Anisotropic nanocrystal heterostructures: Synthesis and lattice strain

Emerging multi-component hybrid nanocrystalline materials are prompting new approaches to engineering materials' properties with nanoscale precision and providing complex systems with multiple functionalities. In particular, chemical synthesis of nanocrystal heterostructures where two or more distinct phases are brought together epitaxially in an anisotropic manner is providing novel materials with unique combinations of optical, electronic, magnetic, and chemical properties. However, in order to develop high quality materials with property combinations that can be precisely tailored, a better understanding of growth/formation mechanism(s) that will allow versatile and scalable synthetic approaches to be developed is necessary. Here, we review recent advances in anisotropic nanocrystal heterostructures with a special focus on how lattice strain arising from the heterointerfaces affects materials synthesis. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.