Direct formation of sol-gel hybrid nanowires using single particle nano-fabrication technique

High energy charged particle irradiation of poly(vinylpyrrolidone) and poly(vinylphenol) causes cross-linking reactions in each ion track along the ion path, and fabricates a cylindrical polymer nanogel (nanowires). This technique (single particle nanofabrication technique: SPNT) was also applied to the direct formation of organic–inorganic hybrid nanowires in this paper. The PVP and PHS hybrid films including of Ti-O structures were prepared by typical sol-gel synthesis, and composition of the films was analyzed by XPS. The hybrid nanowires formed by SPNT were successfully visualized using AFM after wet-development procedure. The relative number density of hybrid nanowires was also controlled by changing the ion fluence.

Research Highlights
► Hybrids nanowires are formed by ion beam irradiation to the sol-gel films.
► Radial sizes of hybrid nanowires depend on the amount of included TIP into original thin film.
► Number density of hybrid nanowires can be controlled by changing number of incident ions.