RNS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY

DEPARTMENT OF CHEMISTRY
Channasandra, Bengaluru - 560 098

APPLIED CHEMISTRY (BCHEE202)

Nanomaterials and
Display systems
Module-4
NANOMATERIALS AND DISPLAY SYSTEMS RNSIT-2024

NANOMATERIALS AND DISPLAY SYSTEMS

Syllabus
Nanomaterials: Introduction, size dependent properties of nanomaterials (Surface area, Catalytic,
Conducting), preparation of nanomaterials by sol-gel and co-precipitation method with example.
Introduction, properties and applications- nanofibers, nano-photonics, nano-sensors.
Display systems: Liquid crystals - Introduction, classification, properties and application in
Liquid Crystal Displays (LCD’s). properties and application in Organic light emitting diodes
(OLED’s), Quantum Light emitting diodes (QLED’s).
Perovskite materials: Introduction, properties and applications in optoelectronic devices

NANOMATERIALS
Introduction:
Nano material refers to a material with at least one of its dimensions (length, width or breadth) in
nanoscale. i.e., 10-9m, the size varies from 1-100nm. A nanometer is one millionth of a millimeter
-approximately 100,000 times smaller than the diameter of a human hair.
Properties of a bulk material can be altered by altering their structure and composition. For
example, melting point & colour of gold remains same whether the size of gold is 1 gram or 1 kg.
But materials in the nano scale exhibit different optical, magnetic, electrical and other properties.
These properties have the potential for great effects in electronics, medicine and other fields.

Size dependent properties of nanomaterials

1. Surface area:
Some properties like catalytic activity, gas adsorption and chemical reactivity depend on the
surface area of the material. When bulk material is subdivided into nanomaterial, the total volume
of the material remains same, but the collective surface area is greatly increased. Due to increased
surface area, the material becomes catalytically active, chemically reactive and good gas
adsorption property.

Ex: Bulk Gold - Catalytically inactive

Nano Gold – Catalytically active
2. Catalytic property:
The catalytic property of material depends on particle size. If the size of the particle reduces from
bulk to nanoscale, surface to volume ratio increases drastically, that leads to high catalytic activity
of the same material.

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Ex: Bulk Gold - Catalytically inactive

Nano Gold – Catalytically active
3. Conducting properties:
In metals electronic bands are overlapping, hence they act as conductor. But in nano size metal,
very few atoms or molecules will be present, so electronic bands become separate so they act as
semiconductor or insulator. But few materials change their property from insulator to conductor
or semiconductor as their size is decreased to nano level.

Ex: Bulk: Coal, Charcoal – Non conductor of electricity.

Nano: Carbon nano tube – Good conductor of electricity.

Synthesis of nano materials:

1) Sol-gel process:
a) Preparation of sol: Metal alkoxide is dissolved in alcohol and then water is
added under acidic, neutral or basic conditions. Addition of water leads to
hydrolysis to form sol.
MOR + H2O MOH +ROH (hydrolysis)
Sol
b) Conversion of sol to gel: The polycondensation reaction between MOH and
MOR results in the formation of an oxide bridge network is called gel.

MOH + ROM M – O – M + R–OH (polycondensation)

Gel

c) Aging of the gel: Polycondensation reactions continued until gel converts into a solid
mass and gel network contracts and solvent expels from gel pores.
d) Drying of the gel: There are two possibilities to dry gel. If the solvent is removed
by thermal evaporation, resulting product is termed a xerogel. If the solvent is
extracted under supercritical conditions, resulting product is termed an aerogel.
e) Heat treatment:The sample obtained is calcined at high temperature (8000C) to
obtain nanoparticles of metal oxide.
Advantages
1. Nanomaterials of high purity with good homogeneity can be obtained.
2. Easy to control the shape and size of resulting nanomaterials.
3. Simple and inexpensive equipment.

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The particle size depends on concentration of precursor, rate of hydrolysis, condensation reactions
and aging time.

2) Co-precipitation method:
Co-precipitation method is used to prepare nanoparticle of metal oxides, metal sulphides & metals.
• The precursor (inorganic metal salt such as nitrate or chloride or acetate) is dissolved in water,
to get metal cations in the form of metal hydrated species i.e., [Fe(H2O)6]3+, Al(H 2O)63+.
• Precipitating agent like NaOH or NH4OH or Na2CO3 is added to metal hydrated species. This
results in change in pH, increase in concentration of OH- ions and condensation of precursor.
• Concentration of ions increases and reaches a critical level called as supersaturation.
• At supersaturation, nucleus formation is initiated. (i.e., formation of smallest solid-phase
aggregate of atoms, molecules, or ions that is capable of growing into bigger particles).
• A nucleus further grows into nano particles, which gets precipitated.
• The precipitate is filtrated, washed with water, air dried and finally calcined at high
temperature to get crystalline metal oxide.
Particle size, crystallinity and morphology of the nanoparticles can be controlled by varying
concentration, temperature, pH and rate of addition of reagents.
Advantages
1. The process is simple and relatively economical.
2. This method used for the preparation of single and multicomponent of oxide nano particles.

Nanofibers:
Nanofibers are polymer fibers with sizes ranging from 1nm to 1µm (1000nm). The diameter of
nanofibers depends on type of polymer used and method of production.
• Natural polymers used for the production of nano fibers are: Cellulose, Silk fibroin, Keratin etc.
• Synthetic polymers used for the production of nano fibers are: Polylactic acid, Poly lactic co-
glycolic acid, Polyurethane etc.

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• Method used for the production of nanofibers are: Electrospinning, Template synthesis,
Thermal induced phase separation.
Properties:
• Nanofibers are lightweight with small diameters.
• Nanofibers have porous structure with pore interconnectivity.
• They have high surface-to-volume (or weight) ratio.
• High encapsulation efficiency.
• High mechanical property in proportion to weight.
• Nanofibers generated from natural polymers are biocompatible and biodegradable.
Applications:
• Used for molecular filtration, because nanofibers are capable of removing volatile organic
compounds (VOC) from the air.
• Nanofibers are also used in high absorbing diapers.
• Used in tissue generation and reconstruction.
• Used in membrane filters to protect people from viruses, bacteria, smog, dust and other
particles. Filtration efficiency is at about 99.9%
• Used for targeted drug delivery: Drug molecules are loaded over nanofiber and carried to target
site and released.

Nano-photonics:
Nano-photonics is the study of the behavior of light on the nano sized particle (such as CNT,
metallic nano particle, nanocrystal, semiconductor nano dots, biomolecule) and interaction of nano
sized particle with light. Photonic devices are essential in modern, high-performance applications,
such as optical communications, biomolecule sensing and data storage.
Properties:
1. Nanophotonic devices can sense the bio- molecules present in low concentration.
2. Nanophotonic devices have reduced size and weight.
3. Requires less power consumption for operation.
4. They can absorb light radiation due to surface plasmon resonance.
Application:
1. Adopting nanophotonic techniques in biosensors will provide better sensitivity, accuracy,
multiplexing and portability to detect disease.
2. Used in bio-sensors for the detection of biomolecules such as an antigen.
3. Used in low power photonic switches which reduces loss of power(energy) during operation.

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4. Silicon photonic devices are power-efficient & show high-speed, hence they are used in
optical communications.
5. Plasmonic nanostructures can effectively absorb light radiation due to surface plasmon
resonance, therefore used in thin-film photovoltaic cells to improve their efficiency.

Nano-sensors:
A nano sensor is a device with at least one of its dimensions less than 100 nm. These devices are
capable of interacting with a specific chemical or biological analyte, detecting it, and producing a
signal proportional to its quantity. Types of nano sensors are:
1. Optical Nano sensors measures change in light intensity.
2. Electrochemical Nano sensors measures change in electric distribution.
3. Piezoelectric Nano sensors measures change in mass.
4. Calorimetric Nano sensors measures change in heat.
Properties:
• They have smaller detection limits with quick response time.
• high surface-to-volume ratio and give more reliable results.
• They are portable and easily connected to computers and smart phones.
• Nano sensors being nano-meter in scale have the ability to detect the minute particles.
Applications:
• Nano sensors are used in defence for the detection of explosives and toxic gases.
• Used in detection of different types of environmental pollutants.
• Plasmonic nano sensors are used in detecting Chemical warfare agents. They detect explosive
compounds, heavy metal ions and radioactive compounds which are chemical warfare agents.
• Used to detect humidity of the soil, pesticide residue, nutrient requirement & plant pathogens.
• Nano sensors can be used to understand a person's health status.
• Detects contaminants in food like toxins, bacteria, antibiotics & pathogens.
• Detects contaminants in water and helps in water quality control for the beverage industry and
consumers.

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QUESTION BANK

1. Define nanomaterials. Explain the following size dependent properties with an example.

a) Surface area b) Catalytic property c) Conducting property

2. Explain the synthesis of nanomaterial by sol-gel method with example.

3. Explain the synthesis of nanomaterial by co-precipitation method with example.

4. Give the properties and applications of nanofibers.

5. Mention the properties and applications of nanophotonics.

6. Give the properties and applications of nanosensors.

7. Define the following: A) Nanofibers. B) Nanophotonics. C) Nanosensors.