Tailoring mesoporous silicon surface to form a versatile template for nanoparticle deposition

Khinevich, Nadzeya, Juodėnas, Mindaugas, Tamulevičienė, Asta, Bandarenka, Hanna ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4254-8261 and Tamulevičius, Sigitas 2021. Tailoring mesoporous silicon surface to form a versatile template for nanoparticle deposition. Coatings 11 (6) , 699. 10.3390/coatings11060699

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Abstract

Porous silicon (PS) can be used as a loading template in sensing or as a matrix to develop nanoparticle arrays. We present a comprehensive study of PS morphology and optical properties before and after the pore opening process, including the determination of thickness, pore size, and pore density of PS layers, its surface wettability, and reflectivity. The PS samples were fabricated by electrochemical anodization of monocrystalline silicon wafer in 5–20 wt.% hydrofluoric acid (HF) solution at a current density in the range of 20–200 mA/cm2. Anodization was followed by the pore opening process, i.e., the removal of a parasitic superficial layer with a “bottleneck” structure by reactive ion etching (RIE). The results illustrate that “bottleneck”-free PS allows to achieve a high pore density using a low HF concentration and a reduced current density. We established that this structure demonstrates higher hydrophobicity in comparison to the samples before RIE. The applicability of the developed “bottleneck”-free PS was tested via filling the pores with silver nanoparticles, indicating its potential use as a template for the fabrication of nanoparticle arrays.

Item Type:	Article
Date Type:	Publication
Status:	Published
Schools:	Schools > Physics and Astronomy
Publisher:	MDPI
ISSN:	2079-6412
Date of First Compliant Deposit:	30 July 2026
Date of Acceptance:	8 June 2021
Last Modified:	07 Sep 2026 21:53
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/188548

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