Nanopillar arrays of glassy carbon by anodic aluminum oxide nanoporous templates

This letter presents a method for making nanopillar arrays of glassy carbon. Anodic aluminum oxide (AAO) nanopores on aluminum were used as templates and furfuryl alcohol (FFA)-based resin was used as filling precursor. The templates and nanopillars were characterized by field emission scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS), and powder X-ray diffraction (PXRD). It was found that the dimensions of the nanopores and the heating scheme of carbonization are important for making pillar arrays.