Article abstract
Nature Materials
Published online: 1 November 2009 | doi:10.1038/nmat2567
Nanostructured arrays of semiconducting octahedral molecular sieves by pulsed-laser deposition
Anais E. Espinal1, Lichun Zhang2, Chun-Hu Chen3, Aimee Morey3, Yuefeng Nie4, Laura Espinal1, Barrett O. Wells4, Raymond Joesten3, Mark Aindow1,2 & Steven L. Suib1,2,3
Abstract
Cryptomelane-type manganese oxide (OMS-2) has been widely used to explore the semiconducting and catalytic properties of molecular sieves with mixed-valent frameworks. Selective synthesis of patterned thin films of OMS-2 with hierarchical nanostructures and oriented crystals is challenging owing to difficulties in preserving the mixed valence, porosity and crystalline phase. Here, we report that pulsed-laser ablation of OMS-2 in an oxygen-rich medium produces a three-dimensional nanostructured array of parallel and inclined OMS-2 fibres on bare substrates of (001) single-crystal strontium titanate. Both parallel and inclined OMS-2 fibres elongate along the [001]OMS-2 direction. The parallel fibres interact strongly with the substrate and grow epitaxially along 
110
STO with lattice misfits of less than 4%, whereas the inclined fibres are oriented with (301) parallel to the substrate surface. The spontaneous orientation of the crystalline OMS-2 domains over the STO surface opens up a new avenue in lattice-engineered synthesis of multilayer materials.
- Institute of Materials Science, University of Connecticut, Storrs, Connecticut 06269-3136, USA
- Chemical, Materials & Biomolecular Engineering, University of Connecticut, Storrs, Connecticut 06269-3222, USA
- Chemistry Department, University of Connecticut, Storrs, Connecticut 06269-3060, USA
- Department of Physics, University of Connecticut, Storrs, Connecticut 06269-3046, USA
Correspondence to: Steven L. Suib1,2,3 e-mail: Steven.Suib@uconn.edu
