The technology developed at University of Reading presents an
efficient, cheap and clean templating methodology for the production of
nanostructured metal high surface area electrodes. Current electro-templating methodologies
for the preparation of nanostructured materials on the electrode surface usually
require several steps and highly viscous materials. They are also often
inconvenient and costly. Our new technology, using electrodeposition through a
self-assembled template, overcomes these
disadvantages.
Applications are numerous and include high surface area electrodes
for fuel cells, as well as
semi-conductors in solar cells.
Benefits of
technology
Researchers at the University of Reading have invented a technology
which overcomes some disadvantages of other processes and which we believe will
result in a more efficient, cheaper and cleaner templating methodology for the
production of nanostructured metal high surface area electrodes.
This technology uses a new type of nanostructured template that can
be deposited in the form of a thin film by standard coating techniques (dip
coating, spin coating etc). It is then stable in the aqueous electrodeposition
solution.
After electro-deposition the ampiphillic molecules constituting the
thin film template can be easily washed out, recovered and re-used. The
molecules in the thin film are also readily commercially available.
The resulting nanostructured metal film has demonstrated a unique
nanoarchitecture and a 1000-fold increase in surface area (≥40 m2
g-1).
Applications:
High surface area electrodes for Fuel cells, Catalysts and
Sensors as well as Semi-conducors
in Solar Cells .
Technical
Background:
Metal or semi-conductor films containing nanometre sized internal
channels are a way of producing a very high surface area. A traditional way of creating
nanostructured materials is by electro-templating through a pre-existing
nanostructure. Forming the
nanostructured template on the electrode surface usually requires several steps
and is inconvenient and often costly. In some processes separating the
desired nanostructured metal from the template requires the destruction of the
template. In other cases the
template structure only exists under certain conditions of temperature and solvent concentration, this instability
can lead to dissolution of the template resulting in problems for the
electro-chemical process.