Chapter 11
Templated Systems
11.1 Definition and Classification of Template Systems
The present chapter deals with electrodeposition methods in which the shape of the
deposit is determined by the geometrical constraints of a non-electroactive material
exhibiting a condensed phase. This shape-regulating material will be termed hereinafter as template. The condensed phase that constitutes the template is solid in
most of the cases (nanoporous templates and those obtained by the self-assembly of
sub-microscopic solid particles). In a few cases, the template-forming material is not
solid; this is the case for either lyotropic templates that are liquid crystalline or molecular assemblies. In either of the above-listed cases, the spatial constraint defined by
the template has a much longer temporal stability than the typical deposition time
of the nanoobjects into the template. In this respect, these static condensed-phase
templates differ from the dynamic gas bubble templates discussed in Chap. 8. In
other words, the spatial arrangement of the templates constituted from condensed
phases is predefined and is mostly invariant during the deposition process.
The organization principle of the parts in this chapter is as follows. First, templates
obtained from a bulk material with top-down methods will be dealt with. The
most prominent example for such templates is anodized aluminum oxide (AAO);
also known as porous anodic alumina, PAA) membranes with nanochannels. The
synthesis of these templates is carried out also with an electrochemical method
which is presented in Chap. 13 among other high-voltage methods. Therefore, the
emphasis here will be on the comparison of the properties of AAO templates with
other nanochannel templates like ion track-etched polymer membranes. Templates
obtained with the selective dissolution of one phase of a directionally ordered multiphase system also belong to templates synthesized with the top-down approach. The
top-down character of the preparation of several template types is restricted to the last
step of the process since the synthesis of the compositionally modulated precursor
materials themselves is a bottom-up process.
In the list of the template formation modes, the template group obtained through
entirely bottom-up methods will be the second. In this part, an order of decreasing
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021
L. Péter, Electrochemical Methods of Nanostructure Preparation,
Monographs in Electrochemistry, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-69117-2_11
361
Templated Systems
11.1 Definition and Classification of Template Systems
The present chapter deals with electrodeposition methods in which the shape of the
deposit is determined by the geometrical constraints of a non-electroactive material
exhibiting a condensed phase. This shape-regulating material will be termed hereinafter as template. The condensed phase that constitutes the template is solid in
most of the cases (nanoporous templates and those obtained by the self-assembly of
sub-microscopic solid particles). In a few cases, the template-forming material is not
solid; this is the case for either lyotropic templates that are liquid crystalline or molecular assemblies. In either of the above-listed cases, the spatial constraint defined by
the template has a much longer temporal stability than the typical deposition time
of the nanoobjects into the template. In this respect, these static condensed-phase
templates differ from the dynamic gas bubble templates discussed in Chap. 8. In
other words, the spatial arrangement of the templates constituted from condensed
phases is predefined and is mostly invariant during the deposition process.
The organization principle of the parts in this chapter is as follows. First, templates
obtained from a bulk material with top-down methods will be dealt with. The
most prominent example for such templates is anodized aluminum oxide (AAO);
also known as porous anodic alumina, PAA) membranes with nanochannels. The
synthesis of these templates is carried out also with an electrochemical method
which is presented in Chap. 13 among other high-voltage methods. Therefore, the
emphasis here will be on the comparison of the properties of AAO templates with
other nanochannel templates like ion track-etched polymer membranes. Templates
obtained with the selective dissolution of one phase of a directionally ordered multiphase system also belong to templates synthesized with the top-down approach. The
top-down character of the preparation of several template types is restricted to the last
step of the process since the synthesis of the compositionally modulated precursor
materials themselves is a bottom-up process.
In the list of the template formation modes, the template group obtained through
entirely bottom-up methods will be the second. In this part, an order of decreasing
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021
L. Péter, Electrochemical Methods of Nanostructure Preparation,
Monographs in Electrochemistry, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-69117-2_11
361