Formation of metal oxide nanowire networks (nanowebs) of low-melting metals

A process of synthesizing two dimensional networks of metal oxide systems comprising:

• forming thin metal oxide particles on a substrate;
• placing the combination in a low pressure chamber;
• adding an appropriate gaseous reactant;
• raising substrate temperature to appropriate temperatures;
• applying sufficient activation to the gas phase (heating or excitation using either microwaves,
• radio-frequency plasmas or hot-filaments forming metal droplets on a substrate using either sputtering or evaporation of metal onto substrate;
• decreasing the surface tension of metal droplets in the mixed plasma using appropriate combination of gases;
• continue oxidation with the appropriate gaseous combination involving hydrogen and oxygen continue growth of nanowires from small metal droplets parallel to the substrate until metal is consumed;
• and
• coalescence of nanowires to form networks or two dimensional nanowires (nanoweb).

A process of synthesizing two dimensional networks of metal oxide systems comprising:

• forming thin metal oxide particles on a substrate;
• placing the combination in a low pressure chamber;
• adding an appropriate gaseous reactant;
• raising substrate temperature to appropriate temperatures;
• applying sufficient activation to the gas phase (heating or excitation using either microwaves, radio-frequency plasmas or hot-filaments) to reduce small metal droplets on the substrate;
• decreasing the surface tension of metal droplets in the mixed plasma using appropriate combination of gases;
• continuing oxidation with the appropriate gaseous combination involving hydrogen and oxygen;
• continuing growth of nanowires from small metal droplets parallel to the substrate until metal is consumed;
• and
• coalescence of nanowires to form networks or two dimensional nanowires (nanoweb).

A process of thickening nanowire networks of metal oxide systems comprising:

• forming non-uniform sized metal droplets on a substrate;
• placing the combination in a low pressure chamber;
• adding appropriate combinations of gaseous reactants;
• raising the substrate temperature to appropriate values;
• activating the gas phase with either microwaves or hot-filaments or simply heating;
• continue oxidation until all metal is consumed;
• forming multiple layers of nanowire networks increasing the thickness and overall surface area.