REVIEW

Building blocks for one-dimensional van der Waals heterostructures

¹ State Key Laboratory of Fluid Power and Mechatronic Systems, School of Mechanical Engineering, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310027, China
² Department of Mechanical Engineering, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo 113-8656, Japan
³ Beijing National Laboratory for Molecular Sciences, Key Laboratory for the Physics and Chemistry of Nanodevices, State Key Laboratory of Rare Earth Materials Chemistry and Applications, College of Chemistry and Molecular Engineering, Academy for Advanced Interdisciplinary Studies, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China
⁴ Peking University Shenzhen Institute, Shenzhen 518057, China
⁵ PKU-HKUST ShenZhen-HongKong Institution, Shenzhen 518057, China

^* Corresponding authors (emails: xiangrong@zju.edu.cn (Rong Xiang); maruyama@photon.t.u-tokyo.ac.jp (Shigeo Maruyama); yanli@pku.edu.cn (Yan Li))

Received: 12 February 2022
Revised: 21 March 2022
Accepted: 12 April 2022

Abstract

We recently demonstrated experimentally the synthesis of one-dimensional (1D) van der Waals (vdW) heterostructure, where single-crystal hexagonal boron nitride or molybdenum disulfide nanotubes seamlessly wrapped a single-walled carbon nanotube and formed a coaxial hetero-nanotube with the diameter typically being 1–5 nm. 1D vdW heterostructures have created large room for fundamental research from synthesis to application, but most directions are still at their initial stages. The materials that can be employed to construct 1D vdW heterostructures are limited to only a few types. In this review, we provide an outlook to the question: what are the building blocks available now and could be available in the future for the fabrication of 1D vdW heterostructures?