Anodic oxide nanostructures and their applications in energy generation and storage

This chapter reviews the morphologies, growth mechanisms, and applications of anodic oxide films. Experimentally, it is possible to control the growth conditions of these films to yield several distinct morphologies, including self-ordered nanoporous and nanotubular films and more complex morphologies such as nanolace. Fundamental processes that lead to self-ordering of nanoscale features, including interfacial reactions, ionic transport, stress generation, and space charge accumulation, are discussed. The high-aspect-ratio geometries and nanoscale feature sizes of anodic oxide films are attractive for a range of applications either as an active component or as a template. Specifically, applications to solar cells, batteries, and supercapacitors are reviewed.