Synthesis of Metal/Bimetal Nanowires and Their Applications as Flexible Transparent Electrodes

As a potential alternative to indium oxide (ITO), metal nanowire transparent conductive electrodes (TCEs) have attracted more and more attention. Here, a facile method that can be applied to the synthesis of a variety of metal/bimetallic nanowires has been proposed. Metal/bimetallic nanowires synthesized through this method show high aspect ratios and great dispersibility, which makes them ideal building blocks for transparent electrodes. The synthesis mechanism is discussed in‐depth to give a theoretical basis of morphology control of metal nanostructures in organic synthesizing systems. TCEs with high flexibility, excellent optical–electrical performance as well as outstanding anti‐thermal and anti‐moisture stability are constructed. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first work on synthesizing multiple metal/bimetallic nanowires through one method.     

Highly-ordered supportless three-dimensional nanowire networks with tunable complexity and interwire connectivity for device integration

The fabrication of three-dimensional assemblies consisting of large quantities of nanowires is of great technological importance for various applications including (electro-)catalysis, sensitive sensing, and improvement of electronic devices. Because the spatial distribution of the nanostructured material can strongly influence the properties, architectural design is required in order to use assembled nanowires to their full potential. In addition, special effort has to be dedicated to the development of efficient methods that allow precise control over structural parameters of the nanoscale building blocks as a means of tuning their characteristics. This paper reports the direct synthesis of highly ordered large-area nanowire networks by a method based on hard templates using electrodeposition within nanochannels of ion track-etched polymer membranes. Control over the complexity of the networks and the dimensions of the integrated nanostructures are achieved by a modified template fabrication. The networks possess high surface area and excellent transport properties, turning them into a promising electrocatalyst material as demonstrated by cyclic voltammetry studies on platinum nanowire networks catalyzing methanol oxidation. Our method opens up a new general route for interconnecting nanowires to stable macroscopic network structures of very high integration level that allow easy handling of nanowires while maintaining their connectivity.     

Direct synthesis of high-density lead sulfide nanowires on metal thin films towards efficient infrared light conversion

We report chemical-vapor-deposition (CVD) synthesis of high-density lead sulfide (PbS) nanowire arrays and nano pine trees directly on Ti thin films, and the fabrication of photovoltaic devices based upon the PbS nanowires. The as-grown nanowire arrays are largely vertically aligned to the substrates and are uniformly distributed over a relatively large area. Field effect transistors incorporating single PbS nanowires show p-type conduction and high mobilities. These catalytic metal thin films also serve as photocarrier collection electrodes and greatly facilitate device integration. For the first time, we have fabricated Schottky junction photovoltaic devices incorporating PbS nanowires, which demonstrate the capability of converting near-infrared light to electricity. The PbS nanowire devices are stable in air and their external quantum efficiency shows no significant decrease over a period of 3?months in air. We have also compared the photocurrent direction and quantum efficiencies of photovoltaic devices made with different metal electrodes, and the results are explained by band bending at the Schottky junction. Our research shows that PbS nanowires are promising building blocks for collecting near-infrared solar energy.     

Designing and building nanowires: directed nanocrystal self-assembly into radically branched and zigzag PbS nanowires

Lead sulfide nanowires with controllable optoelectronic properties would be promising building blocks for various applications. Here, we report the hot colloidal synthesis of radically branched and zigzag nanowires through self-attachment of star-shaped and octahedral nanocrystals in the presence of multiple surfactants. We obtained high-quality single-crystal nanowires with uniform diameter along the entire length, and the size of the nanowire can be tuned by tailoring the reaction parameters. This slow oriented attachment provides a better understanding of the intricacies of this complex nanocrystal assembly process. Meanwhile, these self-assembled nanowire structures have appealing lateral conformations with narrow side arms or highly faceted edges, where strong quantum confinement can occur. Consequently, the single-crystal nanowire structures exhibit strong photoluminescence in the near-infrared region with a large blue-shift compared to the bulk material.     

Phase selection enabled formation of abrupt axial heterojunctions in branched oxide nanowires

Rational synthesis of nanowires via the vapor-liquid-solid (VLS) mechanism with compositional and structural controls is vitally important for fabricating functional nanodevices from bottom up. Here, we show that branched indium tin oxide nanowires can be in situ seeded in vapor transport growth using tailored Au-Cu alloys as catalyst. Furthermore, we demonstrate that VLS synthesis gives unprecedented freedom to navigate the ternary In-Sn-O phase diagram, and a rare and bulk-unstable cubic phase can be selectively stabilized in nanowires. The stabilized cubic fluorite phase possesses an unusual almost equimolar concentration of In and Sn, forming a defect-free epitaxial interface with the conventional bixbyite phase of tin-doped indium oxide that is the most employed transparent conducting oxide. This rational methodology of selecting phases and making abrupt axial heterojunctions in nanowires presents advantages over the conventional synthesis routes, promising novel composition-modulated nanomaterials.     

Semiconductor nanowires: from self-organization to patterned growth

The synthesis of semiconductor nanowires has been studied intensively worldwide for a wide spectrum of materials. Such low-dimensional nanostructures are not only interesting for fundamental research due to their unique structural and physical properties relative to their bulk counterparts, but also offer fascinating potential for future technological applications. Deeper understanding and sufficient control of the growth of nanowires are central to the current research interest. This Review discusses the various growth processes, with a focus on the vapor-liquid-solid process, which offers an opportunity for the control of spatial positioning of nanowires. Strategies for position-controlled and nanopatterned growth of nanowire arrays are reviewed and demonstrated by selected examples as well as discussed in terms of larger-scale realization and future prospects. Issues on building up nanowire-based electronic and photonic devices are addressed at the end of the Review, accompanied by a brief survey of recent progress demonstrated so far on the laboratory level.     

Controllable positioning and alignment of silver nanowires by tunable hydrodynamic focusing

Assembly and alignment of nanowires or nanotubes are critical steps for integrating functional nanodevices by the bottom-up strategy. However, it is still challenging to manipulate either an array of nanowires or individual nanowires in a controllable manner. Here we present a simple but versatile method of positioning and aligning nanowires by hydrodynamic focusing that functions as 'hydro-tweezers'. By adjusting the flow duration and flow rates of the sheath flows and sample flow, the density, width and position of the nanowire arrays, as building blocks of nanodevices, can be readily tuned in the hydrodynamic focusing process. This approach exhibits great potentials in the assembly of an array of functional nanodevices. With this method, multiple nanowire arrays can be positioned and aligned on predefined locations. Further focusing the sample flow, nanowires flow in single file. Thus single nanowires can also be lined up and located to desired positions.     

Confinement-guided shaping of semiconductor nanowires and nanoribbons: "writing with nanowires"

To fully exploit their full potential, new semiconductor nanowire building blocks with ab initio controlled shapes are desired. However, and despite the great synthetic advances achieved, the ability to control nanowire's geometry has been significantly limited. Here, we demonstrate a simple confinement-guided nanowire growth method that enables to predesign not only the chemical and physical attributes of the synthesized nanowires but also allows a perfect and unlimited control over their geometry. Our method allows the synthesis of semiconductor nanowires in a wide variety of two-dimensional shapes such as any kinked (different turning angles), sinusoidal, linear, and spiral shapes, so that practically any desired geometry can be defined. The shape-controlled nanowires can be grown on almost any substrate such as silicon wafer, quartz and glass slides, and even on plastic substrates (e.g., Kapton HN).     

Template-Directed, Near-Ambient Synthesis of Au-TiO2-Au Heterojunction Nanowires Mediated by Self-Assembled Monolayers (SAMs)

The feasibility of synthesizing metal-oxide-metal (MOM) heterojunction nanowires in the Au-TiO₂-Au system is demonstrated. The synthesis method presented here entails sequential metal-electroplating and SAMs-mediated deposition of oxide from liquid precursors, inside nanoholes of anodic aluminum oxide (AAO) templates. This synthesis method could be used to synthesize MOM nanowires in other systems, and it has the potential to provide control over the structure and characteristics of the resulting MOM nanowires. The heterojunction nature of the MOM nanowires has several potential advantages over all-oxide nanowires, and MOM nanowires are likely to be useful as 1-dimensional building blocks in nanoelectronics applications, and in fundamental studies of nanoscale functional oxides.     

Dielectrophoretically controlled fabrication of single-crystal nickel silicide nanowire interconnects

We report here on applying electric fields and dielectric media to achieve controlled alignment of single-crystal nickel silicide nanowires between two electrodes. Depending on the concentration of nanowire suspension and the distribution of electrical field, various configurations of nanowire interconnects, such as single, chained, and branched nanowires were aligned between the electrodes. Several alignment mechanisms, including the induced charge layer on the electrode surface, nanowire dipole-dipole interactions, and an enhanced local electrical field surrounding the aligned nanowires are proposed to explain these novel dielectrophoretic phenomena of one-dimensional nanostructures. This study demonstrates the promising potential of dielectrophoresis for constructing nanoscale interconnects using metallic nanowires as building blocks.     

Photosensitive gold-nanoparticle-embedded dielectric nanowires

Noble-metal nanoparticles embedded in dielectric matrices are considered to have practical applications in ultrafast all-optical switching devices owing to their enhanced third-order nonlinear susceptibility, especially near the surface-plasmon-resonance (SPR) frequency. Here we present the use of a microreactor approach to the fabrication of a self-organized photosensitive gold nanoparticle chain encapsulated in a dielectric nanowire. Such a hybrid nanowire shows pronounced SPR absorption. More remarkably, a strong wavelength-dependent and reversible photoresponse has been demonstrated in a two-terminal device using an ensemble of gold nanopeapodded silica nanowires under light illumination, whereas no photoresponse was observed for the plain silica nanowires. These results show the potential of using gold nanopeapodded silica nanowires as wavelength-controlled optical nanoswitches. The microreactor approach can be applied to the preparation of a range of hybrid metal-dielectric one-dimensional nanostructures that can be used as functional building blocks for nanoscale waveguiding devices, sensors and optoelectronics.     

Nanoelectronic interface for lab-on-a-chip devices

Innovations in microfabricated analytical devices integrated with microelectronic circuits and biological cells show promising results in detection, diagnosis and analysis. Planar metallic microelectrodes are widely used for the electrical interface with the biological cells. Issues with the current microelectrode array design are the difficulty in selective integration with a cell, the size dependency of its impedance and the large amount of noise in the circuit due to this mismatch. It is quite evident that an approach utilizing nanotechnology can solve some of these problems by yielding efficient electrical interconnections. The design and development of a planar microelectrode array integrated with vertically aligned nanowires for lab-on-achip (LoC) device applications are presented. The nanowire integrated microelectrode arrays for LoC devices show promising results with respect to impedance control due to increased surface area. The authors have fabricated nanowire integrated microelectrode arrays on silicon and flexible polymer substrates using the template method. A high degree of specific growth is achieved by controlling the nanowire synthesis parameters. An attempt has been made to integrate biological cells into the nanowires by culturing endothelial cells onto the microelectrode array.     

Optical trapping and integration of semiconductor nanowire assemblies in water

Semiconductor nanowires have received much attention owing to their potential use as building blocks of miniaturized electrical, nanofluidic and optical devices. Although chemical nanowire synthesis procedures have matured and now yield nanowires with specific compositions and growth directions, the use of these materials in scientific, biomedical and microelectronic applications is greatly restricted owing to a lack of methods to assemble nanowires into complex heterostructures with high spatial and angular precision. Here we show that an infrared single-beam optical trap can be used to individually trap, transfer and assemble high-aspect-ratio semiconductor nanowires into arbitrary structures in a fluid environment. Nanowires with diameters as small as 20 nm and aspect ratios of more than 100 can be trapped and transported in three dimensions, enabling the construction of nanowire architectures that may function as active photonic devices. Moreover, nanowire structures can now be assembled in physiological environments, offering new forms of chemical, mechanical and optical stimulation of living cells.     

Electrical nanowelding and bottom-up nano-construction together using nanoscale solder

A new bottom-up nanowelding technique enabling the welding of complex 3D nanoarchitectures assembled from individual building blocks using nanovolumes of metal solder is reported in this work. The building blocks of gold nanowires, (Co72Pt28/Pt)n multilayer nanowires, and nanosolder Sn99Au1 alloy nanowires were successfully fabricated by a template technique. Individual metallic nanowires dispersed on Si/SiO2(100 nm) wafers were manipulated and assembled together. Conductive nanostructures were then welded together by the new electrical nanowelding technique using nanovolumes of similar or dissimilar nanosolder. At the weld sites, nanoscale volumes of a chosen metal are deposited using nanosolder of a sacrificial nanowire, which ensures that the nanoobjects to be bonded retain their structural integrity. The whole nanowelding process is clean, controllable and reliable, and ensures both mechanically strong and electrically conductive contacts. The quality check of nanoweld achieve a resistance as low as 20 omega by using Sn99Au1 alloy solder. This technique should provide a promising way to conquer the challenge of the integration obstacle for bottom-up nanotechnology.     

Atomic-scale structure of Mo6S6 nanowires

We have studied the atomic-scale structure of the Mo6S6 nanowires using scanning tunneling microscopy and spectroscopy (STM and STS) and density functional theory (DFT). A novel synthesis route based on metallic Mo precursors is presented for the selective formation of elementary pure Mo6S6 nanowires. The Mo6S6 nanowires selectively organize as trimer bundles, and each of the Mo6S6 nanowires consists of an electrically conducting Mo backbone dressed with a sulfur exterior cap. The Mo6S6 nanowires may thus be of interest as novel building blocks in nanoelectronics because the Mo6S6 nanowires exist in a robust, singular structural conformation with uniquely defined electrical (metallic) properties.     

Semiconductor nanowire heterostructures

Recent progress on the synthesis and characterization of semiconductor nanowire heterostructures is reviewed. We describe a general method for heterostructure synthesis based on chemical vapour deposition and the vapour-liquid-solid growth of crystalline semiconducting nanowires. We then examine examples of nanowire heterostructures for which physical properties have been measured, considering the effects of synthetic conditions on the heterointerfaces as well as the electrical and optical characterization measurements that reveal heterointerface formation and quality. Finally, we identify areas of technical and conceptual progress that can contribute to the development of functional nanowire heterostructures.     

Guest Editorial: Chemistry and Physics of Nanowires

In this Editorial for the Nanowires Special Issue of Advanced Materials , Younan Xia and Peidong Yang welcome you to this survey of the fast‐moving area of nanowire research. Communications and Research News articles covering vapor‐phase, solution‐based, and template‐directed routes to the synthesis of nanowires, self‐assembly with nanowires as the building blocks, and new physics associated with 1D nanostructures can all be found within.     

Controlled manipulation of giant hybrid inorganic nanowire assemblies

The ultimate goal of nanotechnology is the design and fabrication of nanosize building blocks with multiple functionalities and their assembly into large-scale functional structures that can be controllably manipulated. Here we show that hybrid inorganic multisegmented nanowires, with hydrophobic carbon nanotube tails and hydrophilic metal nanowire heads, allow the assembly and manipulation of massive ordered structures in solution, reminiscent of the organic molecular micellar assembly. Further, properly designed assemblies can be manipulated using external stimuli such as magnetic field and light. The hybrid nanowires can have multiple segments including magnetic components, allowing the assembly to be manipulated by external magnetic field. The assembled structures can also be manipulated by modifying the hydrophobicity of the respective components via chemical functionalization and optical irradiation. This approach brings the concept of environment sensitive self-assembling nanomaterials closer to reality.     

A Review of Mechanical and Electromechanical Properties of Piezoelectric Nanowires

Piezoelectric nanowires are promising building blocks in nanoelectronic, sensing, actuation and nanogenerator systems. In spite of great progress in synthesis methods, quantitative mechanical and electromechanical characterization of these nanostructures is still limited. In this article, the state‐of‐the art in experimental and computational studies of mechanical and electromechanical properties of piezoelectric nanowires is reviewed with an emphasis on size effects. The review covers existing characterization and analysis methods and summarizes data reported in the literature. It also provides an assessment of research needs and opportunities. Throughout the discussion, the importance of coupling experimental and computational studies is highlighted. This is crucial for obtaining unambiguous size effects of nanowire properties, which truly reflect the effect of scaling rather than a particular synthesis route. We show that such a combined approach is critical to establish synthesis‐structure‐property relations that will pave the way for optimal usage of piezoelectric nanowires.     

Towards High‐Performance Bioinspired Composites

Biological composites have evolved elaborate hierarchical structures to achieve outstanding mechanical properties using weak but readily available building blocks. Combining the underlying design principles of such biological materials with the rich chemistry accessible in synthetic systems may enable the creation of artificial composites with unprecedented properties and functionalities. This bioinspired approach requires identification, understanding, and quantification of natural design principles and their replication in synthetic materials, taking into account the intrinsic properties of the stronger artificial building blocks and the boundary conditions of engineering applications. In this progress report, the scientific and technological questions that have to be addressed to achieve this goal are highlighted, and examples of recent research efforts to tackle them are presented. These include the local characterization of the heterogeneous architecture of biological materials, the investigation of structure–function relationships to help unveil natural design principles, and the development of synthetic processing routes that can potentially be used to implement some of these principles in synthetic materials. The importance of replicating the design principles of biological materials rather than their structure per se is highlighted, and possible directions for further progress in this fascinating, interdisciplinary field are discussed.