Nanocrystalline porous copper films were prepared by sol–gel method with polyethylene glycol (PEG) as organic
template, copper acetate as raw material and (di) ethanolamine (DEA) as chelating agent. Copper nanowire
array films were fabricated by electrodeposition within anodic aluminum oxide (AAO) membrane. The films were
analyzed by infrared absorption (IR), thermogravimetry-derivative thermogravimetry (TG-DTG), X-ray diffraction
(XRD), energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX), scanning electron microscope (SEM) and atomic force
microscope (AFM). The structure of the copper films which achieved by sol–gel was remarkable influenced by
sol concentration, polyethylene glycol content and annealing temperature. The effects of annealing temperature
and the way of gelation on grain sizes were discussed. The results showed that films could be made under the
optimum condition: sol concentration was 0.6 mol/L, annealing temperature was 500 C, and polyethylene glycol
content was 0.35 g. The structure of the nanoarray films which obtained by electrodeposition was influenced
by current density and electrodeposition time. When the electrodeposition time was 5 min, and current density
was 1.0 A/dm2, the nanoarray structure was the best.