Fabricating polarization materials with subnanowires

Polarization materials have widespread and crucial applications in sensing, display and optical devices. Subnanowires (SNWs) with polymer-analogue properties and unique self-assembly characteristics have become a potential candidate for fabricating freestanding and flexible polarization materials. Based on the intrinsic order, high anisotropy and inherent chirality, SNWs can be easily processed into well-organized and oriented assemblies through facile methods, which is the fabrication principle of SNW polarization materials. Through the Langmuir-Blodgett (LB) technique, wet-spinning method, directional coating method and evaporation-induced self-assembly, polarization materials of pure SNWs or SNWs incorporating with quantum dot (QD), quantum rod (QR), aggregation-induced emission luminogen (AIEgen) or liquid crystal (LC) can be successfully prepared. There are both critical challenges and opportunities for SNW-based polarization materials. Until now, developing new SNWs as building blocks to extend functions, exploiting more effective assembly approaches to enhance production efficiency and polarization performance, and further realizing precise regulation of the structures remain the main issues for developing SNW-based polarization materials. We hope this review will offer crucial insights into the fabrication of SNW-based polarization materials, shedding light on the development of high-performance polarization materials for advanced optical applications.