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A Facile One‐Step Approach for Constructing Multidimensional Ordered Nanowire Micropatterns via Fibrous Elastocapillary Coalescence
Author(s) -
Bian Ruixin,
Meng Lili,
Guo Cheng,
Tang Zhongxue,
Liu Huan
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
advanced materials
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 10.707
H-Index - 527
eISSN - 1521-4095
pISSN - 0935-9648
DOI - 10.1002/adma.201900534
Subject(s) - materials science , nanotechnology , nanowire , carbon nanotube , dewetting , coalescence (physics) , fabrication , thin film , physics , astrobiology , medicine , alternative medicine , pathology
Nanowire (NW) based micropatterns have attracted research interests for their applications in electric microdevices. Particularly, aligning NWs represents an important process due to the as‐generated integrated physicochemical advantages. Here, a facile and general strategy is developed to align NWs using fibrous elastocapillary coalescence of carbon nanotube arrays (ACNTs), which enables constructing multidimensional ordered NW micropatterns in one step without any external energy input. It is proposed that the liquid film of NW solution is capable of shrinking unidirectionally on the top of ACNTs, driven by the dewetting‐induced elastocapillary coalescence of the ACNTs. Consequently, the randomly distributed NWs individually rotate and move into dense alignment. Meanwhile, the aggregating and bundling of ACNTs is helpful to produce carbon nanotube (CNT) yarns connecting neighboring bundles. Thus, a micropatterned NW network composed of a top‐layer of horizontally aligned NWs and an under‐layer of vertical ACNT bundles connected by CNT yarns is prepared, showing excellent performance in sensing external pressure with a sensitivity of 0.32 kPa −1 . Moreover, the aligned NWs can be transferred onto various substrates for constructing electronic circuits. The strategy is applicable for aligning various NWs of Ag, ZnO, Al 2 O 3 , and even living microbes. The result may offer new inspiration for fabricating NW‐based functional micropatterns.