Energetic Evolution of Single-Crystalline ZnO Nanowires and Nanotubes

We report the formation energies of wurtzite zinc oxide (w-ZnO) nanowires (NWs) and nanotubes (NTs) with faceted morphologies, and show that hexagonal NWs (h-NWs) are energetically advantageous over the NWs with rhombic (r-), squared (s-), and triangular (t-) cross sections. The formation energies of h-NWs are proportional to the inverse of wire radius, whereas those of single-crystalline NTs are proportional to the inverse of wall thickness, irrespectively to tube radius. A simple model is presented to interpret these features. (condensed matter: structure, mechanical and thermal properties)