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Fabrication of nanowires arrays with different patterns and separations is a major concern of the nanowire community. For this purpose, a catalyst template, which is usually a metal nanoparticle array, is needed to guide the nanowire growth.
The area of nanodielectrics is relatively unexplored but research shows that nanocapacitors could find important applications for instance in energy storage and ultrasensitive transducers in nanoelectronic circuits.
For the past two years, the molecular-beam-epitaxy (MBE) group at the University of Arkansas has developed a novel growth procedure to laterally line up self-assembled InGaAs quantum dots (QDs).
Researchers in Germany managed to integrate quantum dots (QD) into the walls of nano- and microtubes. This novel structure serves as a quantum light emitter as well as optical waveguide. This represents a major step toward the realization of flexible high quality factor optical resonators based on tubes.
Recent work on bioinspired nanoscale colloidal systems is an example of the significant interest that the design and fabrication of nanostructured colloidal materials has created among scientists.
Polymeric hollow nanospheres with high stability and controllable permeability have interesting potential applications associated with the controlled release of encapsulated active ingredients (e.g., drugs, vaccines, antibodies, hormones, pesticides, and fragrances) under well-defined conditions. Researchers in Singapore are now fabricating hollow nanostructures with different shapes using a single template.
A group of Chinese researchers prepared dye-sensitized solar cells using micro/nanocomposite TiO2 porous films, resulting in cells with enhanced light collection. They applied a technique which can produce a large area in continuous fabrication. This technique opens an alternative way for manufacturing solar cells on an industrial scale.
Researchers in Finland and The Netherlands demonstrated that it is possible to grow and wire a single platinum nanoparticle using a single-walled carbon nanotube, thus providing a bottom-up approach to building nanoelectrodes.