What is nanotechnology?

• This is a term that has entered into the general and scientific
vocabulary only recently but has been used at least as early as
1974 by Taniguchi. Nanotechnology is defined as a technology
where dimensions and tolerances are in the range of 0.1-100
nm (from size of the atom to about the wavelength of light)
play a critical role. This definition is however too general to be
of practical value because it could as well include, for example,
topics as diverse as X-ray crystallography, atomic physics,
microbial biology and include the whole of chemistry!
• One of the first to advocate a future for nanotechnology was
Richard Feynman, a Physics Nobel laureate who died in 1988.
In late 1959 at the California Institute of Technology, he
presented what has become one of 20th century science’s
classic lectures entiitled “There is Plenty of Room at the
Bottom” (En el fondo hay espacio de sobra). This classic
lecture has become part of the nanotechnology community’s
founding liturgy. Feynman got his motivation from biology
since biological systems can be exceedingly small.
He said,
• “Many of the cells are very tiny, but they are active; they
manufacture substances; they walk around; they wiggle; and
they do all kind of marvellous things–all on a very small scale.
Also, they store information. Consider the possibility that we
too can make a thing very small which does what we want
that we can manufacture an object that manoeuvres at that
level!”
• Feynman talked about nanotechnology before the word
existed. Feynman dreamed with a technological vision of
extreme miniaturization in 1959, several years before the
word “chip” became part of our every day life.
• The scientific story of nanomaterials however began much
later. One of the first scientific report is the colloidal gold
particles synthesised by Michael Faraday as early as 1857.
Nanostructured catalysts have also been investigated for over
70 years. By the early 1940’s, precipitated and fumed silica
nanoparticles were being manufactured and sold in USA and
Germany as substitutes for ultrafine carbon black for rubber
reinforcements.

• Nanosized amorphous silica particles have found large-scale

applications in many every-day consumer products, ranging
from non-diary coffee creamer to automobile tires, optical
fibers and catalyst supports.
• In the 1960s and 1970s metallic nanopowders for magnetic
recording tapes were developed. In 1976, for the first time,
nanocrystals produced by the now popular inert gas
evaporation technique was published by Granqvist and
Buhrman.

• Recently it has been found that the Maya blue paint is

nanostructured hybrid material. The origin of its color and its
resistance to acids and biocorrosion are still not understood
but studies of authentic samples from Jaina Island show that
the material is made of needle-shaped
• palygorskite (a clay) crystals that form a superlattice with a
period of 1.4 nm, with intercalcates of amorphous silicate
substrate containing inclusions of metal (Mg) nanoparticles.
The beautiful tone of the blue color is obtained only when
both these nanoparticles and the superlattice are present, as
has been shown by the fabrication of synthetic samples.
 What are nanomaterials?
Nanomaterials are materials which are characterised by an
ultra fine grain size (<50 nm) or by a dimensionality limited to
50 nm.

Nanomaterials can be created with various modulation

dimensionalities as defined by Richard W. Siegel: zero (atomic
clusters, filaments and cluster assemblies), one (multilayers),
two (ultrafine-grained overlayers or buried layers), and three
(nanophase materials consisting of equiaxed nanometer sized
grains) as shown in the above figure 2.3.
Figure 2.3: Definition of nanomaterials following Siegel
• According to the shape of the crystallites or grains we can
broadly classify nanomaterials into four categories:

1. clusters or powders (MD=0)

2. Multilayers (MD=1)
3. ultrafine grained overyaers or buried layers (where the layer
thickness or the rod-diameters are <50 nm) (MD=2)
4. nanomaterials composed of equiaxed nanomter-sized grains
(MD=3)
Why so much interest in nanomaterials?
These materials have created a high interest in recent years by
virtue of their unusual mechanical, electrical, optical and
magnetic properties. Some examples are given below:
• Nanophase ceramics are of particular interest because they are
more ductile at elevated temperatures as compared to the coarse-
grained ceramics.

• Nanostructured semiconductors are known to show various non-

linear optical properties. Semiconductor Q-particles also show
quantum confinement effects which may lead to special
properties, like the luminescence in silicon powders and silicon
germanium quantum dots as infrared optoelectronic devices.

• Nanostructured semiconductors are used as window layers in solar

cells.
• Nanostructured metal clusters and colloids of mono- or plurimetallic
composition have a special impact in catalytic applications.

• Single nanosized magnetic particles are mono-domains and one

expects that also in magnetic nanophase materials the grains
correspond with domains, while boundaries on the contrary to
disordered walls. Very small particles have special atomic structures
with discrete electronic states, which give rise to special properties in
addition to the super-paramagnetism behaviour. Magnetic
nanocomposites have been used for mechanical force transfer
(ferrofluids), for high density information storage and magnetic
refrigeration.
• Elemental clusters are held together by various forces depending
on the nature of the constituting atoms:
• Inert gas clusters are weakly held together by van-der-waals
interactions, eg. (He)n
• Semiconductor clusters are held with strong directional covalent
bonds, eg. (Si)n
• Metallic clusters are fairly strongly held together by delocalised
nondirectional bonding, eg. (Na)n
• Either elemental clusters or a mixture of clusters of different
elements constitute the vast expanding field of materials
sciences called ‘nanomaterials’.

• When an ensemble of atoms add up to form a few nanometer

sized clusters, they form what we call ‘nanoparticles’, since
only a few atoms forming clusters are called ‘molecular
clusters’.
Liquid solid reactions:
• Ultrafine particles are produced by precipitation from a
solution, the process being dependent on the presence of the
desired nuclei. For example, TiO2 powders have been
produced with particle sizes in the range 70-300 nm from
titanium tetraisopropoxide.
Link et al. J. Phys. Chem. B 103 (1999) Liz--Marzán Langmuir 22 (2006) 32
Liz
Furnace:
Vapour-liquid-solid growth:
• “Nanocomposites” are a special class of materials originating from
suitable combinations of two or more such nanoparticles or
nanosized objects in some suitable technique, resulting in materials
having unique physical properties and wide application potential in
diverse areas that can be formed into a useful object which can be
subsequently used.
• Present and future applications of nanomaterials that has been
reported in recent literature:

• In electronics & optoelectronics: ‘nanophosphors’ for affordable

high-definition television and flat panel displays electroluminescent
nanocrystalline silicon, opening the way for optoelectronic chips and
possibly new type of color displays efficient light-emitting diodes
based on quantum dots with a voltage-controlled, tunable output
color powder or plastic layers using nanoparticles as an active
scattering medium optical switches and fibers based on nonlinear
behavior transparent conducting layers three-dimensional optical
memories

• Electronics: materials for the next-generation computer chips single-

electron tunneling transistors using nanoparticles as quantum dots
efficient electrical contacts for semiconductor devices electrically
conducting nanoceramics capacitive materials for, e.g., dynamic
random access memories (DRAM)
• Magnetic Applications: magnetic memories based on materials with
a high coercivity magnetorestrictive materials, important for shielding
components and devices soft magnetic alloys such as Finemet
resistors and varistors (voltage-dependent resistors) high-
temperature superconductors using nanoparticles for flux pinning

• In energy storage: novel solar cells, such as the Gratzel cell based on
TiO2 materials window layers in classical solar cells utilizing the
increased band gap due high energy density (rechargeable) batteries
smart windows based on the photochrome effect or electrical
magnetic orientation effects
• Medical appplications: longer-lasting medical implants of
biocompatible nanostructured ceramic and carbides bio-compatible
coating for medical applications. magnetic nanoparticles for
hyperthermia controlled drug release and drug delivery

• Catalysis: photocatalyst air and water purifiers better activity,

selectivity and lifetime in chemical transformations and fuel cells
precursors for a new type of catalyst (Cortex-catalysts)
stereoselective catalysis using chiral modifiers on the surface of metal
nanoparticles