Roll-to-roll anodization and etching of aluminum foils for high-throughput surface nanotexturing

A high-throughput process for nanotexturing of hard and soft surfaces based on the roll-to-roll anodization and etching of low-cost aluminum foils is presented. The process enables the precise control of surface topography, feature size, and shape over large areas thereby presenting a highly versatile platform for fabricating substrates with user-defined, functional performance. Specifically, the optical and surface wetting properties of the foil substrates were systematically characterized and tuned through the modulation of the surface texture. In addition, textured aluminum foils with pore and bowl surface features were used as zeptoliter reaction vessels for the well-controlled synthesis of inorganic, organic, and plasmonic nanomaterials, demonstrating yet another powerful potential use of the presented approach.