Singapore Makes Aligned Nanoarches


Researchers in Singapore have successfully fabricated a family of aligned one-dimensional C-curved nanoarches of different compositions by a simple and scalable method for the first time. Article in ACS Nano: A Family of Aligned C-Curved Nanoarches. The nanoarches are actually nanotubes with their extremities firmly attached to the silicon surface, thereby forming a turned letter C.

One-dimensional (1-D) nanomaterials are basic building blocks for the construction of nanoscale devices. However, the fabrication and alignment of 1-D nanomaterials with specific geometry and composition on a given substrate is a significant challenge. Herein we show a successful example of fabricating a family of aligned 1-D C-curved nanoarches of different compositions on an extended Si surface by a simple and scalable method. The nanoarches are made up of either single-crystalline Sn nanorods encapsulated in carbon nanotubes (CNTs), SnO2 nanotubes, or CNTs. The aligned 1-D C-curved nanoarches of single-crystalline Sn nanorods in CNTs are prepared first by a facile in situ reduction of SnO2 nanoparticles under standard chemical vapor deposition conditions. Nanoarches of CNTs and SnO2 nanotubes were then derived from the Sn@CNT nanoarches by acid etching and by calcination in air, respectively.

Coverage at Nanowerks.com as well.

The new methodology for synthesizing tin oxide nanotubes using in situ formed carbon nanotubes as the active template. Our fabrication method is generic and could, in principle, be applied to the preparation of other aligned 1-D nanomaterials.