ABSTRACT
Acknowledgments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
their carbon form. e latter has been extensively reviewed, with a number of monographs devoted to them (for example, References 33-35) and does not warrant further discussion. Dierent methods of synthesis, preparation, and postsynthetic treatment allow complex structures involving the combination of two or more materials, such as nanorods capped or cladded with another material, to be formed, which have numerous advantages [25]. Key to the properties of such systems is how they interact with supports in devices; many nanorods and wires are formed directly on a substrate. An important feature to understand, therefore, in addition to the properties of 1D systems
along their extended dimension, is the structure of interfaces. Furthermore, the ability to assemble branch points and tripods using dierent materials, which are useful for increasing the surface area of adsorber materials and designing nanoscale electrical circuits, involves a combination of interfaces between nanowires, as well as the interface with a substrate or contact. A dierent form of support is provided by materials with nanoporous architecture capable of hosting 1D nanowires, either singly or assembled in stacking sequences, thus giving rise to highly functional nanocomposite materials. Typically, materials formed by strongly bound inorganic compounds play the role of the support including zeolites [36] and semiconductors (e.g., silicon carbide [37] and zinc oxide [38]), but more recently, organic and hybrid metal organic frameworks have found their use [39,40].
