The research on nanostructured materials has been one of the most active areas
due to their unique magnetic, optical, electronic, mechanic, and other
properties. Physical properties and
potential applications associated with one-dimensional nanoscaled materials
such as nanowires, nanoarrays, and nanomeshes are of particular interest. However, current synthesis approaches usually
leads to the formation of nanowires that are lack of control in their
macroscopic morphology, which may limit their device applications such as
sensors, nano-devices, membranes, and microelectronics.
Our research attempts to bridge the nanoscale metallic, semiconductor, and polymeric architectures with the macroscopic device fabrications. One example is the synthesis of macroscopic metallic, semiconductor, or polymeric nanowires or nanomeshes in the form of thin films via electrodeposition techniques using mesoporous silica as templates. This method continually grows metal, semiconductor, or polymer within the pore channels of the templates from the bottom conductive substrate upward till the mesoporous channels are filled. Removal of the templates results in various macroscopic hierarchical nanowires or nanomeshes. The structures of the nanostructured thin films have been characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscope (TEM), and electron energy-loss spectroscopy (EELS), and other techniques. We have also explored their applications in fuel cells, electrodes, magnetic materials, photovoltaics, sensors, and other applications.