a slight improvement has been achieved. In addition, the surface defects (for example, steps, kinks and terrace densities) are critical to enhance catalytic activities of nanoporous structures.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Design of porous Ag platelet structures with tunable porosity and high catalytic activity

Sui

Wang

et al. 2015

J. Mater. Chem. A

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Porous Ag structures have recently attracted great interest due to their unique characteristics, relatively low cost and good biocompatibility. Shape-, size-, porosity-, and crystallinity-controlled and surface defect tailored synthesis of porous metal materials is of scientific significance yet greatly underdeveloped because of the lack of rational design strategies. Here, a low cost and facile synthetic route is presented to produce regular porous Ag platelet structures with controlled size, porosity, crystallinity and surface defects by a two-step process. Initially, size-tailored regular Ag platelet precursors from 2.5 mm to 36 mm are obtained by merely adjusting the solution pH value; meanwhile D-glucose is introduced as a structure-directing agent. Subsequently, thermal treatment is performed to afford the porous Ag platelet structures. Simply by optimizing the annealing time, temperature and heating rate, porous Ag platelets with effectively tunable porosity, crystallinity and surface defects can be achieved. The porous Ag platelet structures could catalyze the reduction of p-nitrophenol and dyes quite effectively at room temperature, which is attributed to their regular morphologies, porosity, high surface-to-volume ratio, short diffusion length and good permeability. Moreover, these porous Ag platelet structures because of their unique morphology and network characteristics will exhibit excellent electrochemical catalytic activity, or act as outstanding electrodes, sensors, actuators, etc.

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The metallisation of insulating substrates with nano-structured metal films of controllable pore dimension

Cited by 2 publications

References 22 publications

The Nanoporous Metallization of Polymer Membranes through Photocatalytically Initiated Electroless Deposition

The Nanoporous Metallization of Polymer Membranes through Photocatalytically Initiated Electroless Deposition

Design of porous Ag platelet structures with tunable porosity and high catalytic activity

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