AC electrodeposition and plasmonic properties of silver nanowires in porous anodic alumina templates

Abstract

The nanowire arrays of silver were fabricated by AC electrodeposition technique using Ag <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">2</sub> SO <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">4</sub> as the origin in H <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">3</sub> BO <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">3</sub> solution based on ordered nanoporous anodic aluminum oxide (AAO) template. The barrier layer between the aluminum substrate and AAO membrane was eliminated by gradually decreasing the applied anodizing voltage. Then, the AAO template was immediately used to produce the silver nanowires. X-ray diffraction (XRD) studies confirmed the formation of fcc cubic phase of silver. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) revealed the formation of ordered arrays and lengths of silver nanowires. The experiment time of electrodeposition was found to have notable impact on the form, structure, dimension and length of nanowires. The plasmonic properties of Ag nanowires were also investigated.