PNNL

Abstract

Highly-porous (~90%), high-surface area (~1000 m2/g), thermally stable (1200K) crystalline films of MgO are synthesized using a novel reactive ballistic deposition techniques. The film consists of a tilted array of porous nanoscale crystalline filaments. Suprisingly, the individual filaments exhibit a high degree of crystallographic order with respect to each other. These films have chemical binding sites analogous to those on MgO (100). However, the fraction of chemically active, high energy binding sites is greatly enhanced on the nanoporous film. This unique collection of properties makes these materials attractive candidates for chemical applications such as sensors and heterogeneous catalysts.