On the fabrication and mechanism of pinecone surface structures

• The trends of 3D surfaces metallization were studied systematically in details.
• New growth mechanisms has been developed.
• Various 3D surface structures have been constructed.

Nanostructured metal surfaces, in contrast to their corresponding bulk counterparts, have increased area, redistributed surface potential energy and novel physicochemical properties, thus have great potentials to be applied in a wide range of fields. In the work, different fabrication methods were employed to produce semiconducting and polymer conic structures, to provide three-dimensional frameworks with different surface properties, e.g. morphology, microstructure and chemical composition. Followed by metal deposition, 3D metalized conic structures, e.g. Ag–Si, Au/Ni–Si, Au/Ti–Si and Au/Cr–Si pinecones, were formed. The influence of factors, including the thickness and material type of the deposited metals, the metal deposition method, and the geometry, size and material type of the conic frameworks, on the 3D surface metallization process, were investigated and the related mechanisms were discussed.

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