Electrical and magnetic properties of nanostructured materials: Challenges and opportunities

Interest on nanostructured materials, with their distinct electrical and magnetic characteristics, has increased because of the possibility to apply them in energy storage, electronics and spintronics. In this article, we have summarized the synthesis, characterization, and application of these materials, and discussed their challenges and opportunities. On the synthesis side, top down approaches including ball milling, and bottom up approaches such as the sol gel processes, have advantages in controlling size and morphology. Also using more advanced tools like X-ray diffraction, electron microscopy, characterization can be made of structural and functional properties. The study finds that electrical conductivity increases with temperature and has potential for thermally responsive devices; and magnetic saturation is different in several materials suggesting application in data storage and spin based technologies. Even with these advancements, problems remain regarding scalability, uniformity and integration with existing devices. This is also due to high costs in the synthesis and characterization techniques. Future exploration of synthesis methods leans to cost effective and sustainable methods and makes use of artificial intelligence for advanced analysis as well as development of multifunctional materials for emerging fields including quantum computing. The interesting findings stress the transformation ability of nanostructured materials over the important obstacles that have to be overcome in order for them to fully develop their potential for next generation technology innovations.