A New Technology to Measure the Thermoelectric Performance of Nanowire Array Structure

Recently, the study on one-dimensional thermoelectric materials is getting more and more attention. For those one-dimensional thermoelectric materials with nanowire array structure fabricated with alumina film as template, its thickness is often in the range of 10 to several tens micrometers, and the conventional measurement cannot be used. The key difficulties of the thermoelectric performance measurement for nanowire array materials include two aspects: 1) How to heat the two sides of the specimen uniformly and keep the temperature difference constantly at the same time; 2) How to measure the temperature of the two sides of the specimen with the thickness of 10 to several tens micrometers. A new type heating and temperature measuring technology has been used, and it can be simply described as liquid heating and separate temperature measurement. According to this principle, a thermoelectric performance measurement system has been established.

In situ growth of minimal Ir-incorporated CoxNi1-xO nanowire arrays on Ni foam with improved electrocatalytic activity for overall water splitting

Exploration of cost-effective electrocatalysts for boosting the overall water-splitting efficiency is vitally important for obtaining renewable fuels such as hydrogen.Here,earth-abundant CoxNi1-xO nanowire arrays were used as a structural framework to dilute Ir incorporation for fabricating electrocatalysts for water splitting.Minimal Ir-incorporated CoxNi1-xO nanowire arrays were synthesized through the facile hydrothermal method with subsequent calcination by using Ni foam(NF)as both the substrate and source of Ni.The electrocatalytic water-splitting performance was found to crucially depend on the Ir content of the parent CoxNi1-xO nanowire arrays.As a result,for a minimal Ir content,as low as 0.57 wt%,the obtained Ir-CoxNi1-xO/NF electrodes exhibited optimal catalytic activity in terms of a low overpotential of 260 mV for the oxygen evolution reaction and 53 mV for the hydrogen evolution reaction at 10 mA cm?2 in 1 mol L–1 KOH.When used as bifunctional electrodes in water splitting,the current density of 10 mA cm–2 was obtained at a low cell voltage of 1.55 V.Density functional theory calculations revealed that the Ir-doped CoxNi1-xO arrays exhibited enhanced electrical conductivity and low Gibbs free energy,which contributed to the improved electrocatalytic activity.The present study presents a new strategy for the development of transition metal oxide electrocatalysts with low levels of Ir incorporation for efficient water splitting.

Hydrogen reduced sodium vanadate nanowire arrays as electrode material of lithium-ion battery

Vanadates and vanadium oxides are potential lithium-ion electrode materials because of their easy preparation and high capacity properties.This paper reports the electrochemical lithium-storage performance of VO2 and NaV2O5 composite nanowire arrays.Firstly,Na5V12O32 nanowire arrays are fabricated by a hydrothermal method,and then VO2 and NaV2O5 composite nanowire arrays are prepared by a reduction reaction of Na5V12O32 nanowire arrays in hydrogen atmosphere.Crystal structure,chemical composition and morphology of the prepared samples are characterized in detail.The obtained composite is used as an electrode of a lithium-ion battery,which exhibits high reversible capacity and good cycle stability.The composite obtained at 500℃presents a specific discharge capacity up to 345.1 mA·h/g after 50 cycles at a current density of 30 mA/g.

Structural and Magnetic Properties of Electrodeposited Ni_(70)Fe_(30) Nanowire Array

Ordered Ni70Fe30 nanowire array was fabricated in a porous alumina template by alternating current electrodeposition. The structural and magnetic properties of the as-obtained nanowire array were investigated by SEM, TEM, XRD, EDS and VSM. The results indicate that the as-obtained Ni70Fe30 nanowires exhibit a diameter of about 69.9 nm and aspect ratio of more than 60. Meanwhile, a preferred orientation [110] of bcc lattice was observed. The as-obtained nanowire array has an obvious magnetic anisotropy, of which the easy direction is perpendicular to the surface of the array. Moreover, after annealed, the Ni70Fe30 nanowire array exhibits an enhanced magnetic anisotropy.

An effective surface-enhanced Raman scattering template based on gold nanoparticle/silicon nanowire arrays

A large-scale Si nanowire array （SiNWA） is fabricated with gold （Au） nanoparticles by simple metal-assisted chemical etching and metal reduction processes. The three-dimensional nanostructured Au/SiNWA is evaluated as an active substrate for surface-enhanced Raman scattering （SERS）. The results show that the detection limit for rhodamine 6G is as low as 10-7 M, and the Raman enhancement factor is as large as 105 with a relative standard deviation of less than 25%. After the calibration of the Raman peak intensifies of rhodamine 6G and thiram, organic molecules could be quantitatively detected. These results indicate that Au/SiNWA is a promising SERS-active substrate for the detection of biomolecules present in low concentrations. Our findings are an important advance in SERS substrates to allow fast and quantitative detection of trace organic contaminants.

Fe48Co52 Alloy Nanowire Arrays： Effects of Magnetic Field Annealing

The effects of magnetic field annealing on the properties of Fe48Co52 alloy nanowire arrays with various interwire distances （Di=30-60 nm） and wire diameters （Dw=22-46 nm） were investigated in detail. It was found that the array＇s best annealing temperature and crys- talline structure did not show any apparent dependence on the treatment of applying a 3 kOe magnetic field along the wire during the annealing process. For arrays with small Dw or with large Di, the treatment of magnetic field annealing also had no obvious influence on their magnetic performances. However, such a magnetic field annealing constrained the shift of the easy magnetization direction and improved the coercivity and the squareness obviously for arrays with large Dw or with small Di. The difference in the intensity of the effective anisotropic field within the arrays was believed to be responsible for this different variation of the array＇s magnetic properties after magnetic field annealing.

Exciton emissions of CdS nanowire array fabricated on Cd foil by the solvothermal method

Nanowires have recently attracted more attention because of their low-dimensional structure, tunable optical and electrical properties for next-generation nanoscale optoelectronic devices. Cd S nanowire array, which is(002)-orientation growth and approximately perpendicular to Cd foil substrate, has been fabricated by the solvothermal method. In the temperature-dependent photoluminescence, from short wavelength to long wavelength, four peaks can be ascribed to the emissions from the bandgap, the transition from the holes being bound to the donors or the electrons being bound to the acceptors, the transition from Cd interstitials to Cd vacancies, and the transition from S vacancies to the valence band,respectively. In the photoluminescence of 10 K, the emission originated from the bandgap appears in the form of multiple peaks. Two stronger peaks and five weaker peaks can be observed. The energy differences of the adjacent peaks are close to 38 me V, which is ascribed to the LO phonon energy of Cd S. For the multiple peaks of bandgap emission, from low energy to high energy, the first, second, and third peaks are contributed to the third-order, second-order, and first-order phonon replica of the free exciton A, respectively;the fourth peak is originated from the free exciton A;the fifth peak is contributed to the first-order phonon replica of the excitons bound to neutral donors;the sixth and seventh peaks are originated from the excitons bound to neutral donors and the light polarization parallel to the c axis of hexagonal Cd S, respectively.

Cu nanowire array with designed interphases enabling high performance Si anode toward flexible lithium-ion battery

To meet the growing demand for wearable smart electronic devices,the development of flexible lithium-ion batteries(LIBs)is essential.Silicon is an ideal candidate for the anode material of flexible lithium-ion batteries due to its high specific capacity,low working potential,and earth abundance.The largest challenge in developing a flexible silicon anode is how to maintain structural integrity and ensure stable electrochemical reactions during external deformation.In this work,we propose a novel design for fabricating core–shell electrodes based on a copper nanowire(CuNW)array core and magnetron sputtered Si/C shell.The nanowire array structure has characteristics of bending under longitudinal stress and twisting under transverse stress,which helps to maintain the mechanical stability of the structure during electrode bending and cycling.The low-temperature annealing generates a small amount of Cu3Si alloy,which enhances the connection strength between Si and the conductive network and solves the poor conductivity problem of Si,which is known as a semiconductor material.This unique configuration design of CuNW@Si@C-400℃ leads to stable long cycle performance of 1109 mAh∙g^(-1) after 1000 cycles and excellent rate performance of 500 mAh∙g^(-1) at a current density of 10 A∙g^(-1).Furthermore,the CuNW@Si@C-400℃||LiFePO_(4)(LFP)full battery demonstrates excellent flexibility,with a capacity retention of more than 96%after 100 bends.This study provides a promising strategy for the development of flexible lithium-ion batteries.

Ultraviolet-infrared dual-color photodetector based on vertical GaN nanowire array and graphene

A monolithic integrated ultraviolet-infrared(UV-IR) dual-color photodetector based on graphene/GaN heterojunction was fabricated by vertically integrating a GaN nanowire array on a silicon substrate with monolayer graphene. The device detects UV and IR lights by different mechanisms. The UV detection is accomplished by the forbidden band absorption of GaN, and the IR detection is realized by the free electron absorption of graphene. At peak wavelengths of 360 nm and 1540 nm, the detector has responsivities up to 6.93 A/W and 0.11 A/W, detection efficiencies of 1.23 × 1012 cm·Hz1/2·W-1 and 1.88 × 1010 cm·Hz1/2·W-1, respectively,and a short response time of less than 3 ms.

Monolithically integrated CoP nanowire array： An on/off switch for effective on-demand hydrogen generation via hydrolysis of NaBH4 and NH3BH3

The issues of hydrogen generation and storage have hindered the widespread use and commercialization of hydrogen fuel cell vehicles. It is thus highly attractive, but the design and development of highly active non-noble-metal catalysts for on-demand hydrogen release from alkaline NaBH4 solution under mild conditions remains a key challenge. Herein, we describe the use of CoP nanowire array integrated on a Ti mesh （CoP NA/Ti） as a three-dimensional （3D） monolithic catalyst for efficient hydrolytic dehydrogenation of NaBH4 in basic solutions. The CoP NAFFi works as an on/off switch for on-demand hydrogen generation at a rate of 6,500 mL/（min.g） and a low activation energy of 41 kJ/mol. It is highly robust for repeated usage after recycling, without sacrificing catalytic performance. Remarkably, this catalyst also performs efficiently for the hydrolysis of NH3BH3.

Integration of microfluidic injection analysis with carbon nanomaterials/gold nanowire arrays-based biosensors for glucose detection

Carbon nanotubes(CNTs) and reduced graphene oxide(r GO) nanosheets were utilized to construct glucose biosensors in combination with gold nanowire arrays(Au NWAs), and microfluidic injection analysis driven by gravity force was used to investigate the performances of as-prepared glucose biosensors. The results demonstrated glucose biosensors based on carbon nanomaterials/Au NWAs presented excellent performance at low working potential of-0.2 V versus Ag/Ag Cl(3 mol/L KCl), such as high sensitivity, good anti-interference ability and high throughput(45 h^(-1)). The glucose biosensor based on glucose oxidase(GOx)–CNT–Au NWAs showed a wide linear range from 100 to 3,000 lmol/L with a sensitivity of 4.12 l A/cm^2 mmol/L. Furthermore, the linear range and sensitivity of GOx–r GO–Au NWAs-based glucose biosensor were 50–4,000 lmol/L and 8.59 l A/(cm^2 mmol/L), respectively, which were better than those of glucose biosensor based on GOx–CNT–Au NWAs,suggesting r GO nanosheets in combination with Au NWAs being a good platform for the construction of glucose biosensors.

Micromagnetic simulation on the dynamic susceptibility spectra of cobalt nanowires arrays:the effect of magnetostatic interaction

Micromagnetic simulations have been performed to obtain the dynamic susceptibility spectra of 4×4 cobalt nanowire arrays with different spatial configurations and geometries. The susceptibility spectra of isolated wires have also been simulated for comparison purposes. It is found that the susceptibility spectrum of nanowire array bears a lot of similarities to that of an isolated wire, such as the occurrences of the edge mode and the bulk resonance mode. The simulation results also reveal that the susceptibility spectrum of nanowire array behaves like that of single isolated wire as the interwire distance grows to an extent, which is believed due to the decrease of magnetostatic interaction among nanowires, and can be further confirmed by the static magnetic hysteresis simulations. In comparison with single nanowire, magnetostatic interaction may increase or decrease the resonance frequencies of nanowire arrays assuming a certain interwire distance when the length of array increases. Our simulation results are also analysed by employing the Kittel equation and recent theoretical studies.

Magnetic moment distributions in a-Fe nanowire array

α-Fe nanowire array has been electrodeposited into anodic aluminum oxide template. The magnetic moment distributions, in the interior and near the extremities of α-Fe nanowire with 60 nm in diameter, have been studied by means of transmission M?ssbauer spectroscopy (MS), conversion electron M?ssbauer spectroscopy (CEMS) and micromagnetic simulation. Transmission M?ssbauer spectrum (MS) shows that the magnetic moments, inside the α-Fe nanowire array, are well parallel to nanowire, while conversion electron M?ssbauer spectrum (CEMS) reveals that the magnetic moments, near the extremities of nanowire, diverge from the long axis of wire, and the average diverging angle calculated by the intensity ratio of the 2,5 peaks is about 24.0°. Moreover, the magnetic moment distributions of different depths to the top of wire are counted using micromagnetic simulation, which indicates that, the interior magnetic moments are strictly parallel to nanowire, and the closer the magnetic moment to the top of wire, the larger the diverging angle. Magnetic measurement shows that this α-Fe nanowire array represents a strong magnetic anisotropy.

GISAXS and SAXS studies on the spatial structures of Co nanowire arrays

The spatial structures of magnetic Co nanowire array embedded in anodic aluminium membranes were investigated by grazing incidence small angle X-ray scattering （GISAXS） and conventional small angle X-ray scattering （SAXS） techniques. Compared with SEM observation, the GISAXS and SAXS measurements can get more overall structural information in a large-area scale. In this study, the two-dimensional GISAXS pattern was well reconstructed by using the IsGISAXS program. The results demonstrate that the hexagonal lattice formed by the Co nanowires is distorted （a ≈105 nm, b ≈95 nm）. These Co nanowires are isolated into many structure domains with different orientations with a size of about 2 p_m. The SAXS results have also confirmed that the nanopore structures in the AAM can be retained after depositing Co nanowires although the Co nanowires can not completely but only just fill up the nanopores. These results are helpful for understanding the global structure of the Co nanowire array.

Bi-based Nanowire and Nanojunction Arrays:Fabrication and Physical Properties

This article reviews the recent developments in the fabrication and properties of one-dimensional （1D） Bi-based nanostructures, including Bi, Sb, BixSb1-x and Bi2Te3 nanowire arrays, and Bi-Bi and Bi-Sb nanojunction arrays. In this article, we present an efiective method to fabricate Bi nanowire arrays with difierent diameters in anodic alumina membrane （AAM） with a single pore size by the pulsed electrodeposition. The fabrication of the high-filling and ordered Bi1-xSbx and Bi2Te3 single crystalline nanowire arrays, the Bi nanowire metalsemiconductor homojunction and Bi-Sb nanowire metal-semiconductor heterojunction arrays by the pulsed electrodeposition are reported. The factors controlling the composition, diameter, growth rate and orientation of the nanowires are analyzed, and the growth mechanism of the nanowire and nanojunction arrays are discussed together with the study of the electrical and thermal properties of Bi-based nanowires and nanojunctions.Finally, this review is concluded with some perspectives on the research directions and focuses in the Bi-based nanomaterials fields.

Improved electron capture capability of field-assisted exponential-doping GaN nanowire array photocathode

The exponential-doping GaN nanowire arrays(GaN NWAs)photocathode has a"light-trapping effect",and the built-in electric field can promote the concentration of the photogene rated carrier center to the top surface of the nanowire.However,in the preparation ofactual NWAs photocathodes,the problem that photons emitted from the sides of the nanowires cannot be effectively collected has been encountered.Our proposed field-assisted exponential-doping GaN NWAs can bend the motion trajectory of the emitted electrons toward the collecting side.In this study,the quantum efficiency(QE)and collection efficiency(CE)of the external field-assisted exponential-doping GaN NWAs photocathode are derived based on the two-dimensional carrier diffusion equation and the initial energy and angular distribution,respectively.For a field-assisted exponential-doping GaN NWAs with a width d=200 nm and a height H=400 nm,the optimal structural parameters are obtained:the incident angleθ=50°and the nanowire spacing is L=335.6 nm.On this basis,the field intensity of 0.5 V/μm can maximize the CE of the NWAs.All the results show that the field-assisted approach does contribute to the collection of emitted electrons,which can provide theoretical guidance for high-performance electron sources based on exponential-doping GaN NWAs photocathodes.And field-assisted exponential-doping GaN NWAs cathode is expected to be verified by the experimental results in the future.

Ultra-dense planar metallic nanowire arrays with extremely large anisotropic optical and magnetic properties

A nanofabrication method for the production of ultra-dense planar metallic nanowire arrays scalable to wafer-size is presented. The method is based on an efficient template deposition process to grow diverse metallic nanowire arrays with extreme regularity in only two steps. First, Ⅲ-Ⅴ semiconductor substrates are irradiated by a low-energy ion beam at an elevated temperature, forming a highly ordered nanogroove pattern by a ＂reverse epitaxy＂ process due to self-assembly of surface vacancies. Second, diverse metallic nanowire arrays （Au, Fe, Ni, Co, FeAl alloy） are fabricated on these Ⅲ-Ⅴ templates by deposition at a glancing incidence angle. This method allows for the fabrication of metallic nanowire arrays with periodicities down to 45 nm scaled up to wafer-size fabrication. As typical noble and magnetic metals, the Au and Fe nanowire arrays produced here exhibited large anisotropic optical and magnetic properties, respectively. The excitation of localized surface plasmon resonances （LSPRs） of the Au nanowire arrays resulted in a high electric field enhancement, which was used to detect phthalocyanine （CoPc） in surface-enhanced Raman scattering （SERS）. Furthermore, the Fe nanowire arrays showed a very high in-plane magnetic anisotropy of approximately 412 mT, which may be the largest in-plane magnetic anisotropy field yet reported that is solely induced via shape anisotropy within the plane of a thin film.

Effect of MWCNT Inclusion in TiO_2 Nanowire Array Film on the Photoelectrochemical Performance

Rutile TiO2 nanowire array films with multi-walled carbon nanotube （MWCNT） inclusion perpendicularly grown on fluorine-doped tin oxide （FTO） substrate were prepared by a facile hydrothermal method. The absorption edges of the TiO2 nanowire array films are blue-shifted with increasing MWCNT content. The resistance of the TiO2 nanowire array film is decreased by MWCNT inclusion. The optimum TiO2/MWCNT molar ratio in the feedstock is 1：0.1. For the TiO2 nanowire array film with MWCNT inclusion served as electrode in dye-sensitized solar cell （DSSC）, an overall 194% increase of photoelectric conversion efficiency has been achieved.

Boron-assisted growth of silica nanowire arrays and silica microflowers for bendable capacitor application

Aligned silica nanowire arrays and silica microflowers were fabricated using boron as the catalyst and under the flow N2 gas. The obtained product had no catalyst contamination. And silica nanowires had long lengths of a few hundreds. The growth of nanowire arrays and microflowers was explained using mechanism. Parallel-plate capacitors using silica nanowire mat as the dielectric were fabricated. The silica nanowire capacitor shows a specific capacitance of 0.24 n F/cm~2 at the frequency of 100 Hz. The capacitor is not monotone changing with the frequency. The measurement of mechanical properties shows that the tunneling current increases along with an increase in bending angle of the capacitor.

Absorption through a coupled optical resonance in a horizontal InP nanowire array

We study through electromagnetic modeling the absorption of light of a given wavelength in an array of horizontal In P nanowires of diameter less than 100 nm. Such absorption is performed most efficiently by using polarized light and by exciting a coupled optical resonance in a sparse array. In that case, we excite a resonance in the individual nanowires and couple the resonances in neighboring nanowires through a lattice resonance of the periodic array.At such a resonance, an array with nanowires of 80 nm in diameter can absorb more than eight times more strongly than a tight-packed array, despite containing a seven times smaller amount of the absorbing InP material.