Self-Peeling of Porous Nickel Foam from the Electrochemically Etched Porous Silicon

Abstract

AbstractA low-doped p-type silicon wafer was wet-etched to form macropores in a high-aspect-ratio, straight and parallel manner along the Si (100) direction. It was then plated in aqueous alkaline solution containing Ni2+. Metallic Ni was rapidly deposited in the macropores on the sidewall surface without using a reducing agent or activation treatment at slightly elevated temperature. After being immersed for certain duration, the single crystalline Si of sidewalls was replaced by polycrystalline Ni while the initial porous structure was still maintained. When Ni became dominant in the entire porous regime, the porous film more than 200 μm thick was discovered to be able to peel off very easily from the Si substrate beneath. In this way, a piece of nickel foam with straight pores of very high aspect ratio is self-formed and self-peeled.