Formation of hexagonally ordered nanoporous anodic zirconia

The present work demonstrates that highly ordered porous anodic zirconia (PAZ) arrays with cell diameters ranging from 70 to 120 nm can be grown in fluoride containing glycerol electrolytes. We show that this morphology (in contrast to the typically observed nanotubular layers) can simply be obtained by controlling the water content in the electrolyte during the anodization process. It is proposed that the morphology transition from pores to tubes is based on the rate of preferential etching at the hexagonal cell triple points in the oxide. This finding allows producing void free highly defined nanoporous layers for various applications.