A Method for the Rapid Synthesis of Large Quantities of Metal Oxide Nanowires at Low Temperatures

Abstract

Metal foils convert to metal oxide nanowires at ∼50–300 °C when oxidized using weakly ionized, highly dissociated oxygen plasmas in an inductively coupled RF system (see Figure). The mechanism is believed to involve spontaneous nucleation of metal oxide nanocrystals (due to supersaturation of the subsurface layers of the foil with O2) followed by basal attachment (due to limited mobility of the metal at low temperatures), leading to rapid nanowire growth. Supporting information for this article is available on the WWW under http://www.wiley-vch.de/contents/jc_2089/2005/c0728_s.pdf or from the author. Please note: The publisher is not responsible for the content or functionality of any supporting information supplied by the authors. Any queries (other than missing content) should be directed to the corresponding author for the article.