Inorganic nanostructures with sizes down to 1 nm: a macromolecule analogue

Ultrathin nanostructures exhibit many interesting properties which are absent or less-pronounced in traditional nanomaterials of larger sizes. In this work, we report the synthesis of ultrathin nanowires and nanoribbons of rare earth hydroxides and demonstrate some new phenomena caused by their atomic-level lateral size (1 nm), including ligand-induced gelation, self-assembly framework, and conformational diversity. These features are typically, although not exclusively, found in polymer solutions. The properties of the inorganic backbone and the emerging polymeric characteristics combined prove to be very promising in the design of new hybrid materials.