Self-assembled nanoarchitectures of polar nanobelts/nanowires

This article reviews the most recent progress in the synthesis of polar-surface dominated semiconducting and piezoelectric ZnO nanostructures: including nanosprings, nanohelices, nanorings, nanobows and nanodisks. These structures were formed by self-assembly of polar nanobelts/nanowires as driven by minimizing electrostatic energy owing to spontaneous polarization. The nanostructures could have novel applications in optoelectronics, sensors, transducers and resonators.