US Patent 7491423 - ZnO nanostructure growth from nanoimprinted molecular monolayer

http://www.freepatentsonline.com/7491423.html

This patent from Sandia Corp. teaches a lower temperature method to form zinc oxide nanorods which can be useful to various applications including gas sensors. Claim 1 reads:

1. A method to controllably grow zinc oxide nanorods on a surface, comprising:

preparing a stamp with relief structures;

inking said stamp with a solution comprising self-assembled monolayer molecules;

contacting said stamp to a surface, thereby transferring said self-assembled monolayer molecules to said surface; and

contacting an aqueous zinc solution to said surface to grow zinc oxide nanorods on said surface.