Effect of contact angle on the morphology of nanostructures produced by solution wetting of anodized aluminum oxide templates

Template-assisted nanofabrication is a simple and effective method to produce various nanostructure morphologies by controlling the polymer, solvent, and template characteristics. In this study, the importance of the surface interactions between the solution and the template in controlling the morphology of the nanostructures has been highlighted. Contact angles between various polymer solutions and anodized aluminum oxide (AAO) templates have been determined. The morphology of the resultant nanostructures has been correlated with the measured contact angles between solution and template. It is generally observed that nanorods (diameter of 100–350 nm) are produced at low contact angles, whereas nanotubes (diameter of 200–400 nm) tend to form at high contact angles. Therefore, desired nanostructure morphology for a given application can be obtained by controlling the initial wetting interaction between solution and template.