Layer-by-Layer Nanotube Template Synthesis

Electroless deposition of gold on the pore walls of polycarbonate templates is currently the best known method for controlling inside diameters of template-synthesized nanotubes. It would be very useful to have alternative template-based synthetic chemistries that yield nanotubes composed of other materials, but which still allow for precise control over the nanotube wall thickness and i.d. A film-formation process that is based on layer-by-layer deposition of the film-forming material along the pore walls of the template membrane provides this desired alternative synthetic chemistry. We describe here the use of Mallouk's alpha,omega-diorganophosphonate/Zr layer-by-layer film-forming method for preparing nanotubes within the pores of alumina template membranes. We have found that this method allows accurate, quantitative, and predictable control over the wall thickness, and thus i.d., of the layered nanotubes obtained.