It was noted that, at the macroscopic and micrometer scales, Kirkendall voids were generally considered to be a nuisance because they degraded the properties of the interface. However, in the nanoworld, the Kirkendall effect could be used positively; as a new fabrication route to the production of hollow nano-objects. Here, examples of hollow nanoparticles and nanotubes produced by the Kirkendall effect were summarized. The benefits of this route were compared with other general methods for nanotube fabrication. Theories of the kinetics and thermodynamics were also reviewed and were evaluated in terms of their relevance to experiment. Moreover, nanotube fabrication by solid-state reaction and non-Kirkendall type diffusion processes were covered.

Formation of Nanotubes and Hollow Nanoparticles Based on Kirkendall and Diffusion Processes - a Review. H.J.Fan, U.Gösele, M.Zacharias: Small, 2007, 3[10], 1660-71