Template-assisted electrochemical deposition of three-dimensionally ordered macroporous Fe-Ni alloy films

Three-dimensionally ordered macroporous (3-DOM) magnetic materials have potential applications as photonic crystal and new functional magnetic materials. Highly ordered macroporous films of Fe-Ni alloy were prepared by electrochemical deposition in this paper. Fe-Ni alloy was electrodeposited into the interstitial spaces of a template, which was formed by polystyrene latex spheres self-assembled on ITO electrodes. Then the Fe-Ni alloy films with hexagonal close-packed interconnected structure were obtained by removing the PS template. The morphology of porous Fe-Ni films was characterized by scanning electron microscope and optical microscope. The results show that the pore size of macroporous Fe-Ni films is determined by the diameter of PS particles used to prepare the template. Macroporous Fe-Ni films with different pore sizes display different bright colors due to Bragg diffraction. The microstructure and thickness of films can be controlled by adjusting the deposition time and temperature.