Hierarchical assembly of multifunctional oxide-based composite nanostructures for energy and environmental applications.

Composite nanoarchitectures represent a class of nanostructured entities that integrates various dissimilar nanoscale building blocks including nanoparticles, nanowires, and nanofilms toward realizing multifunctional characteristics. A broad array of composite nanoarchitectures can be designed and fabricated, involving generic materials such as metal, ceramics, and polymers in nanoscale form. In this review, we will highlight the latest progress on composite nanostructures in our research group, particularly on various metal oxides including binary semiconductors, ABO(3)-type perovskites, A(2)BO(4) spinels and quaternary dielectric hydroxyl metal oxides (AB(OH)(6)) with diverse application potential.