Organic tube/rod hybrid nanofibers with adjustable segment lengths by bidirectional template wetting

Segmented nanotubes and nanorods exhibiting a variation in their composition along their long axes represent a new and exciting class of nanomaterials. It is shown that bidirectional template wetting enables the integration of functional and complex polymeric materials into segmented nanofibers. First, a template is wetted under conditions in which a solid polymeric thread with adjustable length fills a pore segment starting from one template surface. Subsequently, a second wetting step starting from the opposite template surface yields segmented nanofibers. ne exploitation of different wetting mechanisms results in the formation of tube/rod hybrid nanofibers.