Characterizations and Applications of Anodic Aluminum Oxide Membrane

Anodic aluminium oxide (AAO) is popular for its self-organized nanostructure in the field of science and technology. It has hexagonal arrangement of pores such as honey comb which are parallel to each other and perpendicular to the surface. AAO can also be used for the fabrication of micro-nano combined structures, but it has some limitations. During fabrication of three dimensional (3D) structures sometimes they experience cracks. AAO has less mechanical strength which devalues their application in the field where high stress is involved. This research investigated the generation of cracks in various AAO based 3D structures; determine the optimum conditions where these cracks can be prevented. This research is divided in the following part (1) characterization of cracks in AAO tubular, rectangular, triangular shapes (2) study the behavior of AAO nanochannels at the edge of rectangular shape where cracks are initiated and (3) fabrication of cracks free micro-nano combined 3D structures.