Highly Ordered Nanoporous Alumina on Conducting Substrates with Adhesion Enhanced by Surface Modification: Universal Templates for Ultrahigh-Density Arrays of Nanorods

A highly ordered nanoporous anodized aluminum oxide template with excellent adhesion is fabricated on various conducting substrates by surface modification of the substrates. This template can be universally utilized to fabricate laterally long-range-ordered and hexagonally packed arrays of freestanding and vertically aligned metal, semiconductor, and conducting polymer nanorods on various substrates, including flexible substrates (see image).