Growth of vertically aligned carbon nanotubes over self-ordered nano-porous alumina films and their surface properties

► Anodic aluminum oxide with self-organized arrays of nanopores has been synthesized. ► Wetting behavior of water on AAO surfaces is investigated. ► AAO was used as a template for vertically aligned carbon nanotube array synthesis. ► Super-hydrophobic behavior of AAO/VACNT hybrid structures was examined. Nanoporous anodic aluminum oxide (AAO) with self-organized arrays of uniform nanopores have been used for various applications in the fields of sensing, storage, separation and template-based fabrication of metal nanowires, carbon nanotubes, oxides and polymers. The work presented here involves the production and use of AAO templates for growth of aligned multi walled carbon nanotube arrays. AAO templates were formed by electrochemical oxidation of aluminum in different electrolyte solutions containing sulfuric, oxalic and phosphoric acid. SEM was used for the analysis of the surface morphology of the AAO films. The porous structures with pore size in the range of 25–120nm were observed. Pore sizes were correlated with the type of acidic solutions used as the electrolyte. Finally, AAO surfaces have been used as substrates for the growth of vertically aligned carbon nanotubes through chemical vapor deposition technique, which showed super-hydrophobic behavior as confirmed by contact angle measurements.