Orientation-controllable growth of Sb nanowire arrays by pulsed electrodeposition

The fabrication of different growth orientation antimony (Sb) nanowires has been reported for the first time. And large aspect ratio single crystalline Sb nanowire arrays with different diameters were grown within anodic alumina membrane by a pulsed electrodeposition technique. Extensive characterization of the as-synthesized sample has been performed by using X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy. The analysis indicates that high-filling, ordered and single-crystalline Sb nanowire arrays have been obtained. It is found that the growth orientation of Sb nanowires changes from [1 1 0] to [0 1 2] direction by controlling the concentration of sodium dodecyl sulfate in the electrolyte.