Molecularly and atomically thin semiconductor and carbon nanoshells

Approaches to the formation of molecularly and atomically thin solid shells based on the transformation of thin planar films into more functional 3D precise shells are outlined. In the overview part of the present work several examples are given illustrating the possibility to obtain in bent films new effects never observed in planar films and to fabricate new nanomaterials from highly-ordered systems of interacting hybrid shells. In the original part of the article, we demonstrate the formation of nanoshells from monoatomic graphite layers, graphene, and also show the possibility of controllable detachment of graphene from graphite substrates with the help of AFM. (c) 2007 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.