Luminescence from micro-/nano-scale anodic aluminum oxide containing electrochemical etching derived nanoporous silicon

Highlight•Micro-/nano-anodic aluminum oxide containing nanoporous Si (AAO–Si) was fabricated by electrochemical anodizing of aluminum followed by spin coating of electrochemical derived nanoporous Si particles onto AAO.•The microstructure and its luminescence of a micro-/nano-scale AAO were depended on anodizing times.•The fabrication of AAO–Si resulted in a light-emitting from both AAO and Si emission under a single excitation source.

This paper reports a novel way of the fabrication of micro-/nano-anodic aluminum oxide containing electrochemical derived nanoporous Si (AAO–Si) to achieve strong co-emission of light with controllable intensities. The AAO–Si was fabricated by electrochemical anodizing of aluminum followed by spin coating of nanoporous Si particles onto AAO. The microstructure and its luminescence of micro-/nano-AAO were controlled by electrochemical anodizing times. The fabrication of micro-/nano-AAO containing nanoporous Si resulted in a light-emitting from both AAO and nanoporous Si emission under a single excitation source. These results suggest that the potential application of micro-/nano-AAO contains Si for potential application in optoelectronic and biocompatible substrates for tissue engineering.