Metal oxide nanowires as chemical sensors

It is almost a decade since the first presentation of metal oxide nanowires as chemical sensors. Significant advances have been made both in terms of preparation procedures and their integration into functional sensing devices, whilst the progress in their fundamental understanding of functional properties has been slow. In fact, the full integration still remains a challenge that has been wisely approached in different ways. In this article we review the most recent developments in bottom up and top down approaches for applications of chemical sensors.