Nanotechnology

Advances and Real-Life Applications

Cherry Bhargava, Amit Sachdeva

• Publisher: CRC Press
• Year: 2020
• ISBN:
  9781000197143
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Tecnologia e ingegneria
• Subtopic: Nanotecnologia e MEMS

Nanotechnology: Advances and Real-Life Applications offers a comprehensive reference text about advanced concepts and applications in the field of nanotechnology.

The text – written by researchers practicing in the field – presents a detailed discussion of key concepts including nanomaterials and their synthesis, fabrication and characterization of nanomaterials, carbon-based nanomaterials, nano-bio interface, and nanoelectronics. The applications of nanotechnology in the fields of renewable energy, medicine and agriculture are each covered in a dedicated chapter.

The text will be invaluable for senior undergraduate and graduate students in the fields of electrical engineering, electronics engineering, nanotechnology and nanoscience.

Dr. Cherry Bhargava is an Associate Professor and Head, VLSI domain, at the School of Electrical and Electronics Engineering of Lovely Professional University, Jalandhar, India.

Dr. Amit Sachdeva is an Associate Professor at Lovely Professional University, Jalandhar, India.

1 Introduction to Nanomaterials

History, Classification, Properties, and Applications

Arti

Sanatan Dharma College, Ambala Cantt, India

Contents

1.1 Introduction: Background and Driving Forces

1.2 Nanoscience, Nanotechnology and Nanomaterials

1.3 History of Nanomaterials

1.4 Classification of Nanomaterials

1.4.1 Nanomaterials Based on the Quantum Confinement

1.4.2 Superlattices

1.4.3 3D Nanomaterials or Bulk Nanomaterials

1.4.3.1 Importance of Nanomaterials

1.5 Properties of Nanomaterials

1.5.1 High Surface Area

1.5.2 Quantum Confinement Effect

1.5.3 Less Structural Defects

1.5.4 Mechanical Properties

1.5.5 Optical Properties

1.5.6 Magnetic Properties

1.5.7 Electrical Properties

1.5.8 Reduced Lattice Constants

1.6 Applications of Nanomaterials

1.7 Conclusion

References

1.1 Introduction: Background and Driving Forces

Science has expanded very fast since the ages of Newton and Galileo. The basic concepts in chemistry and physics have had a strong influence on the ability to produce new materials. There are many scientists such as Faraday, who gave laws of electrolysis used to prepare and purify the materials. The ability to determine the characteristics and various properties of the materials gave different processes to develop better materials. For a long time, different natural and manmade materials have been used in our lives in one way or another. The expertise gained by people in the last few decades has added lots of new approaches to material development which involves designing materials as per the demand of people. As the field has expanded, material scientists have created totally different types of materials such as nanotubes, buckyballs, etc. which are very small spheres or cylinders made up of carbon atoms. Now researchers have discovered the materials have new dimensions which are very small in size, bonded together atom by atom and having properties altogether different than the same material at a larger scale. The enhancement of the material science is nowadays known as “nanoscience”, which is a multidisciplinary subject covering solid-state physics, chemistry, atomic and molecular physics and many other disciplines. All this increase in knowledge has arisen with nanostructures which may be manipulated to explore the physical, chemical and biological properties of the system that are intermediate in size, somewhere between single atoms, molecules and bulk materials. Richard Feynman, a famous Nobel laureate said in his lecture “There’s Plenty of Room at the Bottom” that “nothing in the laws of physics prevented us from arranging the atoms the way we want”. His lecture proved to be a landmark in the field of nanoscience, which is entirely based on the arrangements of the atoms inside materials. Atoms are basic building blocks of all matters available not only on earth but in the universe too. The properties of these materials depend on the arrangement and settled structure of atoms. The nano-sized particles and materials are not an invention or discovery as these materials are defined by their size. Nanoparticles differ from the coarser particles of the same materials by their capability to form agglomerates.

1.2 Nanoscience, Nanotechnology and Nanomaterials

Nanoscience is the branch that deals with the efficient use of various materials at atomic, macromolecular and molecular levels where properties of materials are totally different from the materials at larger scale. Thus nanoscience is the science of small things that are less than 100 nm in size and known as ‘nanomaterials’.

Nanotechnology is the design, production, characterization and application of the devices and systems by controlling the size and shape at nanometer scale. At such a small scale, boundaries between physics, chemistry and biology are quite difficult to separate. Despite this small scale, nanotechnology plays a very important role in all these disciplines. This field is interdisciplinary with combinations of various ideas becoming integrated. Researchers from various specializations such as physics, chemistry, biology, engineering, information technology and many more are contributing in this interdisciplinary field at their level best. Some industries are also contributing by simply applying the knowledge gained by the various researchers in the field of nanotechnology. Nanotechnology is the only science which has the potential and caliber to impact all devices available now and in the future. All industries are dependent on the materials and various devices made by atom and molecules which may be improved by the applications of nanotechnology. The advances and innovations achieved in the size, shape and uses of different materials will directly benefit our lives. Nanotechnology is certain to have a revolutionary impact on the methods of designing and manufacturing things.

1.3 History of Nanomaterials

Human needs and desires always give birth to new inventions and discoveries. Nanotechnology, at the frontier of the 21st century, is a product of such desires. Nanotechnology, nanomaterials and nanoparticles are common words, not only in research areas but in everyday life too. Nanostructures are not a new discovery; the oldest proof of the existence of nanoparticles and nanomaterials is in the form of early meteorites. Nature later evolved many other nanostructures like skeletons, seashells and many other structures (Hornyak, Dutta and Tibbels, 2008). Many nano-scaled smoke particles were formed and identified during the use of fire by early humans. However, the scientific journey of these materials started much later. In 1857, the properties of nanomaterials were proven by Faraday in his research paper “Experimental relations of gold (and other metals) to light”. This was the first scientific report presented about nanomaterials. Later, after so many years of research in the early 1940s, silica nanoparticles were manufactured by researchers in the USA to create ultrafine carbon black for rubber reinforcement. In the 1960s and 1970s, metallic nanopowders were developed and used for magnetic recording tapes. In 1976, Graqvist and Buhrman used gas evaporation techniques on nanocrystals for the first time. The golden era of nanotechnology started in the 1980s when Kroto and Curl discovered fullerenes and Eric Drexler of Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) used ideas from Feynman’s ‘‘There’s Plenty of Room at the Bottom’’ and Taniguchi’s used the term “nanotechnology” in his 1986 book titled ‘‘Engines of Creation: The Coming Era of Nanotechnology’’. This was the beginning of the use of nanomaterials.

1.4 Classification of Nanomaterials

Nanomaterials are entities having a very small size in the range from 1 nm to 100 nm i.e. in the nanoscopic range. These materials show distinct properties which are absent in macroscopic as well as in microscopic states of matter. Nanomaterials are of different shapes like nanobuds, nanotubes, nanowires, nanorods, nanoflowers, nanotowers, nanoneedles, nanocombs, etc. Nanomaterials are divided into various categories described as follows:

1.4.1 Nanomaterials Based on the Quantum Confinement

Quantum confinement is the state of change of electronic and optical properties of the materials which are very small in size, especially 10 nm or less. The nanomaterials are classified into three groups depending on the number of directions of quantum confinement. The schematic of the various nanomaterials based on quantum confinement is shown in Figure 1.1.

FIGURE 1.1 (a) 0D spheres and clusters; (b) 1D nanofibers: wires and roads; (c) 2D film, plates and networks.

1. 1. Zero-dimensional (0D) nanomaterials: In these nanomaterials, all three directions are in nanoregime i.e. quantum confinement is in all three directions. Such types of materials are known as nanoparticles. Here, no dimension in any direction is more than 100 nm. Nanocubes, nanoclusters, quantum dots and nanoparticles are examples of 0D materials. The nanoparticles may be of amorphous, single crystalline or polycrystalline structure having various shapes and forms (Source: Shah and Ahmad, 2011).
2. 2. One-dimensional (1D) nanomaterials: In such nanomaterials, quantum confinement ...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half-Title
• Title
• Copyright
• Contents
• Preface
• About the Editors
• Contributors
• Chapter 1 Introduction to Nanomaterials: History, Classification, Properties, and Applications
• Chapter 2 Nanomaterials: Methods of Generation
• Chapter 3 Nanotechnology Advances, Benefits, and Applications in Daily Life
• Chapter 4 Nanotechnology Applications in Medicine
• Chapter 5 Utility of Nanotechnology in Various Disciplines
• Chapter 6 Renewable Energy through Nanotechnology
• Chapter 7 Applications of Nanostructured Materials for High-Temperature Wear and Corrosion Resistance in Power Plants
• Chapter 8 Sensitization of Organic Dyes to Be Used in the Fabrication of DSSC
• Chapter 9 Conduction Mechanism and Performance Evaluation of Advance Nanoscale Semiconductor Devices
• Chapter 10 Nanotechnology-Mediated Strategy for the Treatment of Neuropathic Pain: A Promising Approach
• Chapter 11 Self-Nanoemulsifying Drug Delivery System: A Unique Platform for Overcoming Bioavailability of Lipophilic and Gastrointestinal Labile Drugs
• Chapter 12 Phytonanotechnology for Sustainable Agriculture
• Chapter 13 Nanotechnology and Its Potential Applications in the Field of Biotechnology
• Chapter 14 Crop Improvement and Applied Nanobiotechnology
• Chapter 15 Metallic Nanoparticles at the Biointerface: Current Perspectives and Future Challenges
• Chapter 16 Synthesis, Characterization, and Activity of Maghemite (γ-Fe2O3) Nanoparticles through a Facile Solvent Hydrothermal Phase Transformation of Fe2O3
• Chapter 17 Programmable Delay for Nanodevices
• Chapter 18 MANET Routing Optimization using Nanotechnology
• Index