One-step thermo-chemical synthetic method for nanoscale one-dimensional heterostructures

Numerous research efforts have been made in the study of (1-D) one-dimensional nanostructures like nanobelts, nanotubes and nanowires. Of particular interest among them is 1-D nanoscale heterostructures with modulated structure, compositions, and interfaces. This then depicts a critical class of nanoscale building blocks with substantial potential for exploring and realizing novel device applications at the nanometer realm. With this potential, numerous techniques have been devised for the synthesis of 1-D heterostructures. One method is the two-step or multistep catalystic-assisted metal-organic chemical vapor deposition methods and metal-organic vapor phase epitaxy methods to synthesize diverse 1-D heterostructures. Numerous 1-D heterostructures were fabricated based on different mechanisms using mixed source material. There also exist other methods based on the solution chemical process, electrospinning, lithography, and many more. However, there exist challenges in developing a simple and generatic method to rationally synthesize 1-D nanoscale heterostructures. As such, a one-step thermo-chemical synthetic method for the synthesis of a variety of 1-D heterostructures, including hierarchical C/SiO₂ microtube /nanowire, GaP/ ZnS core/shell Zn/ZnS, Ge/ZnS nanowires. The technique is used to produce a huge quantity of 1-D heterostructures and be extended to synthesize other complex heterostructures like self-assembled raspberry-like GaS spheres.