Nano Technology
Nano Technology
Nano Technology
Engineering at the nano-level can bring about large changes in the properties of the
products. Also, the high defect concentration in nanomaterials results in novel and unique
physical, chemical and mechanical properties of this class of materials.
MICROSTRUCTURE AND DEFECTS IN NANOCRYSTALLINE MATERIALS
In order to understand the novel properties of nanostructured materials, we need to
understand the structure and its inter-relationship with properties. The microstructural
features of importance in nanomaterials include:
Grain size, distribution and morphology
• The nature of grain boundaries and interphase interfaces
• Nature of intra-grain defects
• Composition profiles across grains and interfaces
• Residual impurities from processing
Crystal lattice imperfections, such as point, linear, planar and volume defects, lead to the
structure-sensitive properties of materials. The atomic structure of nanostructured
materials
Among the surface defects, grain boundaries, twins, stacking faults and free surfaces are
the most common. Inclusions, voids and micro cracks constitute the volume defects.
Missing rows of atoms in a crystal are regions of high energy and stress due to
disruption of the atomic bonds in the plane. This provides a heavy force for dislocations
to be done at surfaces or grain boundaries to minimize the strain energy of the crystal.
In effect, this may be treated as equivalent to an attractive force applied by the surface on
dislocations in the crystal. This force is inversely proportional to the distance of separation
and hence becomes negligible for dislocations farther than a critical distance. However,
for dislocations close to the surface or grain boundary, the attractive force can be large
enough to result in applying the dislocations. Hence, for a small distance from the surface
and grain boundaries, one would not expect to find any dislocations.
Dislocations
Dislocations are, in general, stable in conventional microcrystalline materials,
though not thermodynamically stable defects. However, when the magnitude of the critical
distance becomes comparable with that of the grain size, as in nanomaterials, the stability
of dislocations is changed significantly. Hence, with decreasing grain size of nanograined
materials, dislocation stability is reduced, due to the large grain boundary area.
It is well known that dislocation mobility and interactions play a large role in
determining the deformation and plastic flow behaviour of conventional crystalline
materials. Hence, it is expected that the deformation behaviour of nanocrystalline
materials is significantly different from that of conventional microcrystalline materials.
The typical dislocation density in annealed (hardened) crystalline materials is about
10¹º/cm. As the grain size is reduced to about 10 nm, the dislocation density can reduce
by 2–3 orders or more and finally, below a critical grain size, dislocations are no longer
stable, i.e., there will be no dislocations in the nanocrystalline materials below the critical
grain size.
In contrast to whiskers (single crystals without dislocations), nanomaterials have a
large number of grain boundaries as defects. Hence, the plastic deformation behaviour of
the material cannot be governed by dislocation mechanisms. This can result in
significantly different mechanical properties in nanomaterials below the critical sizes. The
effect of decreasing dislocation density on the deformation mechanism is an area of
significant scientific curiosity.
Twins, stacking faults and voids
planar defects are often observed, even after annealing, in many faceted nanomaterials,
including nano rods and nanowires. These planar defects include twins and stacking
faults (intrinsic or extrinsic), and are usually neglected by most analytical models.
For example, many bulk metals have the face-centred cubic structure, but
nanocrystals and nanorods of the same material often exhibit various structural
modifications such as single or multiple symmetric twinning, as well as five-fold cyclic
twinning, resulting in decahedral and truncated decahedral nanostructures below critical
sides.
Twins are generally observed in crystals subjected to deformation under high strain
rate or at low temperatures. During crystallization of liquid metal, it is expected that
volume misfit strains can be easily accommodated in the liquid phase, and hence one does
not expect the formation of twins in the nucleating crystals.
Assuming that the grains have the shape of spheres or cubes, the volume fraction
of nanocrystalline materials associated with the boundaries (Vi) is estimated to be:
where δ is the average interface thickness and d is the average grain diameter. Thus,
the volume fraction of interfaces can be as much as 60% for 5 nm grains, 30% for 10 nm
grains, and about 3% for 100 nm grains, for a grain boundary thickness of 1 nm.
According to the phase mixture model, many properties of nanocrystalline materials
can be estimated by a simple rule of mixtures,
Where the subscribes cr, gb, tj and qn refer to crystallite, grain boundary, triple
lines and quadruple nodes, respectively; d and δ represent the grain size and grain
boundary thickness.
When the grain size is smaller than about 20 nm, the total volume of the
intercrystallite region (grain boundary and triple junctions) becomes significant. The
density of grain boundaries in nanocrystals is very large (~ 1019 cm–3) and there is wide
distribution of interatomic spacing at these grain boundaries.
It has been suggested that the triple junctions can be
described based on the disclination defect model.
Disclinations (as Figure) are line defects
characterised by a rotation vector ω in contrast to
the translational vector b for dislocations.
The triple junctions may be considered to form a network of disclinations.
Theoretical calculations have shown that triple junction energies are comparable to
dislocation energies, and that compensating disclinations play a significant role in the
properties of nanocrystalline metals with grain size less than about 10 nm. These triple
junctions are linear defects that play a significant role in the mechanical, thermodynamic
and kinetic properties of polycrystals. This role may be particularly important in
nanocrystalline materials, where the grain boundaries are short and contain a small
number of structural units.
Effect of Nano-dimensions on Materials Behavior
As with decrease in size the surface area increases ,so nanostructure have more
surface area for reaction . Hence reactivity increases with decrease in particle size.
Effect of Nano-dimensions on Elastic properties:
Size effects decisively influence the properties of materials at small length scales. In
the context of mechanical properties, the trend of ‘smaller is stronger’ has been well
established. This statement refers to an almost universal trend of increased strength with
decreasing size. A strong influence of size on the elastic properties has also been widely
reported, albeit without a clear trend. However, the influence of nanostructure shape on
the mechanical properties has been critically neglected.
Here, profound influence of shape and size on the elastic properties of materials on
the example of gold nanowires. The elastic properties are determined using in-situ
mechanical testing in scanning and transmission electron microscopy by means of
resonance excitation and uniaxial tension. The combination of bending and tensile load
types allows for an independent and correlative calculation of the Young's modulus. We
find both cases of softening as well as stiffening, depending critically on the interplay
between size and shape of the wires.
Effect of Nano-dimensions on Melting Point:
By considering the surface effects, the melting temperature of nanosolids
(nanoparticles, nanowires and nanofilms) has been predicted based on size-dependent
cohesive energy. It is shown that the melting temperature of free standing nanosolids
decreases with decrease in the solid size, and the melting temperature variation for
spherical nanoparticle, nanowire and nanofilm of a material in the same size is 3:2:1.
A model for size- and shape-dependent specific heat was introduced. The specific
heat of nanosolids was found to increase with decrease of the particle size for spherical,
nanowire and nanofilm shapes. Moreover, the model was applied to determine the shape
and size dependence of the melting entropy and enthalpy of nanosolids. The prediction of
the present model for specific heat, melting entropy and enthalpy was found to be in good
agreement with the molecular dynamics results and the available experimental data,
indicating that our present model at nanoscale can be applied for a wide range of surface-
related phenomena. The present model has the potential to be applied for calculation of
the thermodynamical properties of nanomaterials.
Effect of Nano-dimensions on Diffusivity
Diffusion in nanostructures has many challenging features even if the role of
structural defects (dislocations, phase- or grain-boundaries) can be neglected. This can be
the case for diffusion in amorphous materials, in epitaxial, highly ideal thin films or
multilayers, in dissolution of thin films or in kinetics of surface segregation, where
diffusion along short circuits can be ignored and ìonlyî fundamental difficulties, related to
nanoscale effects, raise. Different examples for diffusion in such materials will be given
with special emphasis on the validity limit of the continuum approach especially if the
diffusion coefficient depends strongly on composition (non-linearity).
It was shown recently by us that even for ideal systems (like Cu/Ni) this non-
linearity leads to linear shift of an originally sharp interface (instead of the parabolic
behaviour) and to sharpening of an initially diffuse interface. The sharpening takes place,
even if the effects of stresses(built in mismatch, thermal and diffusional stresses) are taken
into account. Furthermore, deviations from the parabolic law are present in phase
separating systems as well, but here the interplay of the strong composition dependence
and the phase separation tendency results in a more complex behaviour. These deviations
are typical nano effects i.e. they diminish with time; in the examples investigated here
after dissolution of several hundred atomic planes the parabolic law already fulfils.
Effect of Nano-dimensions on Grain growth characteristics
The hardness measured by the nanosize indenter under atomic indentation is
examined for the cases of nanocrystalline nickel by means of molecular dynamics (MD)
simulations. The grain size effect observed is different from the one by uniform
deformation or deep indentation. The results show that hardness can only show inverse
Hall–Petch (H-P) effect, no H-P effect is observed with the grain size up to 40 nm. Grain
boundary (GB) absorption of the localized strain is the main deformation mechanism when
the indenter size and the depth both come to nano size. The area of plastic zone generated
beneath the tip is strongly dependent on the GB density, sample with small grain size
results in larger plastic area, which leads to the softer response of hardness.
In atomic depth indentation on nanocrystalline nickel with grain size from 5
nm to 40 nm using indenters with various sizes have revealed that only inverse H-P effect
appears. Following can be concluded.
1.The inverse H-P effect could be explained by the strain contributions from GBs
and grain interior. The larger grain size results in large portion of strain in grain interior,
producing higher hardness under ultra shallow indentation. The H-P relation does not
hold even the crystal size is above the conventional transition size. Our observation
indicates the GB absorption and GB sliding comes to play an important role in the ultra
shallow contact, few generated dislocations can be easily absorbed by GBs.
2.The area of plastic zone generated beneath the tip is size dependent; larger GB
density induces larger plastic area from GB mediation, and thus causes softer response.
Effect of Nano-dimensions on enhanced solid solubility
The effects of particle size on their solubility, dissolution, and oral bioavailability
were investigated. Solubility and dissolution testing were performed in three types of
dissolution medium, and the studies demonstrated that the equilibrium solubilities of
coenzyme Q10 nanocrystals and bulk drugs were not affected by the dissolution media
but the kinetic solubilities were. Kinetic solubility curves and changes in particle size
distribution were determined and well explained by the proposed solubilization model for
the nanocrystals and bulk drugs.
The particle size effect on dissolution was clearly influenced by the diffusion
coefficients of the various dissolution media, and the dissolution velocity of coenzyme Q10
increased as particle size decreased. The bioavailability of coenzyme Q10 after oral
administration in beagle dogs was improved by reducing the particle size. For 700 nm
nanocrystals, the AUC0–48 was 4.4-fold greater than that for the coarse suspensions, but
a further decrease in particle size from 700 nm to 120 nm did not contribute to
improvement in bioavailability until the particle size was reduced to 80 nm, when
bioavailability was increased by 7.3-fold.
Magnetic properties of nanoparticles
Magnetic properties of nanoparticles are used for drug delivery, therapeutic
treatment, contrast agents for MRI imaging, bio separation, and in-vitro
diagnostics. These nano meter-sized particles are superparamagnetic, a property
resulting from their tiny size—only a few nanometers—a fraction of the width of a human
hair (nanoparticles are approximately 1/1,000 thinner than human hair).
Superparamagnetic nanoparticles are not magnetic when located in a zero magnetic field,
but they quickly become magnetized when an external magnetic field is applied. When
returned to a zero magnetic field they quickly revert to a non-magnetized state. Super para
magnetism is one of the most important properties of nanoparticles used for bio magnetic
separation.
Soft magnetic nanocrystalline alloy
Magnetic materials permeate numerous daily activities in our lives.1 They are
essential components of a diversity of products including hard drives that reliably store
information on our computers, decorative magnets that keep the shopping list attached to
the refrigerator door, electric bicycles that speed our commute to work, as well as wind
turbines for conversion of wind energy to electrical power. While permanent magnets
require materials that maintain their magnetization even under the influence of external
stimuli, soft magnetic materials can easily change their magnetization when external
conditions require it.
Permanent magnets require the magnetization vs. field hysteresis loop, M(H), to be
broad, with a large coercive field in order to allow energy to be stored in the material. In
contrast, soft magnetic materials require a narrow hysteresis loop, which implies the use
of small amounts of energy to magnetize the material. As the area of the loop is related to
energy losses during the cyclic magnetization of the material, a low coercive field implies
better energy efficiency of the final application in which the soft magnetic material is used.
As indicated in the previous section, obtaining materials in which the exchange
correlation length is much larger than the structural correlation length will lead to effective
magnetic anisotropies that are negligible when compared to the magneto crystalline
anisotropy of the bulk material. In practice, this can be achieved by controlled
crystallization of a precursor amorphous alloy.
Soft magnetic nanocrystalline alloys have been used to study the super para
magnetism of nanocrystals embedded in the matrix in order to develop models of the
dipolar interactions between superparamagnetic nanoparticle or to propose procedures
for the determination of critical exponents of multiphase magnetic systems.
Nanocrystalline alloys are among the softest magnetic materials known to science,
and different alloy families have been optimized for unique applications and operating
conditions. In addition to compositional effects that will affect intrinsic magnetic
properties, the use of different processing methods enables the optimization of extrinsic
properties such as coercivity.
The physical reason for the extremely low values of magnetic anisotropy and coercive
field can be explained using the random anisotropy model: the two characteristic length
scales of nanocrystalline alloys (grain size and magnetic correlation length) are very
different, and anisotropy cannot be detected macroscopically, even if each nanocrystal is
anisotropic.
Soft magnets are currently used in a variety of applications, ranging from energy
conversion to sensors. Remaining challenges in the development of soft magnetic
nanocrystalline alloys include the optimization of material properties for specific
applications and the enhancement of their usability by decreasing brittleness and
increasing thermal stability of the metastable phases. These goals can be achieved by a
combination of compositional changes and appropriate processing of the alloys.
Tuning the hysteresis loops by processing the materials under the simultaneous
influence of magnetic field, stress, and temperature is a promising route to broadening
the applications of nanocrystalline soft magnets. In addition, the design of exchange-
coupled hard-soft magnetic nanocomposites is an area of significant interest in which
ultrasoft nanocrystalline alloys may play a role. Moreover, the interest in soft
nanocrystalline alloys is not limited to technological applications as these materials are
also a good testing ground for developing fundamental models of multiphase magnetic
materials.
Permanent magnetic nanocrystalline materials
Recent developments in nanocrystalline rare earth–transition metal magnets are
reviewed and emphasis is placed on research work at IFW Dresden. Principal synthesis
methods include high energy ball milling, melt spinning and hydrogen assisted methods
such as reactive milling and hydrogenation-disproportionation-desorption-recombination.
These techniques are applied to NdFeB-, PrFeB- and SmCo-type systems with the aim to
produce high remanence magnets with high coercivity. Concepts of maximizing the energy
density in nanostructured magnets by either inducing a texture via anisotropic HDDR or
hot deformation or enhancing the remanence via magnetic exchange coupling are
evaluated
In recent developments in research in nanostructured permanent magnets (hard
magnetic materials) with emphasis on bottom-up approaches to fabrication of hard/soft
nanocomposite bulk magnets. Theoretical and experimental findings on the effects of soft
phase and interface conditions on interphase exchange interactions are given. Synthesis
techniques for hard magnetic nanoparticles, including chemical solution methods,
surfactant-assisted ball milling and other physical deposition methods are reviewed.
Processing and magnetic properties of warm compacted and plastically deformed bulk
magnets with nanocrystalline morphology are discussed. Prospects of producing bulk
anisotropic hard/soft nanocomposite magnets are presented.
Giant Magnetic Resonance of nano materials
The discovery of giant magnetoresistance (GMR) occurred in the late 1980s,1,2 at
the dawn of the age of the modern computing. This discovery, and its fortuitous timing,
resulted in the rapid commercial deployment of GMR-based devices in the read heads of
hard disk drives, accelerating the miniaturization of data storage and driving the digital
revolution. The immediate impact of GMR won Albert Fert and Peter Grünberg, the
discoverers of this phenomenon, the Nobel Prize in Physics. Today, giant (GMR), tunnelling
(TMR), and anisotropic (AMR) magnetoresistance are still instrumental in spin valve
devices for reading and writing data. Of further interest is that within emerging areas of
research there is tremendous promise for application of MR devices in areas requiring
sensitive magnetic field sensors, including navigation,3 biomedical sensing,4 and more
complex applications in spintronics.5 Creating new magneto resistive materials is vitally
important to developing these new areas.
Despite the overwhelming need for new materials, the vast phase space of magnetic
materials remains unexplored for MR applications. Reporting in ACS Central Science,
Zhou and Rinehart demonstrate a novel approach to the creation of magneto resistive
materials with an intriguing report of tunnelling magnetoresistance (TMR) in colloidally
prepared CoFe2O4 nanoparticles.6 Leveraging advances in nanoparticle preparation
techniques, Rinehart and co-workers demonstrate how commonly held assumptions
about the nature and limitations of nanoparticle-based magnetoresistance need to be
questioned. Chief among these assumptions are the defining importance of (1) highly
crystalline interfaces and (2) magnetically ordered materials.
TMR arises within conductive ferro- or ferrimagnetic materials at the interface
between different magnetic domains. If the magnetization vectors of adjacent magnetic
domains are aligned, then electrons can move between them relatively unimpeded. If the
domains’ magnetization vectors are oppositely aligned, then electron flow between those
domains is impeded, resulting in decreased conductivity across the interface. This
phenomenon underpins spin valve magnetic field sensors used in many different devices.
An extension of this phenomenon arises in granular solids which are composed of many
independent ferro- or ferrimagnetic single-domain particles which align upon exposure to
an external magnetic field.
PROPERTIES OF MATERIALS
The mechanical and physical properties of materials are
determined by their chemical composition and their internal structure, like grain size or
crystal structure. Mechanical properties may be greatly affected by processing due to the
rearrangement of the internal structure. Metalworking processes or heat treatment might
play a role in affecting some physical properties like density and electrical conductivity,
but those effects are usually insignificant.
Mechanical and physical properties are a key determinant for which
alloy is considered suitable for a given application when multiple alloys satisfy the service
conditions. In almost every instance, the engineer designs the part to perform within a
given range of properties. Many of the mechanical properties are interdependent – high
performance in one category may be coupled with lower performance in another. Higher-
strength, as an example, maybe achieved at the expense of lower ductility. So a broad
understanding of the product’s environment will lead to the selection of the best material
for the application.
Electrical properties of nanomaterials
The electrical properties of the nanomaterials or nanoparticles. The
properties like conductivity or resistivity are come under category of electrical properties.
These properties are observed to change at nanoscale level like optical properties. The
examples of the change in electrical properties in nanomaterials are:
1. Conductivity of a bulk or large material does not depend upon dimensions like diameter
or area of cross section and twist in the conducting wire etc. However it is found that in
case of carbon nanotubes conductivity changes with change in area of cross section.
2. It is also observed that conductivity also changes when some shear force (in simple
terms twist) is given to nanotube.
3. Conductivity of a multiwalled carbon nanotube is different than that of single nanotube
of same dimensions.
4. The carbon nanotubes can act as conductor or semiconductor in behaviour but we all
know that large carbon (graphite) is good conductor of electricity.
Dielectric properties of nanomaterials
The small grain size of nanomaterials has significant effect due to
drastic change in the physical properties of the materials used for their interconnects and
components. The issue of the dielectric property for nanomaterials is very important and
attractive for their potential applications as capacitor, memory device and sensor. The
dielectric property of nanomaterials interestingly exhibits unusual property which will give
rise to develop new materials2. The frequency behaviour of dielectric materials gives the
valuable information about the conduction phenomena of nanostructures materials with
their cappants. It is to be noted that the dielectric properties in nanomaterials have some
interesting aspects especially for metal nanoparticles in which the cappants are basically
insulating and the core is metallic. However, when they form such complex system of
nanoparticles, the basically insulating cappants would change their insulating state into
more conductive phase, due their ionic form, while those of the metal turning into
insulating phase as the particle size is reduced to that of a few atoms big(~1 nm), due to
quantum size effect. How this situation influences their overall dielectric properties is of
fundamental importance.
Optical properties of nanomaterial
Optical properties of nanomaterial such as absorption, transmission, reflection, and
light emission are dynamic and may differ significantly from properties exhibited by the
same bulk material. A wide range of optical effects may be produced for a variety of
applications by simply manipulating its shape, size, and surface functionality. This
manipulation may be achieved via different means, depending on the composition, size,
and orientation. The optical property of nanomaterial is very important in a variety of
ways. They are capable of confining their electrical properties to produce quantum effect
with the possibility of the variation in shape, size, or type having effect on the color they
produce. For example, spherical gold nanomaterial of 25-nm diameter appears green while
those in the range of 100 nm appear orange. In the same vein, spherical gold nanomaterial
of 100-nm diameter appears orange while a similar size of spherical silver nanomaterial
appears yellow.
The optical properties of nanomaterials are some of the most important, and can be
identified using various spectroscopic techniques. In small nanoclusters, reduced
dimensionality in their electronic structure has the most profound effect on the energies
of the highest occupied molecular orbital, which is a valence band, and the lowest
unoccupied molecular orbital, which is essentially the conduction band. Optical properties
such as emission and adsorption occur when electron transition occurs between these two
states. Semiconductors and many metals show large changes in optical properties as a
function of particle size. A simple example is the color of various nanoparticle solutions .
As the size increases, the color of the colloidal suspension of gold changes its color from
red to yellow.
Nanoparticles’ color is due to the surface plasmon resonance effect, which is a
resonance of the outer electron bands of the particles with light wavelengths. When light
photons excite the outer electrons of the particles, the outer electrons on the metal
particles jiggle at certain wavelengths and absorb light corresponding to that resonance.
The relationship of particle size to color is well known and is mathematically quantified by
the Mies and Rayleigh scattering theories . Properties
like photocatalysis, photoconductivity, photoemission, electroluminescence, etc., are also
affected by reduced dimensionality of nanoparticles.
Optoelectronic properties of nanomaterials
Electronic and optoelectronic devices, from computers and smart
cell phones to solar cells, have become a part of our life. Currently, devices with featured
circuits of 45 nm in size can be fabricated for commercial use. However, further
development based on traditional semiconductor is hindered by the increasing thermal
issues and the manufacturing cost. During the last decade, nanocrystals have been widely
adopted in various electronic and optoelectronic applications. They provide alternative
options in terms of ease of processing, low cost, better flexibility, and superior
electronic/optoelectronic properties. By taking advantage of solution-processing, self-
assembly, and surface engineering, nanocrystals could serve as new building blocks for
low-cost manufacturing of flexible and large area devices.
Tunable electronic structures combined with small exciton
binding energy, high luminescence efficiency, and low thermal conductivity make
nanocrystals extremely attractive for FET, memory device, solar cell, solid-state
lighting/display, photodetector, and lasing applications. Efforts to harness the
nanocrystal quantum tunability have led to the successful demonstration of many
prototype devices, raising the public awareness to the wide range of solutions that
nanotechnology can provide for an efficient energy economy. This special issue aims to
provide the readers with the latest achievements of nanocrystals in electronic and
optoelectronic applications, including the synthesis and engineering of nanocrystals
towards the applications and the corresponding device fabrication, characterization and
computer modeling.
Thermal properties of nanomaterials
The recent advances of nanotechnologies in the past decades have
resulted in the burst of promising synthesis, processing and characterization technologies,
which enables the routine production of a variety of nanomaterials with highly controlled
structures and related properties. By controlling the structures of nanomaterials at nano
scale dimensions, the properties of the nanostructures can be controlled and tailored in a
very predictable manner to meet the needs for a variety of applications. Examples of the
engineered nanostructures include metallic and non-metallic nanoparticles, nanotubes,
quantum dots and superlattices, thin films, nano composites and nano electronic and
optoelectronic devices which utilize the superior properties of the nanomaterials to fulfill
the applications.
Mechanical properties of nanomaterials
The special mechanical properties of nanoparticles allow for novel
applications in many fields, e.g., surface engineering, tribology and
nanomanufacturing/nanofabrication. In this review, the basic physics of the relevant
interfacial forces to nanoparticles and the main measuring techniques are briefly
introduced first. Then, the theories and important results of the mechanical properties
between nanoparticles or the nanoparticles acting on a surface, e.g., hardness, elastic
modulus, adhesion and friction, as well as movement laws are surveyed. Afterwards,
several of the main applications of nanoparticles as a result of their special mechanical
properties, including lubricant additives, nanoparticles in nanomanufacturing and
nanoparticle reinforced composite coating, are introduced. A brief summary and the future
outlook are also given in the final part.
Magnetic properties of nanomaterials
Interstellar space, lunar samples, and meteorites have inclusive
magnetic nanoparticles. The geomagnetic navigational aids in all migratory birds, fishes
and other animals contain magnetic nanoparticles. The most common iron storage protein
ferritin ([FeOOH]n containing magnetic nanoparticle) is present in almost every cell of
plants and animals including humans. The human brain contains over 108 magnetic
nanoparticles of magnetite–maghemite per gram of tissue. Denis G. Rancourt has written
a nice survey of magnetism of Earth, planetary and environmental nanomaterials.
Effect of size reduction on properties
Size-dependent effects in nanostructured (nanocrystalline, nanophase
or nanocomposite) materials are of great importance both for fundamental considerations
and modern technology. The effect of the nanoparticle/nano crystallite size on surface
energy, melting point, phase transformations, and phase equilibriums is considered as
applied to nanostructured materials. The role of size-dependent effects in phonon,
electronic, superconducting, magnetic, and partly mechanical properties is also analyzed
in detail. Special attention is paid to the contribution of other factors such as the grain
boundary segregations, interface structure, residual stresses and pores, non-uniform
distribution of grain sizes, and so on.
UNIT– III:
SYNTHESIS ROUTES: Bottom up approaches: Physical Vapor Deposition, Inert Gas
Condensation, Laser Ablation, Chemical Vapor Deposition, Molecular Beam Epitaxy, Sol-
gel method, Self-assembly. Top down approaches: Mechanical alloying, Nano-lithography.
Consolidation of Nano powders: Shock wave consolidation, Hot iso-static pressing and
Cold iso-static pressing, Spark plasma sintering.
***************************************************************************************************
SYNTHESIS ROUTES BOTTOM-UP APPROACH
Synthesis of nanomaterials and nanostructures are the important aspect of
nanoscience and nanotechnology. New physical properties and applications of
nanomaterials are only possible when nanostructured materials are made available with
desired size, shape, morphology, crystal structure and chemical composition. These notes
provide a clear and concise understanding on Top-down and Bottom-up approaches for
synthesis of nanomaterials.
Nanostructure materials have attracted a great deal of attention because their
physical, chemical, electronic and magnetic properties show dramatic change from higher
dimensional counterparts and depend on their shape and size. Many techniques have
been developed to synthesize and fabricate nanostructure materials with controlled shape,
size, dimensionality and structure. The performance of materials depends on their
properties. The properties in tern depend on the atomic structure, composition,
microstructure, defects and interfaces which are controlled by thermodynamics and
kinetics of the synthesis.
Classification of Techniques for synthesis of Nanomaterials There are two general
approaches for the synthesis of nanomaterials Top- down approach, Bottom–up approach.
Top-down approach Top-down approach involves the breaking down of the bulk
material into nanosized structures or particles. Top-down synthesis techniques are
extension of those that have been used for producing micron sized particles. Top-down
approaches are inherently simpler and depend either on removal or division of bulk
material or on miniaturization of bulk fabrication processes to produce the desired
structure with appropriate properties. The biggest problem with the top-down approach is
the imperfection of surface structure. For example, nanowires made by lithography are not
smooth and may contain a lot of impurities and structural defects on its surface. Examples
of such techniques are high-energy wet ball milling, electron beam lithography, atomic
force manipulation, gas-phase condensation, aerosol spray, etc.
Bottom-up approach The alternative approach, which has the potential of creating
less waste and hence the more economical, is the ‘bottom- up’. Bottom-up approach refers
to the build up of a material from the bottom: atom-by-atom, molecule-by-molecule, or
cluster-by cluster. Many of these techniques are still under development or are just
beginning to be used for commercial production of nanopowders. Oraganometallic
chemical route, revere-micelle route, sol-gel synthesis, colloidal precipitation,
hydrothermal synthesis, template assisted sol-gel, electrodeposition etc, are some of the
well- known bottom–up techniques reported for the preparation of luminescent
nanoparticals.
PHYSICAL VAPOR DEPOSITION
Evaporation technique
Thermal deposition inside a vacuum chamber where the material, usually in a boat
is heated typically to its melting point and the substrate to be deposited on is positioned
facing the source. A high current flowing through the boat heats it up and causes
evaporation. A crystal monitor is mounted close to the substrate, which provides an
estimate of how much and how fast the material is being deposited.
Limitations-
High temperature process ( 500-1200oC)
Ultra high vacuum(10-6 torr)
High cost
ELECTRON-BEAM EVAPORATION
This technique is based in the heat produced by high energy electron beam bombardment
on the material to be deposited. A high dc voltage is applied to a tungsten filament that
causes electrons to be emitted out. These emitted electrons are accelerated to excites the
target solid and produces vapors, which travels to the substrate. As they reach the surface,
they condense and form a thin film coating.
Used for depositing materials with high melting point (W, Ta, C, etc.)
As electrons can be focalized, it is possible to obtain a very localized heating on the material
to evaporate, with a high density of evaporation power (several kW)
In this method, a solid metal rod is ablated using a Nd:YAG laser (high Power) in a chamber
containing Ar gas. In the plasma that results from the laser ablation, metal atoms are
evaporated and condensed on water cooled substrate. Later the substrate is heated to
remove the impurities. NPs of Iron, gold, palladium, and compounds of sulphide are
pepared by this method.
Advantage: capable of High deposition rate of 2-3 g/min
Disadvantage:High temperature method
low quality of material deposited
CHEMICAL VAPOR DEPOSITION
Chemical vapor Deposition: Bottom-Up approach Chemical vapour deposition (CVD) is a
chemical process used to produce high-purity, highperformance solid materials. The
process is often used in the semiconductor industry to produce thin films. In a typical
CVD process, the wafer (substrate) is exposed to one or more volatile precursors, which
react and/or decompose on the substrate surface to produce the desired deposit. Plasma
Enhanced CVD- • RF-plasma enhanced CVD • Microwave Plasma Enhanced CVD The
energy source (RF/ Microwave power) is intended to generate a plasma in which the gases
are broken down to form reaction species.
SPUTTERING
Sputter deposition are methods of depositing thin films by sputtering. They involve ejecting
material from a “target” that is a source onto a “substrate” such as a silicon wafer. Atoms
of Target (source) materials are ejected or sputtered by high energy ion bombardment of
high-energy noble gas atoms, commonly Argon, produced by ahigh voltage DC or RF glow
discharge. These ejected sputtered atoms (due to momentum transfer) form a thin film
coating after condensing on substrate kept as anodeplate. Sputtered atoms ejected from
the target have a wide energy distribution, typically up to tens of eV.
Advantages
Non-thermal process, no heating reqd.
low vacuum(10-3 torr) is needed.
Limitations-
controlling Deposition parameters is difficult
High cost
SOL-GEL METHOD
The sol-gel process may be described as: ”Formation of an oxide network through
polycondensation reactions of a molecular precursor in a liquid.” A sol is a stable
dispersion of colloidal particles or polymers in a solvent. The particles may be amorphous
or crystalline. An aerosol is particles in a gas phase, while a sol is particles in a liquid, A
gel consists of a three dimensional continuous network, which encloses a liquid phase, In
a colloidal gel, the network is built from agglomeration of colloidal particles. In a polymer
gel the particles have a polymeric sub-structure made by aggregates of sub-colloidal
particles. Generally, the sol particles may interact by van der Waals forces or hydrogen
bonds. A gel may also be formed from linking polymer chains. In most gel systems used
for materials synthesis, the interactions are of a covalent nature and the gel process is
irreversible. The gelation process may be reversible if other interactions are involved.
The idea behind sol-gel synthesis is to “dissolve” the compound in a liquid in order
to bring it back as a solid in a controlled manner. Multi component compounds may be
prepared with a controlled stoichiometry by mixing sols of different compounds. The sol-
gel method prevents the problems with co-precipitation, which may be inhomogeneous, be
a gelation reaction. Enables mixing at an atomic level. Results in small particles, which
are easily sinterable. The sol-gel method was developed in the 1960s mainly due to the
need of new synthesis methods in the nuclear industry. A method was needed where dust
was reduced (compared to the ceramic method) and which needed a lower sintering
temperature. In addition, it should be possible to do the synthesis by remote control. One
of the well known examples of a sol-gel system often cited is quick clay. Clay may form a
sol (quick clay) if it is washed sufficiently to remove the counter ions. Quick clay may be
gelled if enough counter ions are added, so that the colloidal particles aggregate.
(exfoliation/restacking may be involved) Sol-gel synthesis may be used to prepare
materials with a variety of shapes, such as porous structures, thin fibers, dense powders
and thin films. If the gel is dried by evaporation, then the capillary forces will result in
shrinkage, the gel network will collapse, and a xerogel is formed. If drying is performed
under supercritical conditions, the network structure may be retained and a gel with large
pores may be formed. This is called an aerogel, and the density will be very low. A record
is < 0.005 g/cm3.
SELF-ASSEMBLY
Nanoparticles are classified as having at least one of three dimensions be in the
range of 1-100 nm. The small size of nanoparticles allows them to have unique
characteristics which may not be possible on the macro-scale. Self-assembly is the
spontaneous organization of smaller subunits to form larger, well-organized patterns. For
nanoparticles, this spontaneous assembly is a consequence of interactions between the
particles aimed at achieving a thermodynamic equilibrium and reducing the system’s free
energy. The thermodynamics definition of self-assembly was introduced by Nicholas A.
Kotov. He describes self-assembly as a process where components of the system acquire
non-random spatial distribution with respect to each other and the boundaries of the
system. This definition allows one to account for mass and energy fluxes taking place in
the self-assembly processes.
This process occurs at all size scales, in the form of either static or dynamic self-
assembly. Static self-assembly utilizes interactions amongst the nano-particles to achieve
a free-energy minimum. In solutions, it is an outcome of random motion of molecules and
the affinity of their binding sites for one another. A dynamic system is forced to not reach
equilibrium by supplying the system with a continuous, external source of energy to
balance attractive and repulsive forces. Magnetic fields, electric fields, ultrasound fields,
light fields, etc. have all been used as external energy sources to program robot swarms at
small scales. Static self-assembly is significantly slower compared to dynamic self-
assembly as it depends on the random chemical interactions between particles.
HYDROTHERMAL GROWTH
Hydrothermal synthesis is one of the most commonly used methods for
preparation of nanomaterials. It is basically a solution reaction-based approach. In
hydrothermal synthesis, the formation of nanomaterials can happen in a wide temperature
range from room temperature to very high temperatures. To control the morphology of the
materials to be prepared, either low-pressure or high-pressure conditions can be used
depending on the vapor pressure of the main composition in the reaction. Many types of
nanomaterials have been successfully synthesized by the use of this approach. There are
significant advantages of hydrothermal synthesis method over others.
Hydrothermal synthesis can generate nanomaterials which are not stable at
elevated temperatures. Nanomaterials with high vapor pressures can be produced by the
hydrothermal method with minimum loss of materials. The compositions of nanomaterials
to be synthesized can be well controlled in hydrothermal synthesis through liquid phase
or multiphase chemical reactions. This special issue serves as a forum presenting the
recent research results of hydrothermal synthesis of nanomaterials. Several papers on
hydrothermal synthesis of nanoparticles, nanorods, nanotubes, hollow nanospheres, and
graphene nanosheets have been published in this special issue. New synthesis methods,
for example, microwave-assisted hydrothermal synthesis and template-free self-
assembling catalytic synthesis, etc.
THIN-FILM GROWTH OF NANO MATERIALS
A thin film is a layer of material ranging from fractions of a nanometer (monolayer)
to several micrometers in thickness. The controlled synthesis of materials as thin films (a
process referred to as deposition) is a fundamental step in many applications. A familiar
example is the household mirror, which typically has a thin metal coating on the back of
a sheet of glass to form a reflective interface. The process of silvering was once commonly
used to produce mirrors, while more recently the metal layer is deposited using techniques
such as sputtering. Advances in thin film deposition techniques during the 20th century
have enabled a wide range of technological breakthroughs in areas such as magnetic
recording media, electronic semiconductor devices, Integrated passive devices, LEDs,
optical coatings (such as antireflective coatings), hard coatings on cutting tools, and for
both energy generation (e.g. thin-film solar cells) and storage (thin-film batteries). It is also
being applied to pharmaceuticals, via thin-film drug delivery. A stack of thin films is called
a multilayer.
In addition to their applied interest, thin films play an important role in the
development and study of materials with new and unique properties. Examples include
multiferroic materials, \and superlattices that allow the study of quantum phenomena.
TOP-DOWN APPROACH OF NANO MATERIALS
Top-down approach Top-down approach involves the breaking down of the bulk
material into nanosized structures or particles. Top-down synthesis techniques are
extension of those that have been used for producing micron sized particles. Top-down
approaches are inherently simpler and depend either on removal or division of bulk
material or on miniaturization of bulk fabrication processes to produce the desired
structure with appropriate properties.
BALL MILLING
Ball milling is an economic and facile technique to produce nanosized materials.
It is a top-down approach of nanoparticle synthesis which includes mechanical breakdown
of large substances into smaller one. It is used in producing metallic as well as ceramic
nanomaterials. In this module, the readers will learn the working principle and
applications of Ball-mill technique in nanomaterials synthesis. The basic principle of a ball
mill is very ancient. However, the machine itself could be produced only after the industrial
revolution. Typically, ball mill is a grinder and is often employed blend materials by
grinding/crushing them, for potential applications in mineral dressing processes, paints,
pyrotechnics, ceramics as well as selective laser sintering.
The working of a ball mill is based on impact and attrition: the impact, caused by
the balls dropping from top of the shell, breaks down the particles, thereby resulting in
reduction in size. Ball mill includes a hollow cylindrical shell which is rotated about its
own axis. The axis of the shell is either horizontal or slightly inclined, thereby making a
small angle with the horizontal. The shell is partially filled with balls. The balls form the
grinding medium of the ball mill. These balls are usually made up of steel, ceramic, flint
pebbles, or hard rubber. The inner wall of the shell is generally contains a coating of
abrasion resistant material, e.g., manganese steel or rubber. Rubber lined (or coated) ball
mills cause less wear to the products. The mill is nearly equal in length and diameter.
In continuously operated mills, precursor material is fed from left side at an angle
of 60°, and the end product is removed from right side at 30°. When the shell is rotated,
the balls lift upwards on the rising side of the mill. After reaching near the top of the shell,
the balls fall down, causing an impact on the particles trapped between these balls and
the shell surface. This impact reduced the size of these particles.
a. It consists of stainless steel chamber and several small iron, silicon carbide, hardened
steel, or tungsten carbide balls to rotate inside the mill.
b. Powder of material is put in the steel chamber. The powder is reduced to nanosize using
ball mill. A magnet is positioned outside the chamber to apply pulling force on the material.
This force raises milling energy as the milling chamber or container rotates the metallic
balls.
c. The ball and material - mass ratio is generally kept at 2:1.
d. These metallic balls impart very high energy to the powder resulting in crushing of the
powder. The ball milling process generally takes 100 to 150 hrs to give uniformly crushed
fine powder.
e. It is mechanical processing technique; consequently the structural as well as chemical
changes are caused by the mechanical energy.
a. Initial Stage: Initially, compressive forces from collisions of balls flatten the powder
particles. Micro-forging causes variations in the shapes of individual particles, or cluster
of particles, owing to repeated impact of high energy (kinetic energy) milling balls. In spite
of this, such deformations of the powder cause do not effectively change the mass.
b. Intermediate stage: In this stage, considerable variations occur in contrast to the first
stage. Powders experience considerable cold welding. The fine blending of the constituents
of powder reduces the diffusion distance to few microns. The dominating processes at this
stage are fracturing and cold welding. Though dissolution may occur to a certain extent,
yet the alloyed powder does not have homogeneous chemical composition.
c. Final stage: This stage exhibits marked refinement and size reduction.
Microstructurally, particles appear more homogenous at this stage. This stage marks the
formation of true alloys.
d. Completion stage: The structure of the powder particles is tremendously deformed and
is metastable. The lamellae are not resolvable via optical microscope. Alloying beyond this
stage does not cause any improvement in the constituents’ distribution. True alloy is
formed which has same composition as the precursor.
MICROFABRICATION
Microfabrication is the process of fabricating miniature structures
of micrometre scales and smaller. Historically, the earliest microfabrication processes
were used for integrated circuit fabrication, also known as "semiconductor
manufacturing" or "semiconductor device fabrication". In the last two
decades microelectromechanical systems (MEMS), microsystems (European
usage), micromachines (Japanese terminology) and their subfields, microfluidics/lab-on-
a-chip, optical MEMS (also called MOEMS), RF MEMS, Power MEMS, BioMEMS and their
extension into nanoscale (for example NEMS, for nano electro mechanical systems) have
re-used, adapted or extended microfabrication methods.
Flat-panel displays and solar cells are also using similar techniques.
Miniaturization of various devices presents challenges in many areas of science and
engineering: physics, chemistry, materials science, computer science, ultra-precision
engineering, fabrication processes, and equipment design. It is also giving rise to various
kinds of interdisciplinary research.[1] The major concepts and principles of
microfabrication are microlithography, doping, thin films, etching, bonding,
and polishing.
icrofabrication is actually a collection of technologies which are utilized in making
microdevices. Some of them have very old origins, not connected to manufacturing,
like lithography or etching. Polishing was borrowed from optics manufacturing, and many
of the vacuum techniques come from 19th century physics research. Electroplating is also
a 19th-century technique adapted to produce micrometre scale structures, as are
various stamping and embossing techniques.
To fabricate a microdevice, many processes must be performed, one after the other,
many times repeatedly. These processes typically include depositing a film, patterning the
film with the desired micro features, and removing (or etching) portions of the film. Thin
film metrology is used typically during each of these individual process steps, to ensure
the film structure has the desired characteristics in terms of thickness (t), refractive index
(n) and extinction coefficient (k), for suitable device behavior. For example, in memory
chip fabrication there are some 30 lithography steps, 10 oxidation steps, 20 etching steps,
10 doping steps, and many others are performed. The complexity of microfabrication
processes can be described by their mask count. This is the number of
different pattern layers that constitute the final device. Modern microprocessors are made
with 30 masks while a few masks suffice for a microfluidic device or a laser diode.
Microfabrication resembles multiple exposure photography, with many patterns aligned to
each other to create the final structure.
NANOLITHOGRAPHY
Nanolithography is the branch of nanotechnology concerned with the study and
application of the nanofabrication of nanometer-scale structures, meaning nanopatterning
with at least one lateral dimension between the size of an individual atom and
approximately 100 nm. The term nanolithography is derived from the Greek words
“nanos”, meaning dwarf; “lithos”, meaning rock or stone; and “graphein” meaning to write.
Therefore the literal translation is "tiny writing on stone", however nowadays one
understands something different whenever this term is associated with nanotechnology.
Nanolithography is used e.g. during the nano‐ fabrication of leading-edge semiconductor
integrated circuits (nanocircuitry), for nanoelec‐ tromechanical systems (NEMS) or for
almost any other fundamental application across various scientific disciplines
Nanolithography is a powerful and versatile tool to fabricate nanoscale patterns.
Nanolithography can be used to construct well-defined 2D metal arrays on substrates with
fine controlled shape, size, and spacing through a multistep process. Electron beam
lithography (EBL) is a branch of nanolithography that is widely used to fabricate metal
nanostructures. The fabrication of metal nanostructures is carried out with scaling down
of a predeposited parent layer with a focused electron beam [67,68]. The gold nanohole
and/or nanodisk arrays with controlled spacing and size can be obtained with the use of
this technique.
The size-dependent surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) effect can be
studied by varying the diameter and the distance between the holes. In this, the nanohole
array plays a crucial role and acts as an excellent model to study the dimension-dependent
SERS effect. Nanosphere lithography (NSL) technique is another typical example of
nanolithography. This technique contains a multistep process developed by Van Duyne et
al. to produce surface-confined nanostructure arrays. In NSL the two-dimensional
nanostructures are deposited by using a monolayer self-assembly of polystyrene spheres
with controlled diameter as a mask. With this approach, ordered arrays of triangular Cu,
Ag, and Al nanocrystals have been prepared successfully. Another example of
nanolithography in addition to EBL and NSL are nanoimprint lithography and hole-mask
lithography, which are also beneficial tools for constructing two-dimensional metal
nanostructures.
This technology can be suitable to use in nanofabrication of various
semiconducting Integrated Circuits (ICs), NEMS and for various applications in research.
The modification in semicon‐ ductor chips at the nano-scale (in the range of 10-9 meter)
is also possible. This method is contrasting to various existing nanolithographic
techniques like Photolithography (Venugo‐ pal, 2011), Nanoimprint lithography (NIL),
Scanning Probe Lithography (SPL), Atomic Force Microscope (AFM) nanolithography,
Extreme Ultraviolet Lithography (EUVL) and X-ray Lithography.
One of the advantages of STM is the possibility to use most kinds of sample
materials, the only criterion being that the sample has to be conductive. STM has
been used for determination of the surface structure of metals and
semiconductors as well as for studies of nucleation and growth of thin films in
vacuum. Other applications include studies of biological materials and in situ
studies of electrochemical reactions. There are applications of the STM other than
pure topographical measurements, e.g. tunneling spectroscopy where different
electronic states of the surface may be mapped with very high spatial resolution.
Also emission of secondary particles such as electrons and photons induced by
electrons from the tunneling tip have been studied with high spatial resolution
using STM. Since the invention of the STM new exciting scanning probe
techniques using different probe-sample interactions to control the separation
have appeared. The most notable is the atomic force microscope (AFM) where the
force between the tip and the sample is used in the same manner as the tunneling
current in the STM. The resolution of the AFM is almost in the range of the STM
and the sample materials do not have to be conductive.
Mechanical considerations Due to the extremely small distances involved,
the mechanical rigidity and vibration isolation are of utmost importance. From the
first comparably voluminous STMs which required several stages of vibration
isolation, the development has gone towards small and rigid microscopes with
little or no vibration isolation at all. It has even been possible to fabricate working
miniature STMs on silicon wafers.
Tip The performance of the STM is much dependent on the condition of the
tip as it determines the resolution of the instrument. The tip consists of a
mechanically or electro-chemically sharpened wire of e.g. tungsten, gold, or
platinum. Ideally it has a mono atomic point, but the apex continuously
rearranges and sample atoms adsorb during operation. Since the image actually
is a convolution of the tip and the sample, the symmetry of the tip is reflected in
the recorded image and several different tips must be used for a given sample
before conclusions can be drawn about the surface structure. Sometimes
tunneling current flows simultaneously from several parts of the tip and the
resulting image is a superposition of more than one image. The problem with a
blunt, double tip is illustrated, where it can be seen that scanning the single
protrusion on the sample with the double tip results in an image showing two
“bumps”. When scanning with the sharp tip, the only distortion of the image is a
slight broadening of the “bump”.
SCANNING PROBE MICROSCOPY or ATOMIC FORCE MICROSCOPY (AFM)
Whatever you call it, the use of nanotechnology in the field of medicine could
revolutionize the way we detect and treat damage to the human body and disease in the
future, and many techniques only imagined a few years ago are making remarkable
progress towards becoming realities. Nanotechnology in Medicine Application: Drug
Delivery. One application of nanotechnology in medicine currently being developed
involves employing nanoparticles to deliver drugs, heat, light or other substances to
specific types of cells (such as cancer cells). Particles are engineered so that they are
attracted to diseased cells, which allows direct treatment of those cells. This technique
reduces damage to healthy cells in the body and allows for earlier detection of disease.
For example researchers at North Carolina State University are developing a method
to deliver cardiac stem cells to damaged heart tissue. They attach nanovesicles that are
attracted to an injury to the stem cells to increase the amount of stem cells delivered to
an injured tissue. Read more about nanomedicine in drug delivery. Nanotechnology in
Medicine Application: Diagnostic Techniques Researchers John Hopkins University are
using nanoimprint lithography to manufacture a sensor that can detect covid-19 and other
viruses that can be used with hand held testing device for quick results.
Researchers at Worcester Polytechnic Institute are using antibodies attached to
carbon nanotubes in chips to detect cancer cells in the blood stream. The researchers
believe this method could be used in simple lab tests that could provide early detection of
cancer cells in the bloodstream. A test for early detection of kidney damage is being
developed. The method uses gold nanorods functionalized to attach to the type of protein
generated by damaged kidneys. When protein accumulates on the nanorod the colour of
the nanorod shifts. The test is designed to be done quickly and inexpensively for early
detection of a problem.
Nanotechnology in Medicine Application: Antibacterial Treatments Researchers at
the University of Houston are developing a technique to kill bacteria using gold
nanoparticles and infrared light. This method may lead to improved cleaning of
instruments in hospital settings. Researchers at the University of Colorado Boulder are
investigating the use of quantum dots to treat antibiotic resistant infections.
Nanotechnology in Medicine Application: Wound Treatment Researchers at the University
of Wisconsin have demonstrated a bandage that applies electrical pulses to a wound using
electricity produced by nanogenerators worn by the patient.
For trauma patients with internal bleeding another way to reduce the blood loss is
needed. Researchers at Chase Western Reserve University are developing polymer
nanoparticles that act as synthetic platelets. Lab tests have shown that injection of these
synthetic platelets significantly reduces blood loss. Read more about nanomedicine wound
treatments. Nanotechnology in Medicine Application: Cell Repair Nanorobots could
actually be programmed to repair specific diseased cells, functioning in a similar way to
antibodies in our natural healing processes. Read about design analysis for one such cell
repair nanorobot in this article: The Ideal Gene Delivery Vector: Chromalloy, Cell Repair
Nanorobots for Chromosome Repair Therapy
Applications of nanotechnology in textile industry
Nanotechnology is a growing interdisciplinary technology often seen as a new
industrial revolution. Nanotechnology (NT) deals with materials 1 to 100 nm in length. The
fundamentals of nanotechnology lie in the fact that the properties of materials drastically
change when their dimensions are reduced to nanometre scale. Nowadays also the textile
industry has discovered the possibilities of nanotechnology. So, we can define
nanotechnology in textile as the understanding, manipulation, and control of matter at
the above-stated length, such that the physical, chemical, and biological properties of the
materials (individual atoms, molecules, and bulk matter) can be engineered, synthesized,
and altered to develop the next generation of improved materials, devices, structures, and
systems. It is used to develop desired textile characteristics, such as high tensile strength,
unique surface structure, soft hand, durability, water repellence, fire retardancy,
antimicrobial properties, and the like.
Modern Application of Nanotechnology in Textile Industry:
Nanotechnology is increasingly attracting worldwide attention because it is widely
perceived as offering huge potential in a wide range of end uses. The unique and new
properties of nano materials have attracted not only scientists and researchers but also
businesses, due to their huge economical potential.
Nanotechnology also has real commercial potential for the textile industry. This is
mainly due to the fact that conventional methods used to impart different properties to
fabrics often do not lead to permanent effects, and will lose their functions after laundering
or wearing. Nanotechnology can provide high durability for fabrics, because nano-particles
have a large surface area-to-volume ratio and high surface energy, thus presenting better
affinity for fabrics and leading to an increase in durability of the function. In addition, a
coating of nano-particles on fabrics will not affect their breath ability or hand feel.
Applications of nanotechnology in paints industry
Nanomaterials are thought to improve these functionalities, i.e. water/dirt repellent
“easy to clean”, UV-protection, antimicrobial resistance, scratch resistance or extending
the paints’ lifespan. Nanomaterials in paints Nanomaterials are expected to improve the
existing properties of paints due to their specific structural characteristics such as size,
shape and greater surface area.
Currently, the most relevant nanomaterials for the paint industry are nanoscale
titanium dioxide and silicon dioxide; but silver, zinc oxide, aluminium oxide, cerium
dioxide, copper oxide, and magnesium oxide are also under investigation. The table
provides an overview of potential functional benefits by integrating nanomaterials into the
paints. Depending on the type of paint and the desired functionality, nanomaterials can
be integrated as free powders, as stabilised particles in a suspension/dispersion or
incorporated into master batches or granulate resulting in the nanomaterial being firmly
embedded in the paint matrix.
There also exist paints or products that have a nanostructured surface, contain
nano porous materials or temporarily contain nanostructured particles (e.g. produced
from water glass during the drying of the paint). As these end products do not contain any
nanomaterial, they are considered to pose no nano-specific risk to humans or the
environment. Effects of nanomaterials in paints Nano titanium dioxide is used in paint to
exploit two of its excellent properties: (i) photocatalytic activity and (ii) UV-protection. The
combination of the photocatalytic effect, along with hydrophilic properties results in a
paints’ self-cleaning effect. The surface will no longer need regular cleaning as the water
and dirt will no longer stick on it. However, studies have shown that the use of
photocatalytic nano titanium dioxide in organic paints leads to the degradation of the
binder by UV irradiation. For this reason, the rutile type is preferred in organic facade
coatings for UV-protection.
The addition of nano silicon dioxide to paints can improve the macro- and micro-
hardness, abrasion, scratch and weather resistance. Adding nano silicon dioxide to
polymeric resins creates paints with excellent abrasion properties. However, it decreases
the elasticity of the paints, which is needed to resist the swelling and shrinking associated
with temperature and humidity changes. Surfaces coated with nano silver containing
paint provide excellent antimicrobial properties against bacteria and human pathogens.
However, in contrast to indoor paint, the bactericidal efficiency of nano silver in paints for
outdoor application seems to be insufficient due to the exposure to external conditions.
Studies have shown that nano silver as well as nano titanium dioxide, are not able to fully
prevent microbial and algal growth on test substrates in addition to being a poor deterrent
from possible fungal colonisation.
Applications of nanotechnology in energy industry
Energy is of great importance in human life because of its benefits as the main
resource for human activity. According to International Energy Agency (IEA), energy
demands are expected to continue increasing until 2030. Because energy demand will
never decrease, it is necessary to develop modern technology, such as nano based
technology, in order to obtain a more effective and efficient process to produce more
energy. The application of nano technology or nano material in the field of energy, which
involves lithium-ion battery, fuel cell, light emitting diode (LED), ultra-capacitor, and solar
cell (including Grätzel cell), is a hot topic in many scientific researches. Unfortunately, its
current development is hampered by the expensive cost of production compared to
conventional technologies. Therefore, priority should be given to nano technology in the
energy sector order to obtain higher efficiency, lower production cost, and easier in its
application.
Applications of nanotechnology in defence
Currently, most militaries of the advanced countries are utilizing nanotechnology in
research, projects, and applications. Nanotechnology can provide the army with stronger
and lighter ware, supports nanomedicines and bandages for wound healing, and stops
bleeding, silver-packed foods as antibacterial and antiviral, gas and biological sensing.
Despite this progress and improvement in nanotechnology, this technology has certain
risks when manufactured or even when applied and disposed of. In this chapter, a
comprehensive view of potential military applications of nanotechnology has been
addressed. It also highlighted the potential applications of the cutting-edge developments
of nanotechnology in defence. Protection armours, invisibility ware, fuel economy, lighter
and stronger craft/ships/vehicles manufacturing, and radar undetected planes and
submarines by electromagnetic camouflage are the most focused applications in
nanotechnology to developed Marin, Air force, and even battlefield army.
Applications of nanotechnology in space
Nanotechnology may hold the key to making space flight more practical.
Advancements in nanomaterials make lightweight solar sails and a cable for the space
elevator possible. By significantly reducing the amount of rocket fuel required, these
advances could lower the cost of reaching orbit and traveling in space. In addition, new
materials combined with Nanosensors and nanorobots could improve the performance of
spaceships, spacesuits, and the equipment used to explore planets and moons, making
nanotechnology an important part of the ‘final frontier.’ High-strength low-weight
composites, advanced electronics, and screens with low power consumption, a range of
physical sensors, multipurpose materials with embedded sensors, large surface materials,
and modern air purification filters and membranes are among the aerospace applications
for nanotechnology.
Concerns of Nanotechnology
Although most of the press coverage has been on the dangers of 'nano-goo' such as
self-replicating particles that get out of control, or 'nano-robots', the real risks are much
more simple, and real. The miniature size of nanomaterials and the way their surfaces are
modified to increase the ease with which they can interact with biological systems - the
very characteristics that make them attractive for applications in medicine and industry -
makes nanomaterials potentially damaging for humans and the environment.
Nanoparticles are likely to be dangerous for three main reasons:
Nanoparticles may damage the lungs. We know that 'ultra fine' particles from diesel
machines, power plants and incinerators can cause considerable damage to human lungs.
This is both because of their size (as they can get deep into the lungs) and also because
they carry other chemicals including metals and hydrocarbons in with them.
Nanoparticles can get into the body through the skin, lungs and digestive system. This
may help create 'free radicals' which can cause cell damage and damage to the DNA. There
is also concern that once nanoparticles are in the bloodstream they will be able to cross
the blood-brain barrier.
The human body has developed a tolerance to most naturally occurring elements
and molecules that it has contact with. It has no natural immunity to new substances and
is more likely to find them toxic. The danger of contact with nanoparticles is not just
speculation. As more research is undertaken, concerns increase. Here are some of the
recent findings: some nanoparticles cause lung damage in rats. Several studies have
shown that carbon nanotubes, which are similar in shape to asbestos fibres, cause
mesothelioma in the lungs of rats other nanoparticles have been shown to lead to brain
damage in fish and dogs German study found clear evidence that if discrete nanometre
diameter particles were deposited in the nasal region (in rodents in this case), they
completely circumvented the blood/brain barrier, and travelled up the olfactory nerves
straight into the brain inhaled carbon nanotubes can suppress the immune system by
affecting the function of T cells, a type of white blood cell that organises the immune
system to fight infections.
Challenges of Nanotechnology.
The most tremendous challenges in Nanotechnology are materials and properties
about Nanoscale. At present, nanotechnology has been widely applied to the area of drug
development. Some Nanoparticles could be toxic. The Nanoparticles are small, which will
cross the blood-brain barrier, a membrane that protects the brain from poisonous
chemicals in the bloodstream. It has 3D structures requires to design and manufacturing
process to achieve a consistent product. Nanosized products like transistors and
nanowires. Rapid DNA sequencing, Single-stranded genomic DNA or RNA, Organic and
Inorganic Nano composites, Safety and Risk Assessment of Nanotechnology