Effect of Sulfurization Time and Temperature on the Properties of Lead Nano/Sub-Micro Wires Fabricated By Vacuum Injection Molding Process

Abstract

In this research, lead (Pb) nano/sub-micro wire arrays were fabricated with Anodic Aluminum Oxide (AAO) templates of 30,100 and 300nm in diameters. Through vacuum injection molding process, Pb/AAO composite was obtained, and lead sulfide (PbS) could further synthesized after exposed to vaporized sulfide. The AAO templates with different pore size were produced by using 99.999% high purity aluminum in two-step anodization. Three types of solutions include 10vol.% sulfuric acid, 3wt.% oxalic acid and 1vol.% phosphoric acid solutions were adopted to achieve AAO of various pore size. Different sulfurization temperatures and time periods were applied for studying on the properties of PbS. Finally, the morphology, composition, structure and elements distribution of the as-prepared Pb and PbS nano/sub-micro wires were confirmed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS), X -ray diffraction (XRD) and element-mapping analysis. The results indicated that Pb nano/sub-micro wires obtained successfully after vacuum injection molding process with 50 kgf/cm2 hydraulic pressure and PbS nano/sub-micro arrays formed completely by sulfurization at 500℃ for 5 hours.