Use of cubic structure with primitive nanochannels for fabrication of free standing 3D nanowire network of Pt with Pm3m symmetry.

Akbar, S. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9456-3861, Elliott, J. M. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7469-4154, Squires, A. M. and Anwar, A. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2991-0281 (2022) Use of cubic structure with primitive nanochannels for fabrication of free standing 3D nanowire network of Pt with Pm3m symmetry. Nanotechnology, 33 (19). 195602. ISSN 1361-6528 doi: 10.1088/1361-6528/ac4f16

Abstract/Summary

In this work, we developed a lipid mixture based on phytantriol / polyoxyethylene surfactant (Brij-56) that forms a Im3m symmetry bicontinuous cubic phase based on the Schwartz primitive surface (QIIP), from which we templated highly ordered 3D nanoporous platinum with a novel "single primitive" morphology (Pm3m symmetry). The QIIP template phase is obtained by incorporation of 17.5 % w/w Brij-56 (C16EO10) (a type-I surfactant) into phytantriol under excess hydration conditions. Phytantriol alone forms the double diamond QIID (Pn3m) phase, and in previous studies incorporating Brij-56 at different compositions the cubic phase maintained this morphology, but increased its lattice parameter; mesoporous metals templated from these QIID lipid templates all exhibited the "single diamond" (Fd3m) morphology. In contrast, the current paper presents the availability of our QIIP cubic phases to template nanoporous materials of single primitive Pm3m morphology via chemical and electrochemical methods. To explore the structure porosity and morphological features of the templated Pt material, X-Ray Scattering and Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM) are used. The resulting 3D nanoporous Pt materials are found to exhibit a regular network of Pt nanowires of ~ 4 nm in diameter with a unit cell dimension of 14.8 ± 0.8 nm, reflecting the aqueous network within the QIIP template. [Abstract copyright: © 2022 IOP Publishing Ltd.]