Nanomolding of Topical Nanowires: New Method Could Quicken the Discovery of Applications Like Clean Energy Catalysts, Among Others

Professor of materials science and engineering at Cornell University, Judy Cha, recently said in an article he co-authored that nanomolding of topical nanowires could quicken the discovery of new materials for applications like quantum computing, microelectronics, and clean-energy catalysts.

A Phys.org report specified that topological materials are valued for their distinctive ability to possess different properties at their edges and surfaces, and such surface properties can be enhanced by having the materials engineered at the nanoscale.

The challenge for researchers is that traditional nanowire fabrication approaches are slow and do not provide high precision.

Topological Materials

Theorists have forecasted about a quarter of all known inorganic crystals may be topological, added the article's co-author.

A report from the Physics Stack Exchange website specified that topological material had been a hot issue in condensed matter physics. However, few people know this material and how it is distinguished from band diagrams.

More so, how it divides the types of topological materials depending on band diagram like topological insulators, among others, remain unknown.

Nanomolding

The professor also said they're talking about tens of thousands of compounds, so the conventional approach of making the crystals is just not compatible when screening them to search for test topological materials for specific applications.

However, nanomolding, in which a bulk polycrystalline feedstock is pressed into a nanostructure mold at an increased temperature to form nanowires, could provide a solution.

Cha and Mehrdad Kiani, a postdoctoral associate, explained that nanomolding offers numerous advantages over existing synthesis methods for nanoscale materials.

In their report published in APL Materials, the two wrote, "Unlike traditional top-down and bottom-up" fabrication approaches, nanomolding necessitates minimal optimization of experimental parameters.

It can also work on a wide range of topological compounds, enabling high throughput fabrication of topological nanowires.

Fabricated Nanowires

The researchers also said that fabricated nanowires are single crystalline, not to mention defect-free, and can have a high aspect rations higher than 1,000.

Originally, nanomolding had been used for metallic material systems, although Cha and her research team are one of the first to "expand its application to topical materials."

While, in principle, nanomolding delivers all the characteristics wanted in topological nanowires, how and why the approach is very successful remains not fully understood, but the research team is still working to fill a knowledge gap.

Existing research materials in the Cha Group comprise gauging the electrical properties of nanomolded topological nanowires to benchmark against nanowires generated with other approaches and examining atomic diffusion and mechanical motions of atoms during the molding process.

In the study, also published in AIP Scilight, Cha welcomed collaborators interested in nanowire versions of compounds they are investigating.

Related information about topological materials is shown on TAUVOD's YouTube video below:

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