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The formation of tubular nanostructures normally requires layered, anisotropic, or pseudo-layered crystal structures, while inorganic compounds typically do not possess such structures, inorganic nanotubes thus have been a hot topic in the past decade. In this article, we review recent research activities on nanotubes fabrication and focus on three novel synthetic strategies for generating nanotubes from inorganic materials that do not have a layered structure. Specifically, thermal oxidation method based on gas-solid reaction to porous CuO nanotubes has been successfully established, semiconductor ZnS and Nb 2 O 5 nanotubes have been prepared by employing sacrificial template strategy based on liquid-solid reaction, and an in situ template method has been developed for the preparation of ZnO taper tubes through a chemical etching reaction. We have described the nanotube formation processes and illustrated the detailed key factors during their growth. The proposed mechanisms are presented for nanotube fabrication and the important pioneering studies are discussed on the rational design and fabrication of functional materials with tubular structures. It is the intention of this contribution to provide a brief account of these research activities.

The intense interest in zinc oxide (ZnO) materials stems from their attractive semiconducting properties and wide potential applications. Technical control over the growth of ZnO and comprehensive study of its physical and chemical natures are of great significance in understanding the crystal growth mechanism and further developing new ZnO-based functional devices. This review presents a brief summary of recent research activities on the science and technology of ZnO as advanced material with an emphasis on the latest development in property study and chemical synthesis of ZnO structures. The solution-phase routes to grow bulk ZnO crystals, thin films, hollow structures, and nanoparticles will be detailedly demonstrated. Finally, we will briefly discuss some typical applications of ZnO devices for sensors, dye-sensitized solar cells, and field emission.

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Abstract. Polycaprolactone (PCL)/calcium sulfate (CS) whisker composites have been fabricated by melt blending and coprecipitation methods respectively. Scanning electron microscope (SEM) was used to observe the microstructure of the composites. The crystallization and thermal properties were characterized by polarized optical microscope (POM), X-ray diffractometry (XRD), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). For composites prepared by melt blending method, experiment results show that average length of the whiskers is shortened. The crystallization perfection of PCL in composites is improved by adding whiskers. The flexural strength increases whereas the impact strength decreases. For composites prepared by coprecipitation method, whisker addition worsens the crystallization perfection of PCL. An improvement of 21% in flexural strength and 22% in impact strength has been achieved for the composite with 15 wt% of whiskers.

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