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Nano Research 2024, 17(3): 1225-1231 https://doi.org/10.1007/s12274-023-6007-1
Research Article | Open Access | Issue | Published: 14 August 2023

Interface catalytic reduction of alumina by nickle for the aluminum nanowire growth: Dynamics observed by in situ TEM

Show Author's Information Zichun Wang1,2,  Dan Wang1,  Ang Li3( ),  Lizhuo Wang2,  Xiaodong Han3( ),  Yijiao Jiang4,  Jianfeng Chen1,  Jun Huang2( )
Beijing Advanced Innovation Center for Soft Matter Science and Engineering, State Key Laboratory of Organic–Inorganic Composites, Beijing University of Chemical Technology, Beijing 100029, China
Laboratory for Catalysis Engineering, School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, The University of Sydney, New South Wales 2006, Australia
Beijing Key Laboratory of Microstructure and Property of Advanced Materials, Beijing University of Technology, Beijing 100024, China
Department of Engineering, Macquarie University, Sydney, New South Wales 2109, Australia
Keywords:
nanowire growth, in situ transmission electron microscopy (TEM), Al nanowires, alumina reduction
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Wang Z, Wang D, Li A, et al. Interface catalytic reduction of alumina by nickle for the aluminum nanowire growth: Dynamics observed by in situ TEM. Nano Research, 2024, 17(3): 1225-1231. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12274-023-6007-1
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Abstract Full text Electronic supplementary material About this article

Metal nanowires show promise in a broad range of applications and can be fabricated via a number of methods, such as vapor–liquid–solid process and template-based electrodeposition. However, the synthesis of Al nanowires (NWs) is still challenging from the stable alumina substrate. In this work, the Ni-catalyzed fabrication of Al NWs has been realized using various Al2O3 substrates. The growth dynamics of Al NWs on Ni/Al2O3 was studied using in situ transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The effect of alumina structures, compositions, and growth temperature were investigated. The growth of Al NWs correlates with the Na addition to the alumina support. Since no eutectic mixture of nickel aluminide was formed, a mechanism of Ni-catalyzed reduction of Al2O3 for Al NWs growth has been proposed instead of the vapor–liquid–solid mechanism. The key insights reported here are not restricted to Ni-catalyzed Al NWs growth but can be extended to understanding the dynamic change and catalytic performance of Ni/Al2O3 under working conditions.


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Electronic supplementary material
About this article

Interface catalytic reduction of alumina by nickle for the aluminum nanowire growth: Dynamics observed by in situ TEM

Show Author's information Zichun Wang1,2, Dan Wang1, Ang Li3( ), Lizhuo Wang2, Xiaodong Han3( ), Yijiao Jiang4, Jianfeng Chen1, Jun Huang2( )
Beijing Advanced Innovation Center for Soft Matter Science and Engineering, State Key Laboratory of Organic–Inorganic Composites, Beijing University of Chemical Technology, Beijing 100029, China
Laboratory for Catalysis Engineering, School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, The University of Sydney, New South Wales 2006, Australia
Beijing Key Laboratory of Microstructure and Property of Advanced Materials, Beijing University of Technology, Beijing 100024, China
Department of Engineering, Macquarie University, Sydney, New South Wales 2109, Australia

Abstract

Metal nanowires show promise in a broad range of applications and can be fabricated via a number of methods, such as vapor–liquid–solid process and template-based electrodeposition. However, the synthesis of Al nanowires (NWs) is still challenging from the stable alumina substrate. In this work, the Ni-catalyzed fabrication of Al NWs has been realized using various Al2O3 substrates. The growth dynamics of Al NWs on Ni/Al2O3 was studied using in situ transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The effect of alumina structures, compositions, and growth temperature were investigated. The growth of Al NWs correlates with the Na addition to the alumina support. Since no eutectic mixture of nickel aluminide was formed, a mechanism of Ni-catalyzed reduction of Al2O3 for Al NWs growth has been proposed instead of the vapor–liquid–solid mechanism. The key insights reported here are not restricted to Ni-catalyzed Al NWs growth but can be extended to understanding the dynamic change and catalytic performance of Ni/Al2O3 under working conditions.

Keywords: nanowire growth, in situ transmission electron microscopy (TEM), Al nanowires, alumina reduction

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Publication history

Received: 12 April 2023
Revised: 17 June 2023
Accepted: 15 July 2023
Published: 14 August 2023
Issue date: March 2024

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© The Author(s) 2023

Acknowledgements

Acknowledgements

J. H. and Z. C. W. acknowledge the financial support from Australian Research Council Discovery Projects (Nos. DP150103842, DP180104010, and DE190101618). Z. C. W. thanks the support of Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (No. buctrc202231). J. H. thanks the University of Sydney SOAR fellowship, Sydney Nano Grand Challenge, and the International Project Development Funding.

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Copyright: © 2023 by the author(s). This article is an open access article distributed under Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 4.0), visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.

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