Assembly of aluminum nanosheets formed by hydrothermal synthesis

This work put forward a facile method for obtaining assembly of aluminum (Al) nanosheets on an Al substrate by hydrothermal process. The results revealed that the ammonia was crucial for forming the assembly of Al nanosheets. In addition, the morphology and microstructure of the as-prepared Al nanosheets were strongly dependent on the hydrothermal temperature. Further, the influence of surfactant on the morphology of Al nanostructures was discussed that the nanosheets could be obtained under CMC of Span-80. A mechanism for forming the assembly of Al nanostructures was proposed that the erosion process based on the vacancies and defects of Al film determined the morphologies of Al nanosheets according to the experimental results.