| dc.description.abstract | The advanced nanoscale fabrication technology is expected to play a key role in the applications of future nanodevices. Recently, the metal nanomaterials with hollow interiors have already been found their potential application in advanced optoelectronics, chemical sensors, and catalysts. Therefore, many research efforts have been dedicated to the large-scale syntheses of hollow nanomaterials.
In the present study, a new and facile route for the large-scale synthesis of high-purity hollow Ni metal nanomaterials has been developed by using the hydrazine-modified electroless Ni deposition processes with sacrificial templates. For the synthesis of the one-dimensional (1D) Ni metal nanotubes, amorphous silicon oxide (a-SiOx) nanowires are used as the sacrificial templates because it possesses the smooth surface, high aspect ratio, and good thermal stability. After the 3-aminopropyl-trimethoxysilane (APTMS) functionalization, activation, and hydrazine modified electroless Ni plating processes, a uniform a-SiOx/pure Ni core-shell nanowire structure was produced. By etching away the inner a-SiOx nanowire templates with dilute HF solution, pure hollow Ni nanotubes were then obtain. The inner diameters of the pure Ni nanotubes were about 30-150 nm and the length was several tens of micrometers. For the synthesis of the hollow metal spheres, monodispersed colloidal polystyrene spheres of equal size were served as the templates. After the hydrazine modified electroless Ni deposition and subsequent removal the inner PS sphere cores, large quantities of pure hollow Ni metal spheres were first successfully synthesized in this study.
The surface morphology, crystal structure, and chemical composition of the synthesized products were systematically characterized by SEM, TEM, SAED, EDS, and high-resolution TEM. The observed results present the exciting prospect that using the colloidal spheres of equal size and high-aspect-ratio a-SiOx nanowires as the removable templates, the noval APTMS and hydrazine modified electroless deposition technique promises to be applicable to the large-scale synthesis of a variety of high-purity hollow metal nanomaterials. | en_US |