Surface fabrication of nanostructured thin films: a top-down chemical strategy

A chemical corrosion strategy has been successfully designed to synthesize nanostructured Nb2O5 nanocone and nanorod films on niobium surface in the presence of fluoride ions containing solution. The synthesis of Nb2O5 films via this chemical route is based on a solution-phase epitaxy growth process on niobium substrate. In the growth process, niobium foil is introduced into a reaction solution system, which can act as the reactant to provide niobium source and the substrate to support nanostructured film growth. Nb2O5 films with controllable nanostructures can be selectively obtained on the surface of niobium foil with different manipulations. The possible formation mechanism and influence factors have been investigated. This synthetic method shows that some advantages compared with those available methods, such as e.g., the use of simple equipment, low temperature reaction, low cost, and no need for the use of metal catalyst.