Structural and Electrochemical Properties of Ultra-Deep Ni3Si Microchannels

As an crucial branch for the development of micro/nanoporous metals, its exploration in ultra-deep direction has been ignored. In this paper, the electrochemical characteristics of ultra-deep micro/nanoporous metals were revealed based on Ni3Si microchannels for the first time. Ultra-deep Ni3Si microchannels were fabricated using the composite technology of directional solidification and selective phase dissolution. The large-scale morphology of the ultra-deep Ni3Si microchannels was characterized using field-emission scanning electron microscopy. The electrochemical characteristics of the ultra-deep Ni3Si microchannels were analyzed by cyclic voltammetry and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy. With the increase in microchannel depth, the specific capacitance of the Ni3Si microchannels increased, the charge storage capacity enhanced, and the charge transfer resistance considerably decreased from 38854 omega center dot cm(2) to 404.9 omega center dot cm(2). The results suggested that ultra-deep Ni3Si microchannels have excellent electrochemical properties and can be used as an inexpensive and large-scale self-supporting catalyst in electrochemistry.