One-dimensional nanostructures of chalcogens and chalcogenides

This paper presents an overview of solution-phase methods for generating one-dimensional (1D) nanostructures of chalcogens and chalcogenides. The first part describes self-seeding techniques for the formation of pure Se, pure Te, and alloy nanostructures. Se and Te are interesting for their inherent properties such as chirality, photoconductivity, piezoelectricity, and high reactivity. The specific morphology (i.e., nanowires, nanorods, and nanotubes) and dimensions of these nanostructures could be tightly controlled. The second part describes a versatile template-engaged technique for topotactic transformation of chalcogen nanostructures into chalcogenides. This transformation enables the formation of 1D nanostructures of materials that do not have intrinsically anisotropic crystal structure. These 1D nanostructures will play an important role in the fabrication of nanoscale devices and in the study of electronic size-confinement effects.