Facile Fabrication of Silicon Micro/nanostructures for Microelectrodes by Silver-assisted Etching Using Nano-sponge as a Template

Abstract

With the gradual miniaturization and popularization of energy storage devices, electrode structures that seek better electrochemical performances and electrical properties have drawn attention. This paper reports a facile and cost-effective method for the fabrication of silicon micro/nanostructures for microelectrodes by silver-assisted etching using nano-sponge as a template. The silicon micro/nanostructures fabricated with the nano-sponge as a template exhibit better uniformity and stability compared with those fabricated without templates. And the silicon micro/nanostructures show good electrochemical performances which can be attributed to the good stability and large effective surface area. The proposed method of fabricating silicon micro/nanostructures is promising for large-scale and low-cost manufacturing, and the obtained silicon micro/nanostructures have great potentials to boost the electrochemical performances of micro energy storage devices.