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Semiconducting inorganic nanowires (NWs), nanotubes and nanofibers have been extensively explored in recent years as potential building blocks for nanoscale electronics, optoelectronics, chemical/biological/ optical sensing, and energy harvesting, storage and conversion, etc. Besides the top-down approaches such as conventional lithography technologies, nanowires are commonly grown by the bottom-up approaches such as solution growth, template-guided synthesis, and vapor-liquid-solid process at a relatively low cost. Superior performance has been demonstrated using nanowires devices. However, most of the nanowire devices are limited to the demonstration of single devices, an initial step toward nanoelectronic circuits, not adequate for production on a large scale at low cost. Controlled and uniform assembly of nanowires with high scalability is still one of the major bottleneck challenges towards the materials and device integration for electronics. In this review, we aim to present recent progress toward nanowire device assembly technologies, including flow-assisted alignment, Langmuir-Blodgett assembly, bubble-blown technique, electric/magnetic-field-directed assembly, contact/roll printing, planar growth, bridging method, and electrospinning, etc. And their applications in high-performance, flexible electronics, sensors, photovoltaics, bioelectronic interfaces and nano-resonators are also presented.

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High-performance flexible electronics has attracted much attention in recent years due to potential applications in flexible displays, artificial skin, radio frequency identification, sensor tapes, etc. Various materials such as organic and inorganic semiconductor nanowires, carbon nanotubes, graphene, etc. have been explored as the active semiconductor components for flexible devices. Among them, inorganic semiconductor nanowires are considered as highly promising materials due to their relatively high carrier mobility, reliable control on geometry and electronic properties, and cost-effective synthesis processes. In this review, recent progress on the assembly of high-performance inorganic semiconductor nanowires and their applications for large-scale flexible electronics will be summarized. In particular, nanowire-based integrated circuitry and high-frequency electronics will be highlighted.

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As the demand for renewable energy resource is growing rapidly worldwide, a variety of energy materials and technologies are being developed. In this review, we aim to summarize recent developments in the state-of-the-art research on energy harvesting technologies such as thin-film Si or Ge, CdTe, GaAs, organic, hybrid, and dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) utilizing one-dimensional (1D) nanomaterials, mainly semiconductor nanowires, nanocones, nanotubes and nanofibers, which are prepared by vapor-liquid-solid method, colloidal lithography, template-guided growth, or electrospinning. Moreover, the future challenges (such as efficiency improvement and natural resource limitations) and prospects of nanostructured solar cells are proposed.

Electrospinning (e-spinning) has been extensively explored as a simple, versatile, and cost-effective method in preparing ultrathin fibers from a wide variety of materials. Electrospun (e-spun) ultrathin fibers are now widely used in tissue scaffold, wound dressing, energy harvesting and storage, environment engineering, catalyst, and textile. However, compared with conventional fiber industry, one major challenge associated with e-spinning technology is its production rate. Over the last decade, compared with conventional needle e-spinning, needleless e-spinning has emerged as the most efficient strategy for large-scale production of ultrathin fibers. For example, rolling cylinder and stationary wire as spinnerets have been commercialized successfully for significantly improving throughput of e-spun fibers. The significant advancements in needleless e-spinning approaches, including spinneret structures, productivity, and fiber quality are reviewed. In addition, some striking examples of innovative device designs toward higher throughput, as well as available industrial-scale equipment and commercial applications in the market are highlighted.