Copper nanowires could become basis for new solar cells

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By looking at a piece of material in cross section, engineers discovered how copper sprouts grass-like nanowires that could one day be made into solar cells. The researchers worked with copper foil, a simple material similar to household aluminum foil. When most metals are heated, they form a thick metal oxide film. However, a few metals, such as copper, iron and zinc, grow grass-like structures known as nanowires, which are long, cylindrical structures a few hundred nanometers wide by many microns tall. They set out to determine how the nanowires grow.

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