Effect of current density and magnetic field on the growth and morphology of nickel nanowires

One-dimensional nanostructures due to their unique properties and applications have generated special interests in MEMS and NEMS applications. There have been numerous methods developed to synthesize such 1D nanostructures. One of the most prominent methods is the electrodeposition into the channels in a porous material. It has been found that applied external magnetic field could improve and direct the growth of one-dimensional nanostructures in certain crystallographic directions. However, the nature and behavior of such structures and the influence of the synthesis parameters are yet to be fully understood. Our present work investigates the effect of the current density along with external magnetic field intensity on the growth direction of the one-dimensional Nickel nanowires. In the present study, Ni nanowires are grown using the electrodeposition assisted anodic alumina template method. The grown nanowires are characterized using XRD to determine the crystallographic properties. SEM was then used to characterize the morphology of the grown structures, while EDS was employed to study the composition. Present results clearly indicate that the morphological and crystallographic properties of synthesized nanowires are influenced by the applied current density and magnetic field intensity. Further studies employing Focused Ion Beam to prepare TEM sample are required to investigate the atomic arrangement of the synthesized Ni nanowires to further conform the present SEM and XRD findings.