Template-free electrodeposition of multicomponent metal nanoparticles for region-specific growth of interposed carbon nanotube micropatterns.

We have demonstrated that multicomponent carbon nanotube micropatterns, in which different nanotubes are interposed in an intimate fashion, can be prepared by pyrolytic growth of carbon nanotubes on interposed micropatterns of different metal nanoparticles generated by template-free pulsed electrodeposition of metal-containing salts onto a photolithographically prepatterned conductive surface at different peak potentials. The resultant multicomponent interposed carbon nanotube micropatterns should have important implications for the construction of multicomponent and multifunctional nanomaterials and nanodevices based on carbon nanotubes for a wide range of potential applications.