Preparation of nanostructured surfaces by electrochemical deposition through lyotropic liquid-crystal templates

六方相溶致液晶可以作为模板在电极上沉积金属。用这种方法制作的结构尺寸为几个纳米。我们建议利用液晶的水和非水部分来沉积不同的金属、聚合物或金属和聚合物。包裹在聚合物中的细金属线(纳米线)将是有史以来最细的绝缘线。碳纳米管也将在模板中的六角孔中对齐，从而允许开发这些独特的物种。将被制造的结构将成为催化剂、传感器阵列和电子设备的候选者。

Hexagonal-phase lyotropic liquid crystals may be used as templates to deposit metals on electrodes. The sizes of the structures made by this method are a few nanometres. We propose to exploit both the aqueous and non-aqueous parts of the liquid crystal to deposit different metals, polymers or metals and polymers. Thin metal wires (nano-wires) sheathed in polymer will be the thinnest insulated wires ever made. Carbon nanotubes will also be aligned in the hexagonal hole in the template allowing exploitation of these unique species. The structures that will be fabricated will be candidates for catalysts, sensor arrays and electronic devices.