Abstract

Molecular oxygen reduction in presence of Zn(II) allowed to get arrays of zinc oxide (ZnO) nanowires (NWs) inside thick anodic alumina membranes (AAM), previously made by anodization in oxalic acid. A Zinc (Zn) NWs array made by electrochemical deposition (ED) was employed as a metal reference in order to compare its growth behavior with respect to that of ZnO, a semiconducting material. Chronoamperometric measurements for Zn NWs showed a typical response for metallic growth inside porous templates while ZnO NWs did not show this behavior. We observed that Zn NWs grew faster than ZnO NWs as checked by the electrical charge. SEM images showed the presence of ZnO NWs only after long deposition time. X-ray diffraction data confirmed the ZnO structure. A SEM image of a ZnO NWs array after partial dissolution of the AAM. © 2008 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA.