Structure of Zinc Nanotubes

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ICE DYNAMICS AND PHASE TRANSITIONS

Structure of Zinc Nanotubes M. V. Zdorovetsa,b,c,* and A. L. Kozlovskiya,b a Institute

of Nuclear Physics, Ministry of Energy of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Almaty, Kazakhstan b Gumilyov Eurasian National University, Astana, 010008 Kazakhstan c Ural Federal University, Yekaterinburg, 620002 Russia *e-mail: [email protected] Received September 27, 2017; revised January 31, 2018; accepted April 26, 2018

Abstract—The formation of Zn-based nanotubes by electrochemical synthesis in pores of template polymer matrices is considered. It is established that the number of defects in the synthesized nanotubes decreases with a decrease in the mean crystallite size, while the degree of crystallinity increases. The number of defects directly affects the structural properties of Zn nanotubes. However, an uncontrolled growth of nanotubes is observed at a potential difference of 2.0 V, as a result of which amorphous inclusions are formed in the crystal structure of nanotubes, thus leading to their partial destruction. DOI: 10.1134/S1063774519040278

INTRODUCTION Currently, many research groups are engaged in synthesizing one-dimensional metallic materials or metallic nanotubes (NTs)/nanowires and studying their properties [1–5], because they are promising for application in optoelectronics, photoelectrochemistry, catalysis, medicine, etc. The interest in these nanostructures constantly increases due to the possibility of monitoring and controlling their physical and chemical properties, which expands the range of application of nanomaterials. Zinc is one of the most promising materials for nanostructures, because it is relatively biologicallysafe, low-toxic, and biocompatible. Therefore, it can be used in various nanostructure configurations (nanowires, nanoparticles, and NTs) [6–14]. In addition, Zn nanomaterials exhibit both semiconductor and piezoelectric properties. This phenomenon underlies the development of electromechanically coupled sensors and converters. Practical application of zinc- or zinc-oxide-based sensors is only hindered by the fact that there is no method for controlling the formation of NTs with crystalline walls. Zn- and ZnObased nanostructures are mainly formed using chemical vapor deposition of metals, arc discharge, laser evaporation, and template synthesis. Among these methods, template synthesis is most attractive because it meets the demands of stability and chemical inertness. Template synthesis makes it possible to obtain rounded pores of an identical diameter (from several tens to several hundreds of nanometers) in template matrices, which are a convenient material for forming structurally homogeneous nanoreplicas.

In this study, we describe a method for synthesizing Zn-based NTs by electrochemical deposition, investigate their morphology, and characterize their conducting properties. The template is a track-etched membrane based on polyethyleneterephthalate (PET), 12 μm thick and with the pore diameters of 380 ± 10 nm. Success in fabrication of Zn-NTs opens way