Electrodepositing fabrication and microstructures of the Fe nanowires with a preferred orientation

Highly ordered Fe nanowire arrays with 〈110〉 preferred orientation were fabricated out successfully by direct current electrodepositing into the pores of a porous anodic aluminum oxide template. The formation mechanism of Fe nanowires was ascertained by X-ray diffraction and transmission electron microscopy. Low index surface energy of Fe nanowires was calculated by means of broken-bond model. For Fe nanowire arrays, its aspect ratio (h/d) of the “circular cylinder” is less than 0.75, the {1 1 0} planes have the lowest surface energy. And authors deal with a reasonable explanation for Fe nanowires growth along with 〈110〉 preferred orientation using the two-dimensional nucleation theory.

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► Fe nanowire arrays with 〈110〉 preferred orientation were prepared using electrodeposition.
► The oriented growth of Fe nanowires was explained by calculation of the surface energy.
► The broken-bond model was used to calculate the surface energy.
► Surface-energy anisotropy was used to explain the preferred growth orientation.