Recent progress in the research of inorganic fullerene-like nanoparticles and inorganic nanotubes

Nanoparticles of inorganic compounds with layered (2D) structures, like graphite and MoS2, were shown to be unstable in the planar from and fold on themselves forming seamless hollow structures like multiwall nanotubes and fullerene-like nanoparticles. The present concise tutorial review reports on the salient developments in this field over the last several years. Numerous applications for such nanophases have been proposed, like solid lubricants, ultra-strong nanocomposites, catalysts, etc.