(512c) Mechanical Properties of Nanoporous Platinum Thin Films

High surface area platinum electrodes are commonly used in fuel cells, catalysis, and sensor applications. Surfaces like these are readily manufactured through electro-deposition within, and subsequent removal of, a mesoporous silica template. electrodeposition of metal confined to the pores of surfactant templated silica, allows us to create metallic thin foams and direct, with nanoscale precision, the size and packing structure of the metallic fiber framework; factors which should regulate the overall mechanical response of the films. Very little is known about the mechanical properties of nanoporous metals, and it is not clear if the simple scaling laws used to predict the mechanical properties of macro-scale foams can or should be applied to porous materials with nanometer length scale features. In this study, we will evaluate the mechanical response of these types of thin films in an effort to gain a detailed understanding of the mechanical properties and deformation mechanism in small pore metal foams and discuss the validity of these macroscopic models across length scales. As a first step we have focused on platinum films with a cubic structure and we illustrate the effect of annealing on the film's mechanical strength. Additionally, we vary the metallic fiber diameter, and porosity of the films.