Carbon nanotube fiber is a promising material in electrical and electronic applications, such as, wires, cables, batteries, and supercapacitors. But the problem of joining carbon nanotube fiber is a main obstacle for its practical development. Since the traditional joining methods are unsuitable because of low efficiency or damage to the fiber structure, new methods are urgently required. In this study, the joining between carbon nanotube fiber was realized by deposited nickel–copper doublelayer metal via a meniscus-confined localized electrochemical deposition process. The microstructures of the double-layer metal joints under different deposition voltages were observed and studied. It turned out that a complete and defect-free joint could be fabricated under a suitable voltage of 5.25 V. The images of the joint cross section and interface between deposited metal and fiber indicated that the fiber structure remained unaffected by the deposited metal, and the introduction of nickel improved interface bonding of double-layer metal joint with fiber than copper joint. The electrical and mechanical properties of the joined fibers under different deposition voltages were studied. The results show that the introduction of nickel significantly improved the electrical and mechanical properties of the joined fiber. Under a suitable deposition voltage, the resistance of the joined fiber was 37.7% of the original fiber, and the bearing capacity of the joined fiber was no less than the original fiber. Under optimized condition, the fracture mode of the joined fibers was plastic fiber fracture.

Excellent electron transport properties with enhanced light scattering ability for light harvesting have made well-ordered one dimensional TiO2 nanotube(TNT) arrays an alternative candidate over TiO2 nanoparticles in the area of solar energy conversion applications. The principal drawback of TNT arrays being activated only by UV light has been addressed by coupling the TNT with secondary materials which are visible light-triggered. As well as extending the absorption region of sunlight, the introduction of these foreign components is also found to influence the charge separation and electron lifetime of TNT. In this study, a novel method to fabricate the TNT-based composite photoelectrodes employing visible responsive CuInS2 (CIS) nanoparticles is presented. The developed method is a square wave pulse-assisted electrochemical deposition approach to wrap the inner and outer walls of a TNT array with CIS nanoparticles. Instead of coating as a dense compact layer of CIS by a conventional non-pulsed-electrochemical deposition method, the nanoparticles pack relatively loosely to form a rough surface which increases the surface area of the composite and results in a higher degree of light scattering within the tubular channels and hence a greater chance of absorption. The excellence coverage of CIS on the tubular TiO2 allows the construction of an effective heterojunction that exhibits enhanced photoelectrochemical performance.

Single crystalline Cu nanowires with controlled diameters and aspect ratios have been synthesized using electrochemical deposition within confined nanochannels of a porous anodic aluminium oxide(AAO) template. The diameters of nano-sized cylindrical pores in AAO template were adjusted by controlling the anodization conditions. Cu nanowires with diameters of approximately 38, 99, 274 nm were synthesized by the electrodeposition using the AAO templates. The crystal structure, morphology and microstructure of the Cu nanowires were systematically investigated using XRD, FE-SEM, TEM and SAED. Investigation results revealed that the Cu nanowires had the controlled diameter, high aspect ratio and single crystalline nature.

The defect sites on chemical vapor deposition grown graphene are investigated through the selective electrochemical deposition (SED) of Au nanoparticles. For SED of Au nanoparticles, an engineered potential pulse is applied to the working electrode versus the reference electrode, thereby highlighting the defect sites, which are more reactive relative to the pristine surface. Most defect sites decorated by Au nanoparticles are situated along the Cu grain boundaries, implying that the origin of the defects lies in the synthesis of uneven graphene layers on the rough Cu surface.

Ni nanowires were fabricated using anodic aluminum oxide (AAO) membrane as a template by electrochemical deposition. The nanowires were formed within the walls of AAO template with 200 nm in pore diameter. After researching proper voltage and temperature for electrochemical deposition, the length of Ni nanowires was controlled by deposition time and the supply of electrolyte. The morphology and microstructure of Ni nanowires were investigated by field emission scanning electron microscope (FE-SE), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and transmission electron microscope (TEM).

Electrochemical deposition characteristics of CdSe nanorods were investigated for hybrid solar cell applications. CdSe nanorods were fabricated by electrochemical method in CdSO4 and H2SeO3 dissolved aqueous solution using an anodic aluminum oxide (AAO) template. Uniformity of CdSe nanorods was dependent on the diameter and the height of holes in AAO. The current density, current mode, bath composition and temperature were controlled to obtain a 1:1 atomic composition of CdSe. CdSe nanorods deposited by direct-current method showed better uniformity compared to those deposited by purse-current and/or purse-reverse current methods due to the bottom-up filling characteristics. H2SeO3 concentration showed more significant effects on pH of solution and stoichiometry of deposits compared to that of CdSO4. A 1:1 stoichiometry of uniform CdSe nanorods was obtained from 0.25M CdSO4-5 mM H2SeO3 electrolytes with a direct current of 10 mA/cm2 at room temperature. X-ray diffraction and electron diffraction pattern investigations demonstrate that CdSe nanorods are a uniform cubic CdSe crystal.