Abstract
Uniform carbon coating on nanochannels of an anodic aluminum oxide film drastically changes its optical property and, as a result, the resulting carbon-coated film exhibits brilliant colors. The carbon deposited on the inner walls of the nanochannels plays a major role in this phenomenon. In addition, the coating makes the channel walls electro-conductive, hydrophobic and much more chemically stable. These characteristics are never found in the original film. Owing to such peculiar properties, the coated film is more attractive as a template for the production of nanomaterials, because the electro-conductivity enables the electro-deposition of metal on the inner walls of the nanochannels and the hydrothermal synthesis inside the nanochannels is also possible due to the chemical inertness.
