Generation and growth mechanism of metal (Fe, Co, Ni) nanotube arrays

Nanotubes composed of layered or nonlayered materials have been synthesized through various methods, among which template-based electrodeposition technology provides a versatile technique for synthesizing one-dimensional nanostructured materials. However, the growth mechanism of nanotubes using the template methods is seldom clarified. Herein, we present the systematic preparation of metal nanotube arrays and put forward the growth mechanism, termed current-directed tubular growth (CDTG), for template-based electrodeposition. There are competitive growth rates for metal atoms entering the crystal lattice, that is, v parallel to (growth rate parallel to current direction) and v perpendicular to (growth rate perpendicular to current direction). Metal nanotubes can be obtained at v parallel to >> v perpendicular to, while nanowires can be obtained at v parallel to approximate to v perpendicular to. The as-synthesized metal (Fe, Co, Ni) nanotubes are constructed from nonlayered materials which are of body-centered cubic iron structure, hexagonal close packed cobalt structure, and face-centered cubic nickel structure, respectively. The CDTG mechanism is expected to have applications in designing and synthesizing other metal nanotubes and even compound nanotubes via template-based electrodeposition technology.