Synthesis design strategies to anisotropic chalcogenide nanostructures

The array of low dimensional nanostructured chalcogenides now known is substantial, both in terms of the number of different compounds formed and in terms of the diversity of nano- and microstructures that these compounds adopt. Size, shape, structure (and composition) can each have profound effects on the physical properties of chalcogenide nanostructures and in turn controllable, well-understood synthetic routes are absolutely vital to their growth and subsequent characterisation and exploitation. This Highlight assesses the options open to the inorganic synthetic nanomaterials chemist in producing "made to measure'' solids at the nanoscale and examines the commonality in these approaches towards rational nanostructural design.