A modified sol-gel technique for pore size control in porous aluminum oxide nanowire templates

A modified sol-gel technique was developed to continuously vary the pore diameters in porous alumina templates for the purpose of growing nanowires. To coat the pore walls, the porous alumina film is initially soaked in a methanol/water solution to fill the pores with the desired concentration of water. The porous alumina film is then exposed to a solution of 3-aminopropyltriethoxysilane (APTES) in toluene, creating a surface layer of APTES. The concentration of water in the pores correlates with the thickness of the APTES polymer coating that is obtained. This approach exerts greater control over the extent of silane polymerization than traditional sol-gel reactions by limiting the amount of water present for reaction. Factors such as the APTES concentration, exposure time, and organic cosolvent choice did not influence the coating thickness. However, the density and thickness of the APTES coating can be manipulated by varying the pH of the methanol/water solution as well as post-treatment annealing. Further modification of the pore size was achieved by subsequent reaction of the APTES coating with poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA). The PMMA couples to amine groups on the APTES polymer surface by an aminolysis reaction. Bismuth telluride nanowires were electrodeposited in the polymer-coated porous alumina templates using previously established methods. Nanowire diameters were smaller when the nanowires were prepared in modified templates as anticipated.