Heterometal alkoxide [YAl(OPr i ) 6 (Pr i OH)] 2 has been used as a molecular template for the controlled and selective synthesis of metastable yttrium aluminate (YAlO 3 , YAP) in nanocrystalline form. The results indicate that the strict control over the Y:Al ratio (1:1) in the precursor suppresses the formation of other Y:Al compositions (Y 3 Al 5 O 12 , YAG and Y 4 Al 2 O 9 , YAM) that are thermodynamically favoured over YAP in the conventional synthesis.

Single-step synthesis of one-dimensional Ge/SiCxNy core-shell nanocables was achieved by chemical vapor deposition of the molecular precursor [Ge{N(SiMe3)2}2]. Single crystalline Ge nanowires (diameter approximately 60 nm) embedded in uniform SiCxNy shells were obtained in high yields, whereby the growth process was not influenced by the nature of substrates. The shell material exhibited high oxidation and chemical resistance at elevated temperatures (up to 250 degrees C) resulting in the preservation of size-dependent semiconductor properties of germanium nanowires, such as intact transport of charge carriers and reduction of energy consumption, when compared to pure Ge nanowires.

Deposition of thin films through vaccum processes plays an important role in industrial processing of decorative and functional coatings. Many metal oxides have been prepared as thin films using different techniques, however obtaining compositionally uniform phases with a control over grain size and distribution remains an enduring challenge. The difficulties are largely related to complex compositions of functional oxide materials, which makes a control over kinetics of nucleation and growth processes rather difficult to control thus resulting in non-uniform material and inhomogeneous grain size distribution. Application of tailor-made molecular precursors in low pressure or plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (CVD) techniques offers a viable solution for overcoming thermodynamic impediments involved in thin film growth. In this paper molecule-based CVD of functional coatings is demonstrated for iron oxide (Fe2O3, Fe3O4), vanadium oxide (V2O5, VO2) and hafnium oxide (HfO2) phases followed by the characterization of their microstructural, compositional and functional properties which support the advantages of chemical design in simplifying deposition processes and optimizing functional behavior.

The article reviews the potential of bottom-up chemical methodologies in synthesizing nanoscopic materials, and evaluates the influence of chemistry involved in materials processing on functional and structural properties of ceramics. Application of molecular sources in preparation of nanomaterials allows an intrinsic chemical encodingl in the initial stages of molecule-to-material transformation which plays an important role in tuning the properties of nanomaterials. Salient examples describing the precursor- structure-property-application relationship have been discussed to support the above arguments.