Question: Is there anything other than what you mentioned in your profile that nanowires can be used for? If so, what?

Sabina Hatch answered on 7 Mar 2014:

This is a great question! Nanowires have been on the scene for quite some time actually and are used in a number of things, mainly electronics from computer chips in your laptops/phones etc., to lasers, LEDs, solar cells, photodetectors (light related devices). What I also think is really interesting is that some nanowires have something called “piezoelectronic” properties. This means is that it can generate a current from an external force. So if you squish/bend the nanowire physically (like those in the picture) it can generate energy. This can be useful if you put them in places where there are a lot of vibrations like in tube trains or in very noisy places where there are lots of vibrations from sound, like in speakers. There are also biological applications for nanowires to create small cameras or pills that can be swallowed and monitor what is going on inside your body. One more worth mentioning is when nanowires are used for solar water-splitting. This is where energy from the sun is used to separate water into oxygen and hydrogen. Hydrogen can then be stored and used as a renewable energy resource. This is just the beginning, I think there are endless possibilities!