Structural engineering of nanoporous anodic aluminium oxide by pulse anodization of aluminium.
Nanoporous anodic aluminium oxide has traditionally been made in one of two ways: mild anodization or hard anodization. The first method produces self-ordered pore structures, but it is slow and only works for a narrow range of processing conditions; the second method, which is widely used in the aluminium industry, is faster, but it produces films with disordered pore structures. Here we report a novel approach termed "pulse anodization" that combines the advantages of the mild and hard anodization processes. By designing the pulse sequences it is possible to control both the composition and pore structure of the anodic aluminium oxide films while maintaining high throughput. We use pulse anodization to delaminate a single as-prepared anodic film into a stack of well-defined nanoporous alumina membrane sheets, and also to fabricate novel three-dimensional nanostructures.
Lee
Woo
W
Max Planck Institute of Microstructure Physics, Weinberg 2, D-06120 Halle, Germany. woolee@kriss.re.kr
Schwirn
Kathrin
K
Steinhart
Martin
M
Pippel
Eckhard
E
Scholz
Roland
R
Gösele
Ulrich
U
D000535:Aluminum / Q000737:chemistry*; D000537:Aluminum Oxide / Q000737:chemistry*; D003460:Crystallization / Q000379:methods*; D004566:Electrodes; D004595:Electroplating / Q000379:methods*; D046911:Macromolecular Substances / Q000737:chemistry; D008422:Materials Testing; D008968:Molecular Conformation; D049329:Nanostructures / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D036103:Nanotechnology / Q000379:methods*; D010316:Particle Size; D016062:Porosity; D013499:Surface Properties
D046911:Macromolecular Substances; D000535:Aluminum; D000537:Aluminum Oxide