EME 4353 Advanced Engineering Materials

Lecture 4 :
Introduction to Nanomaterials
 Learning Objectives

1. To explain the importance of nanotechnology

2. To describe the methods for the chemical and structural
characterization of nanomaterials

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 Introduction

1. The concept of nanotechnology was first introduced by Richard

Feynman in his famous lecture “There’s plenty of room at the
bottom”
2. Nanotechnology refer to study of structures having size of
less than 100 nm
 Breadth of human hair is 100 m

Classification of nanomaterials (a) 0D, (b) 1D,

(c) 2D and 3D

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 Types of nanomaterials
• Nanomaterials can…
• occur naturally

• be produced by human activity either as a product of another

activity
• on purpose (engineered)

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 Applications of Nanotechnology

• Nanotechnology is
widely used in the field
of medicine,
electronics and
defense

• Stain-resistant clothing
(nano-perfluorinated
compounds)

• Clear sunscreen
(TiO2)

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 Applications of Nanotechnology

• The Nano solar utility panel

carries 5-10 times more current
than typical panels

• Carbon nanotube lighter stronger

building materials

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 Applications of Nanotechnology

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 Applications of Nanotechnology

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•VDI 9
 Importance of Nanomaterials
• The significant improvement in the properties of the nanostructures
compared to the conventional materials lies their size

• At nano-scale,
• the material properties change - melting point, fluorescence, electrical
conductivity, and chemical reactivity

• Surface size is larger so a greater amount of the material comes into

contact with surrounding materials and increases reactivity

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 Importance of Nanomaterials

Example:
a) Noble materials like Pt and Au become very reactive and
can be used as catalyst in chemical reaction
b) Stable materials like Al become combustible
c) Opaque materials like Cu become transparent

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 Importance of Nanomaterials
• Examples:

• Nano platinum or palladium in vehicle

catalytic converters - higher surface area to
volume of particle gives increased reactivity and
therefore increased efficiency

• Crystalline silica fume is used as an additive

in paints or coatings, giving e.g. self-cleaning
characteristics – it has a needle-like structure
and sharp edges so is very toxic and is known
to cause silicosis upon occupational exposure

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 Synthesis of Nanomaterials
Top-down
• Etching a block of material down to the desired shape
• Chips and processors

Bottom-up
• Building materials atom by atom - like lego
• Nanoparticles such as C60, carbon nanotubes, quantum dots

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 Self-assembly
1. Refers to autonomous organization of components into patterns or structures
without human intervention.

2. The driving forces for molecular organization can be as varied as ionic, covalent,
hydrogen bonding or metal-ligand bonding interactions or other forces at
higher scales (capillary, colloidal, elastic, electric, magnetic and shear forces)

3. An important feature of self-assembly is hierarchy, i.e., the primary building blocks

associate into more complex secondary structures, which are integrated into the
next size level in the hierarchy and continues until the highest level in the hierarchy
is attained.

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 Mechanical Milling
1. Involves the breaking down of large particles into
smaller sizes by the refractory or steel balls

2. Examples: high energy shaker and planetary ball mill

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 Sol gel technique

1. Chemical reaction between

precursors (starting materials)
for a colloidal suspension (sol)

2. Gelation of the sol forms a

network of continuous liquid
phase (gel)

3. The sol/gel transition controls

the particle size and shape

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 Analytical Tools
Common analytical tools:
a) Raman spectroscopy
b) Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) – identify organic
material
c) X-ray Diffraction (XRD)
d) Scanning tunneling microscope (STM) – image surface
e) Scanning electron microscope (SEM/FESEM) – topography
f) Transmission electron microscope (TEM)

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 Properties of Nanomaterials
Microstructured materials have similar properties to the corresponding bulk
materials but the properties of materials with nanometer dimensions are
significantly different due to:

a) large fraction of surface atoms – nanomaterials have extremely

large surface area to volume ratio
b) high surface energy – when the sizes of nanomaterials are
comparable to length, the entire material will be affected by the surface
properties of nanomaterials
c) spatial confinement – energy band structure and charge carrier
density in the materials can be modified quite differently from their bulk
(quantum effects)
d) reduced imperfections, which do not exist in the corresponding bulk
materials – increased materials perfection affects the properties of
nanomaterials

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 Mechanical properties

1. Filling polymers with nanoparticles or nanorods and nanotubes,

respectively, leads to significant improvements in their mechanical
properties

• depends on the type of the filler and the way in which the filling is
conducted – the larger the particles of the filler or agglomerates,
the poorer are the properties obtained (mimicking the large
particles)

2. It is possible, though, to produce composite fibers with extremely

high strength and strain at rupture using carbon nanotubes .

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 Disadvantages of Nanomaterials

• Instability of the particles – Nanomaterials are thermodynamically

metastable and are prone to attack and undergo transformation.

• Fine metal particles act as strong explosives owing to their high

surface area coming in direct contact with oxygen

Dust Causes Explosions, And Apparently

Nanodust Causes Mega-Explosions

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 Disadvantages of Nanomaterials

• Impurity – highly reactive, they inherently interact with impurities

• Biologically harmful - transparent to the cell-dermis, toxic,

carcinogenic

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 Disadvantages of Nanomaterials

Recycling and disposal – no fast & safe disposal policies evolved

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