“…The fabrication of PGe nanostructures was demonstrated using techniques such as thermal reduction of GeO 2 nanoparticles, [25] oxidative polymerization of the deltahedral [Ge 9 ] 4− cluster, [26] spark processing, [27] reduction-alloying-dealloying approach, [28] ion implantation, [29,30] growth by Molecular Beam epitaxy, [15] coupled plasma chemical vapor deposition, [31] metal-assisted chemical etching, [32] lithography and dry etching, [23] and electrochemical etching. [33][34][35] Some of the major challenges of the aforesaid techniques are the use of expensive precursors, high investment in equipment and labor, low yields, random crystallite orientation, low purity of PGe structures, and intricate procedures making them nonviable for low-cost/ large-scale production.…”