Chemical vapor deposition of aluminum nanowires on metal substrates for electrical energy storage applications.

Metal nanowires show promise in a broad range of applications, but many synthesis techniques require complex methodologies. We have developed a method for depositing patterned aluminum nanowires (Al NWs) onto Cu, Ni, and stainless steel substrates using low-pressure decomposition of trimethylamine alane complex. The NWs exhibited an average diameter in the range from 45 to 85 nm, were crystalline, and did not contain a detectable amount of carbon impurities. Atomic layer deposition of 50 nm of vanadium oxide on the surface of Al NW allows fabrication of supercapacitor electrodes with volumetric capacitance in excess of 1400 F·cc(-3), which exceeds the capacitance of traditional activated carbon supercapacitor electrodes by more than an order of magnitude.