US Patent 7485279 - Controlled diameter growth of nanotubes

http://www.freepatentsonline.com/7485279.html

This patent from Yale teaches a method of tailoring the diameter of nanotubes which is important to bandgap of semiconductor nanotubes using a porous template. Claim 1 reads:

1. A method for producing a nanostructure with a specified diameter or cross-sectional area, comprising:

specifying the diameter or cross-sectional area of the nanostructure;

selecting a mesoporous siliceous framework having pores with a pore size that has a predetermined dimensional relationship with the diameter or cross-sectional area of the nanostructure, said mesoporous siliceous framework containing metal ions dispersed in substitutional sites and forming a source of catalytic sites; and

contacting, in a reactor, the mesoporous siliceous framework with a reactant at a temperature sufficient to produce the nanostructures with the specified diameter or cross-sectional area.