A research team at the IMDEA Materials Institute has developed a new method that enables the self-assembly of silicon nanowires into ordered macroscopic network structures. This advancement provides technical support for expanding the industrial applications of silicon nanowires.
Silicon nanowires are regarded as promising candidates for next-generation batteries, electronic devices, and advanced functional materials due to their excellent energy storage capacity, electrical conductivity, and mechanical strength. However, since a single nanowire has a diameter of only 10–50 nanometers — about one-thousandth the thickness of a human hair — many applications require processing them into larger-scale bundled structures. Achieving ordered alignment and density control of nanowires at the macroscopic scale is key to enhancing their performance in batteries and sensors.
Dr. David Tilve, a researcher at the institute, stated: "One-dimensional nanomaterials typically exist in the form of disordered powders, which limits their properties and application potential. The core of this technology lies in self-assembling nanowires into ordered nanostructures, thereby fully unleashing their performance." He added: "By processing them into highly aligned bundled structures, we significantly increase the contact area between nanowires, which cannot be achieved with disordered networks."
The research team used aqueous dispersion and vacuum filtration processes to enable the nanowires to spontaneously align into tight bundles in water and further connect into paper-like network structures. Each bundle contains approximately 15 self-assembled nanowires, with an inter-wire spacing of only 0.4 nanometers — approaching the atomic scale. This ordered structure exhibits good macroscopic stability and controllability, providing a new pathway for developing high-performance batteries, efficient electronic devices, and novel optical materials.
The research results were published in the journal Nanotechnology and form part of the IMDEA Materials Institute's project on bridging nano- and macro-scale materials research, aiming to promote the application of nanowire network materials in fields such as optics and energy storage electrodes.
