Editorial

pubs.acs.org/CR

Introduction: Nanoparticle Chemistry

N anoparticle chemistry is a relatively young branch of
chemical research. Even 30 years ago, these words would
have sounded puzzling to many scientists despite the fact that
high activity and selectivity while efficiently using expensive
precious metal components.4
Magnetic nanoparticles are actively studied for MRI imaging,
nanoparticles, primarily in the form of dust and smoke, have therapy, and magnetic data storage. Some magnetic compounds
always existed in nature. Nanoparticles were utilized in also show excellent catalytic properties. Wu, Mendoza-Garcia,
construction materials, pigments, and stained glass well before Li, and Sun provide a thorough review of the diverse field of
their nature and properties were uncovered and understood.1 magnetic nanoparticles that include various magnetic metals,
For more than a century, transition metal nanoparticles were metallic alloys, metal oxides, and multicomponent nanostruc-
widely used as heterogeneous catalysts and generated tures.5
impressive revenues for petrochemical companies. Despite This issue presents several reviews covering different aspects
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these all-pervading examples, nanoparticle chemistry did not of semiconductor nanoparticles. The excitonic properties of
evolve into a rigorous academic field until the end of the 20th nanometer sized semiconductor crystallites have only been
century, when the availability of electron microscopy and other elucidated relatively recently. During the early 1980s, Ekimov
and Efros6 as well as Brus8 arrived at the concept of quantum
Downloaded via 122.162.151.89 on November 7, 2023 at 16:54:19 (UTC).

modern characterization techniques equipped researchers with

confinement that gave a start to the field of semiconductor
tools suitable for analyzing nanometer sized objects.
quantum dots. The electronic structure and photophysical
One can find many scattered examples of early nanoparticle
properties of quantum dots, as well as their applications in
research, but the field gained most of its momentum in the electronic and optoelectronic devices, are thoroughly reviewed
1980s and 1990s, when the plasmonic and excitonic properties in the article written by Pietryga, Park, Lim, Fidler, Bae,
of metal and semiconductor nanoparticles attracted widespread Brovelli, and Klimov.7
attention, first from a fundamental point of view and then by Quantum dots have been successfully commercialized as
prospects for new technologies. Since many fundamental luminescent tags for bioimaging and display applications. The
studies and technological applications required nanoparticles advantage of quantum dots as emitter materials originates from
with uniform sizes and shapes, the research community their narrow and symmetric emission spectra. Several leading
recognized the need for novel chemistries for nanoparticle display manufacturers recently released flat panel TVs that use
synthesis, purification, and postsynthetic modifications. Nano- colloidally synthesized quantum dots to expand the color gamut
particles can be synthesized using a variety of methods. They and improve the energy efficiency of LCD displays.9 The
typically come as dispersions in various hosts, such as a glass or adoption of quantum dots for consumer products brings
liquid solvent, but can also be synthesized in the gas phase to stringent requirements for materials quality, stability, manu-
form an aerosol. It turned out that solution-phase syntheses are facturing costs, and environmental friendliness. One possible
most convenient and versatile, and a majority of recent research way to reduce manufacturing costs is to run syntheses in
has focused on making nanoparticles via colloidal techniques aqueous mediums instead of using costly organic solvents. Jing,
using polar and nonpolar solvents as the reaction medium. Kershaw, Li, Huang, Li, Rogach, and Gao discuss advances in
Mastering nanoparticle synthesis required a deep understanding the aqueous synthesis of semiconductor nanocrystals, their
of nucleation and growth processes that spurred active research properties, and applications.10
in related areas of materials characterization and modeling. This Many semiconductor quantum dots contain cadmium or lead
work is far from complete, with many exciting discoveries yet to that bring toxicity concerns. This is not a problem in
come. This thematic issue of Chemical Reviews updates readers fundamental studies and for some practical applications, but
on state-of-the-art developments in nanoparticle chemistry. applications in consumer products would greatly benefit from
Metal nanoparticles are arguably the most studied class of the development of nontoxic quantum dots composed of only
nanoparticle systems. Early works date back to the 19th inexpensive, earth-abundant elements. Reiss, Carrière, Linche-
century, including Michael Faraday’s synthesis of colloidal gold neau, Vaure, and Tamang provide a detailed review of the
in the 1850s.2 Mie described the interaction of light with metal activities and achievements in the area of heavy-metal-free
quantum dots that have excellent prospects for commercial
nanoparticles in 1908.3 There are examples of ancient Romans
applications.11 Knowles, Gamelin, and co-workers focus on a
using gold nanoparticles to prepare stained glass.1 In recent
broad class of copper-containing semiconductor nanoparticles12
years, nanoparticle plasmonics has advanced, enabling precise and review advances in synthesis and optical properties of
engineering of plasmonic properties using chemical synthesis. nanoparticles made of doped semiconductors with optical
Many recent studies have focused on the catalytic properties of properties that may be particularly suitable for use in
metal nanoparticles. Different crystal surfaces have different luminescent solar concentrators.
catalytic activities, and by using shape-controlled nanoparticle As-synthesized nanoparticles can be engaged in various
synthesis, it is possible to control the types of surface facets and postsynthetic chemical transformations, similar to the addition
thus engineer catalytic activity and selectivity. In this issue,
Gilroy, Ruditskiy, Peng, Qin, and Xia discuss the synthesis,
Special Issue: Nanoparticle Chemistry
properties, and applications of bimetallic nanoparticles, which
show high potential as heterogeneous catalysts that combine Published: September 28, 2016

© 2016 American Chemical Society 10343 DOI: 10.1021/acs.chemrev.6b00566

Chem. Rev. 2016, 116, 10343−10345
Chemical Reviews Editorial

and substitution reactions well-known in molecular chemistry, ordinary solids, nanoparticles can form various packings, from
but applied to small crystalline particles. De Trizio and Manna simple fcc to fascinatingly complex quasicrystalline lattices. Such
offer a detailed discussion of one class of such transformations, self-assembled nanoparticle superlattices are often used as an
namely cation exchange reactions, and demonstrate the utility
of these reactions for synthesizing novel nanomaterials.13 active component of thin-film electronic and optoelectronic
In many cases, nanoparticle shape directly impacts its devices including light-emitting diodes, photodetectors, tran-
physical properties, such as the frequency of surface plasmon sistors, solar cells, and so forth. Boles, Engel, and Talapin
resonance in gold and silver nanoparticles, or luminescence review various aspects in nanocrystal self-assembly, including
polarization in semiconductor nanorods. Wang, Dong, and
synthesis methodology, structural characterization, theoretical
Buhro cover one-dimensional nanostructures represented by
semiconductor nanorods and nanowires synthesized via a descriptions of interparticle interactions, thermodynamics and
chemical process known as solution−liquid−solid synthesis,14 kinetics of the formation of nanocrystal superstructures, as well
while Nasilowski, Mahler, Lhuillier, Ithurria, and Dubertret as collective properties of nanocrystal assemblies.21
discuss the chemistry, physics, and applications of two- After two decades of extensive research and development,
dimensional nanomaterials, such as semiconductor disks and
nanoparticles have become practical and technologically
nanoplatelets.15 These materials show great promise as emitters
for displays and optical gain media for lasers.16 Wang, Feng, important materials. Reaching this stage would not be possible
Bai, Zhang, and Yin cover yet another very interesting family of without tremendous progress in nanoparticle chemistry. The
hollow nanostructures.17 Hollow nanoparticles of plasmonic community is developing rigorous methodologies to control
metals and nanoshells exhibit plasmon resonance in the near-IR size, shape, and surface structure for a large number of
spectral range, making them suitable for photothermal cancer
functional materials. These synthetic developments are
therapy. Hollow nanostructures are also being explored for drug
delivery. complemented by work aimed at a deep understanding of
The above reviews cover nanomaterials synthesized and fundamental electronic, magnetic, and other processes in
handled in the solution phase, which have seen the most nanoparticles. The commercial prospects for this class of
advancements in recent years. However, solution-based materials look promising and bright. The global quantum dots
synthetic techniques have some limitations, primarily associated
with limited stability of reactants and solvents at the high market accrued a revenue of $316 million in 2013 and is
temperatures required for some hard-to-crystallize nanomateri- expected to grow to about $5 billion by 2020.22 Quantum dots
als. This fundamental problem can be addressed by moving have applications in the display, solid-state lighting, solar,
away from solution chemistry and employing solid-state biomedical, anticounterfeiting, and sensor sectors. Lighting and
reactions or synthesizing nanoparticles in the gas phase. displays each represent a potential $100 billion global market
Kortshagen, Sankaran, Pereira, Girshick, Wu, and Aydil provide
a comprehensive review of plasma-assisted synthesis of by 2020, resulting in significant opportunities for quantum dots.
crystalline nanoparticles in the gas phase.18 Oxide nanoparticles are widely used in cosmetics and
The advances in nanoparticle chemistry are closely related to sunscreens, while the market for gold nanoparticles is expected
progress in the development of characterization techniques for to exceed $8 billion by 2022, with major revenues generated in
both ex situ, in situ, and in vivo studies of nanoparticles. In
the electronics and medical diagnostics sectors.23 If these
addition to electron microscopy, X-ray scattering and scanning
probe microscopy techniques have proven to be extremely forecasts prove to be reasonably accurate, we will witness
valuable for characterizing nanomaterials in academic and numerous exciting discoveries and developments in nano-
industrial settings. Small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) is a particle chemistry in the coming years.
powerful method used to obtain information about nano- We would like to thank all the authors who made this
particle size, shape, and size distribution averaged over a large
thematic issue a great success, as well as the editorial staff of
ensemble of nanoparticles. SAXS has been successfully
implemented for in situ studies of nanoparticle synthesis in Chemical Reviews for their hard work in handling the
real time under realistic experimental conditions. Li, Senesi, and manuscripts. It is our sincere hope that you will find this
Lee offer the readers an authoritative review covering the thematic issue interesting, useful, and inspiring.
fundamentals of SAXS and the applications of this technique Dmitri V. Talapin*
for nanoparticle research.19 To the best of our knowledge, it is The University of Chicago
the first review on this topic, and many scientists will find it
useful. Argonne National Laboratory
Scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) is a unique technique Elena V. Shevchenko
that allows peeking inside individual nanoparticles to reveal the Argonne National Laboratory
details of their electronic structure. Swart, Liljeroth, and
Vanmaekelbergh review state-of-the-art techniques in STM AUTHOR INFORMATION
and other scanning probe microscopy methods that are
Corresponding Author
becoming popular tools in nanoparticle research. These
methods provide valuable information complementary to that *E-mail: [email protected].
obtained from spectroscopic studies at the ensemble and single- Notes
particle levels.20
Self-organization phenomena help assemble individual nano- Views expressed in this editorial are those of the authors and
particles into macroscopic materials. Similar to the atoms in not necessarily the views of the ACS.
10344 DOI: 10.1021/acs.chemrev.6b00566
Chem. Rev. 2016, 116, 10343−10345
Chemical Reviews Editorial

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James Franck Institute at the University of Chicago and a scientist at 2016, DOI: 10.1021/acs.chemrev.6b00041.
the Center for Nanoscale Materials at Argonne National Laboratory. (11) Reiss, P.; Carrière, M.; Lincheneau, C.; Vaure, L.; Tamang, S.
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10345 DOI: 10.1021/acs.chemrev.6b00566

Chem. Rev. 2016, 116, 10343−10345