Phys.org January 31, 2022
Using tungsten telluride nanowires researchers in Japan created bundles of wires deposited on a flat substrate and exposed to vapors of chalcogens like sulfur, selenium, and tellurium. With a combination of heat and vapor, the initially separate threads in the bundles were successfully woven together into narrow, atomically thin nanoribbons with a characteristic zigzag structure. By tuning the thickness of the original bundles, they could even choose whether these ribbons were oriented parallel to the substrate or perpendicular to it. By tuning the substrate on which the bundles are placed, they could control whether the ribbons were randomly oriented or pointing in a single direction. Their method is scalable and may be applied to take the synthesis from lab-scale manufacture of a few ribbons to bulk syntheses over large substrate areas. They confirmed that the ribbons had exotic electronic properties unique to their one-dimensional nature. According to the researchers this is a big leap forward for materials science and a tangible step toward mass-produced nanoribbons in state-of-the-art electronics, optoelectronics, and catalysts… read more. TECHNICAL ARTICLEÂ
Graphical abstract. Credit: ACS Appl. Nano Mater. 2021, XXXX, XXX, XXX-XXX, December 16, 2021