Synthesis of Alumina Nanowires by Etching Porous Alumina Film

Nowadays there is a considerable use of alumina nanowires in catalysts and electrochemical processes.Chemically etched alumina anodic film can be used to produce nanowires. Therefore in this study twostep alumina anodizing in acid oxalic solution was used to produce alumina film. Then alumina film was etched in dilute solution of sodium hydroxide (NaOH) for production of dense and aligned alumina nano-wires. This led to break of alumina walls and production of alumina nanowires. Nanowires formed in different concentration of sodium hydroxide solution and etching time wereinvestigated by scanning electron microscopy. The results show that the most appropriate alumina nanowires will be formed after 150 seconds etching in solution concentration of 0.5 moles/lit in this case, that the nanowires diameter and length are 25nm and 15μm respectively

Keywords:

anodizing , anodic alumina films , nanotubes , nanowires , alumina