Synthesis of iron–palladium binary alloy nanotubes by template-assisted electrodeposition from metal-complex solution

The ordered arrays of Fe–Pd binary alloy nanotubes were synthesized from the mixed metal-complex solution by a simple electrodeposition method with the assistance of nanoporous anodic alumina (AAO). The electrodeposition potentials of Fe2+ and Pd2+ can be controlled by complexing agents, which has allowed for the fabrication of the Fe–Pd nanotubes by the AAO-template-assisted electrodeposition. Furthermore, the adjustment of the cathodic current density has caused the variation of the inner diameters and Fe–Pd composition ratios of the alloy nanotubes. Although the as-prepared Fe–Pd nanotubes are comprised of f.c.c. crystal structures, the metastable phase structure has been converted to L12 supper-lattice structure by annealing. The results of this work have shown a potential applicability of AAO-template-assisted electrodeposition to the preparation of other new binary alloy nanotubes by selecting adequate complexing agents.