(701f) Aluminum/Nickel (Al/Ni) Heterogeneous Nanostructures: Synthesis, Characterization, and Nano-Heater Applications

Nanoscale heating sources (?nano-heaters?) have received great attention in recent years as enabling tools for nanofabrication and nanomanufacturing. In this presentation, we show various nano-heater structures based on heterogeneous Al/Ni nanostructures. Several methods including chemical reduction, electrochemical deposition, ultrasonic powder consolidation, e-beam evaporation, and sputtering are used to fabricate Al/Ni nanostructures including Al-Ni nanowires, Al-Ni core-shell nanoparticles, nanopowder composite films, and multilayered thin films. The characterization of these nanostructures was performed by field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), energy dispersive X-ray analysis (EDX), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC).

A potential application for such Al/Ni nanostructures relies on the alloy forming reaction between aluminum and nickel, which has been shown to release intense heat from its large reaction enthalpies (-37.85 to -71.65 kJ/mol). Thus the nanoscale Al/Ni heterogeneous structures can be used to construct nano-heater structures or devices. Upon ignition, Ni-Al alloys are formed and one-time localized heat is generated from the exothermic reaction process. The advantages for such type of heating sources include complete enthalpies release, versatile ignition methods (electrical, heat, IR, plasmonic induction, microwave, etc.), conductive reaction product, and easy integration with other systems such as lab-on-a-chip. These advantages could lead to many useful applications such as soldering, adhesive droplet, polymer memory devices, lab on a chip, and hyperthermia for cancer treatment.