Numerous investigations have demonstrated novel nanodevices and applications based on nanomaterials. But such devices can not work without external power supply, thus nano power source is urgently demanded accompanying with the increasing study on nanodevices. Here we present a method to fabricate Nafion®-115 nanowires as 1D nano channels for proton transportation. Furthermore, a high performance nano fuel cell has been accomplished on the nanoscale based on the nano proton transportation channel.

An extrusion method, using anodic aluminium oxide (AAO) membranes as templates, has been successfully developed to fabricate Nafion nanowire arrays. A surface modification is carried out to improve the filling rate in the synthesis of Nafion nanowire arrays. By using sodium dodecyl sulfate as a surfactant in the surface decoration, the filling rate of the Nafion® nanowires in the corresponding template exceeds 95%, compared with the filling rate of 42% in an undecorated template, while on using cetyltrimethylammonium bromide as a surfactant, the filling rate is only about 20%. Systematical investigations show that the effect of surface decoration is induced by the combination of surface tension and electrostatic force. This result is significant in organic nanowire fabrication.

The as-synthesized nanowires are about 85nm in diameter and several to over ten micrometres in length. Near-IR Raman and IR spectrum studies show that the polymer nanowires are composed of pure Nafion only. The Nyquist Z spectrum shows that the proton conductivity in an individual Nafion nanowire is much higher than that in the Nafion® membrane.

The best performance of the as-synthesized nano-fuel cell can be obtained: open circuit voltage 430mV, maximum current density and power density 4.33μA/μm² and 0.44μW/μm², respectively, which is enhanced by orders of magnitude compared with the traditional fuel cell. The nano-fuel cell provides a potential future for integrated self-powered nanodevices.

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