Using corrosion to fabricate various nanoporous metal structures

Dealloyed nanoporous metals have attracted increasing interest owing to their fascinating properties and important applications. In this review, we summarized recent advance in fabricating various nanoporous metals and nanoporous metal-based composites through alloy corrosion (i.e., dealloying) and/or combined with other strategies such as electrochemical oxidation and deposition. Particularly, we discussed how the precursor composition, dealloying conditions, and post treatment would affect the nanoporous structure; and how to control the nanoporous structures (such as hierarchical nanoporous structures) based on these understanding. We also provided some characterizations, size-dependent properties, and outlook on future research in this fascinating area. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.