Chemical transformations of nanostructured materials

Chemical transformation of existing inorganic nanostructures from one material into another represents a straightforward, versatile, and effective approach to nanomaterial synthesis. This approach has received increasing attention in recent years. As a unique feature, this apporach allows one to easily and independently control the chemical compositions, structures, and morphologies of nanostructured materials. This article reviews recent progress in this area by dividing the reactions into four catagories - formation of alloy, galvanic replacement, cation exchange, and anion exchange - according to the type of reaction involved. We discuss current understanding of the thermodynamic parameters and kinetic aspects, followed by highlights of a variety of relavant synthetic strategies and examples. We also discuss the possible contributions of this approach to the synthesis of novel nanomaterials and perspectives on their technological impacts. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.