Zn, Ti and Si nanowires by electrodeposition in ionic liquid

An electrochemical route for the fabrication of zinc, titanium and silicon nanowires from ionic liquid (IL) based plating solutions is presented. Thanks to the large potential window of IL and good solubility of the corresponding anhydrous chloride salts, the presented method proceeds by a kinetically controlled electrochemical decoration of step-edges at highly oriented pyrolytic graphite surface. Resulting rather crystalline nanowires are more than a few hundreds of μm long while their diameter can be controlled in the 10 to 100 nm range by the electrolysis duration.

► Electrochemical preparation of Zn, Ti, and Si nanowires of controlled diameter.
► Step-edge decoration at highly oriented pyrolytic graphite surface.
► Use of ionic liquid based plating solutions.
► Comparison/analogy with electrodeposition from water based solutions.