Facile Preparation of Carbon Nanopillar Array

Abstract

Carbon-based nanostructures have attracted extensive interest in obtaining advanced sensing electronic devices in environmental and biological monitoring applications as an alternative to conventional materials. Herein, the facile preparation, control of the growth, and artificial intelligence–based morphological information of the carbon nanopillar array in the Anodized Aluminum Oxide (AAO) template were investigated. A facile approach for controlling the growth of the nanostructure was proposed as a two-step anodization technique for AAO and Plasma Enhanced Chemical Vapor Deposition (PECVD) for carbon nanopillar array. It involved the competitive carbon deposition between the carbon nanopillars electrodeposited on the AAO template and at the bottom of the pores of AAO under vacuum conditions. The morphology and structure of the prepared carbon nanopillars were reported in detail. Hexagonally straight AAO nanotubes were approximately 65 nm in diameter and 360 nm in length, with 90 nm interpore distances. The AAO nanotube density is approximately 1.75x1014 cm-2. Carbon nanopillars with a width of ~60 nm were used to create a low-dimensional nanostructure. This controllable preparation leads to the facile and impressive preparation of a free-standing carbon nanopillar array, especially for various chemical sensor applications.