Nanoring

A nanoring is a cyclic nanostructure with a thickness small enough to be on the nanoscale (10−9 meters). Note that this definition allows the diameter of the ring to be larger than the nanoscale. Nanorings are a relatively recent development within the realm of nanoscience; the first known report of these nanostructures came from researchers at the Institute of Physics and Center for Condensed Matter Physics who synthesized nanorings made of gallium nitride in 2001.[1] Zinc oxide, a compound found commonly in nanostructures, was first synthesized into nanorings by researchers at Georgia Institute of Technology in 2004 and several other common nanostructure compounds have been synthesized into nanorings since.[2]

Overview

Although nanorings may have a diameter on the nanoscale, many of these materials have diameters which are larger than 100 nm, with a majority of nanorings having a diameter laying on the microscale (10−6 meters). As such, nanorings are considered to be members of a sub-class of nanomaterials called one-dimensional (1-D) nanomaterials. These are nanomaterials in which one of the three physical dimensions in a single unit of the material is on a length scale greater than the nanoscale. Other examples of one-dimensional nanomaterials are nanowires, nanobelts, nanotubes, and nanosheets.

Mechanical Uniqueness

As with other nanomaterials, much of the practical interest in nanorings arises from the fact that in nanorings, one can often observe quantized phenomena which are ordinarily unobservable in bulk matter. Nanorings, in particular, have a few additional properties which are of particular interest from a molecular engineering perspective. One-dimensional nanostructures have a variety of potential uses and applications but due to the dimensions of their extended crystal structures, they cannot be grown on discrete crystal growth sites and thus, cannot be synthesized on a substrate with any crystallographic predictability.[3] Therefore, nanorings are most commonly synthesized aqueously by creating entropically unique conditions which force nanoring self-assembly.[4] These materials are much more useful if they can be easily manipulated by mechanical or magnetic forces as many one-dimensional nanostructures are extremely fragile and, thus, difficult to manipulate into useful environments. It has now been demonstrated that ZnO nanorings made from the spontaneous folding of a single nanobelt crystal can be physically manipulated without breaking or fracturing, giving them a unique mechanical advantage over other classes of ZnO nanostructures.[5][6]

Synthesis

Generally, nanorings are synthesized using a bottom-up approach, as top-down syntheses are limited by the entropic barriers presented by these materials. Currently, the number of different synthetics techniques used to make these particles is almost as diverse as the number of different types of nanorings themselves. One common method for synthesizing nanorings involves first synthesizing nanobelts or nanowires with an uneven charge distribution focused on the edges of the material. These particles will naturally self-assemble into ring structures such that Coulomb repulsion forces are minimized within the resulting crystal.[7] Other approaches for nanoring synthesis include the assembly of a nanoring around a small seed particle which is later removed or the expansion and twisting of porphyrin-like structures into a hollow nanoring structure.[8][9]

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References
  1. Li ZJ, Chen XL, Li HJ, Tu QY, Yang Z, Xu YP, Hu BQ (2001-05-01). "Synthesis and Raman scattering of GaN nanorings, nanoribbons and nanowires". Applied Physics A. 72 (5): 629–632. Bibcode:2001ApPhA..72..629L. doi:10.1007/s003390100796.
  2. Kong XY, Ding Y, Yang R, Wang ZL (February 2004). "Single-crystal nanorings formed by epitaxial self-coiling of polar nanobelts". Science. 303 (5662): 1348–51. Bibcode:2004Sci...303.1348K. doi:10.1126/science.1092356. PMID 14988559.
  3. Drogat N, Granet R, Sol V, Krausz P (December 2009). "One-pot silver nanoring synthesis". Nanoscale Research Letters. 5 (3): 566–9. doi:10.1007/s11671-009-9505-5. PMC 2894113. PMID 20672109.
  4. Sprafke, Johannes K.; Kondratuk, Dmitry V.; Wykes, Michael; Thompson, Amber L.; Hoffmann, Markus; Drevinskas, Rokas; Chen, Wei-Hsin; Yong, Chaw Keong; Kärnbratt, Joakim; Bullock, Joseph E.; Malfois, Marc (2011-11-02). "Belt-Shaped π-Systems: Relating Geometry to Electronic Structure in a Six-Porphyrin Nanoring". Journal of the American Chemical Society. 133 (43): 17262–17273. doi:10.1021/ja2045919. ISSN 0002-7863.
  5. Hughes WL, Wang ZL (2005-01-19). "Controlled synthesis and manipulation of ZnO nanorings and nanobows". Applied Physics Letters. 86 (4): 043106. Bibcode:2005ApPhL..86d3106H. doi:10.1063/1.1853514. ISSN 0003-6951.
  6. Wang ZL (2009-04-03). "ZnO nanowire and nanobelt platform for nanotechnology". Materials Science and Engineering: R: Reports. 64 (3): 33–71. doi:10.1016/j.mser.2009.02.001. ISSN 0927-796X.
  7. Kong, X. Y. (2004-02-27). "Single-Crystal Nanorings Formed by Epitaxial Self-Coiling of Polar Nanobelts". Science. 303 (5662): 1348–1351. doi:10.1126/science.1092356. ISSN 0036-8075.
  8. Miras, Haralampos N.; Richmond, Craig J.; Long, De-Liang; Cronin, Leroy (2012-02-29). "Solution-Phase Monitoring of the Structural Evolution of a Molybdenum Blue Nanoring". Journal of the American Chemical Society. 134 (8): 3816–3824. doi:10.1021/ja210206z. ISSN 0002-7863.
  9. Yagi, Akiko; Segawa, Yasutomo; Itami, Kenichiro (2012-02-15). "Synthesis and Properties of [9]Cyclo-1,4-naphthylene: A π-Extended Carbon Nanoring". Journal of the American Chemical Society. 134 (6): 2962–2965. doi:10.1021/ja300001g. ISSN 0002-7863.
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