Growth of titanium dioxide nanorods in 3D-confined spaces.
Three-dimensional (3D) nanowire (NW) networks are promising architectures for effectively translating the extraordinary properties of one-dimensional objects into a 3D space. However, to uniformly grow NWs in a 3D confined space is a serious challenge due to the coupling between crystal growth and precursor concentration that is often dictated by the mass flow characteristic of vapor or liquid phase reactants within the high-aspect ratio submicrometer channels in current strategies. We report a pulsed chemical vapor deposition (CVD) process that successfully addressed this issue and grew TiO(2) nanorods uniformly covering the entire inner surface of highly confined nanochannels. We propose a mechanism for the anisotropic growth of anatase TiO(2) based on the surface-reaction-limited CVD process. This strategy would lead to the realization of NW-based 3D nanoarchitectures from various functional materials for the applications of sensors, solar cells, catalysts, energy storage systems, and so forth.
Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, Wisconsin 53706, USA.
Jian
J
Shi
Chengliang
C
Sun
Matthew B
MB
Starr
Xudong
X
Wang
D003460:Crystallization / Q000379:methods*; D046911:Macromolecular Substances / Q000737:chemistry; D008422:Materials Testing; D008956:Models, Chemical; D008958:Models, Molecular; D008968:Molecular Conformation; D049329:Nanostructures / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D036103:Nanotechnology / Q000379:methods*; D010316:Particle Size; D013499:Surface Properties; D014025:Titanium / Q000737:chemistry*
D046911:Macromolecular Substances; C009495:titanium dioxide; D014025:Titanium