Lecture Notes 3D – Engineered Nanotechnology 1

Engr. Caesar Pobre Llapitan

I. INTRODUCTION

Nanoscience and nanotechnology

 Nanoscience deals with the scientific study of objects with sizes in the 1 – 100 nm range in at
least one dimension.
 Nanotechnology deals with using objects in the same size range to develop products with
possible practical application. It is usually based on nanoscience insights.

Nanoscience and Nanochemistry

Nanotechnology is the creation of functional materials, devices, and systems through control of
matter on the nanometer (1 to 100 nm) length scale and the exploitation of novel properties and
phenomena developed at that scale.
 A scientific and technical revolution has begun that is based upon the ability to systematically
organize and manipulate matter on the nanometer length scale.

 Nano science and nanotechnology - The science and technology which deals with the
particles in size between 1 to 100 nm is known as nano science and nano technology.

Classification of nanomaterials on the basis of dimensions

On the basis of reduction in size of materials in different dimensions, nanomaterials are classified into
three groups.

Reduction in size in different

S. No. Size Examples
coordinates
1. 3-dimensions < 100 nm Nanoparticles, quantum dots
2. 2-dimensions < 100 nm Nanotubes, nanowires, nanofibers
3. 1-dimension < 100 nm Thin films, coatings

Classification based on pore dimensions

A useful way to classify nanoporous materials is by the diameter size of their pores, since most of the
properties, which are interesting for the applications of adsorption and diffusion are dependent on this
parameter. The prefix nano- means a typical dimension between 1 and 100 nm. In this range material
properties change drastically, when materials interact with other molecules. In fact, pore diameter
establishes the size of molecules that could diffuse inside and comparison between the pore size and
the dimension of guest molecule gives an idea about diffusion and interaction properties. If the two
dimensions are same, we can expect that the molecule-wall interaction will be prevalent along with the
molecule-molecule interaction. By the other way, if guest molecules are smaller than the pore size, there
will be less molecule wall interaction than the molecule-molecule interaction during the diffusion
process.

According to IUPAC definition, nanoporous materials are classified in three main groups depending on
their pore dimension:
 Microporous materials (d<2 nm): These materials have very narrow pores. They can host only
small molecules, such as gases or linear molecules, and generally show slow diffusion kinetics
and high interaction properties. They are generally used in gas purification systems, membrane
filters or gas-storage materials.

Example: Na-Y and naturally occurring clay materials.

 Mesoporous materials (2<d<50 nm): These materials have pores with diameter size enough
to host some big molecules, for example aromatic systems or large polymeric monomers.
Diffusion kinetics of the adsorbed molecules is often due to capillarity, with an initial
interaction with the pore wall followed by pore filling. These systems can be used as nano-
reactors for the polymerization or adsorbing systems for liquids or vapors.
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Example: MCM-41, MCM48, SBA15 and carbon mesoporous materials etc.

 Macroporous systems (d>50 nm): Pores of these materials could host very large molecules,
such as poly-aromatic systems or small biological molecules, and interactions with pore walls
are often secondary respect to the interactions with other molecules, overall in the case of very
small guest molecules. These materials are principally used as matrices to store functional
molecules, as scaffolds to graft functional groups, such as catalytic centers, and as sensing
materials, thanks to the quick diffusion of chemical species in the pore system.

Example: Carbon micro tubes, Porous gels and porous glasses

Synthetic approaches for nanomaterials

i. Bottom-up approach: The building of nanostructures starting with small components such as
atoms or molecules is called bottom-up approach.
o use the chemical properties of single molecules to cause single-molecule components to
(a) self-organize or self-assemble into some useful conformation, or (b) rely on
positional assembly.

Example
1. Watson – Crick base pairing
2. Enzyme – substrate interactions
3. Pulsed laser deposition
4. Chemical vapour deposition
5. Colloidal dispersion
6. Nano lithography
7. Nano manipulation

Applications
1. Production of salt & nitrate
2. Growth of single crystal
3. Deposition of films
4. Fabrication of organic semiconductors
5. Manufacture of carbon nanotubes and silicon nano wires

ii. Top-down approach: The process of making nanostructures starting with larger structures and
breaking away to nano size is called top-down approach.
o often uses the traditional workshop or microfabrication methods where externally
controlled tools are used to cut, mill, and shape materials into the desired shape and
order.

Example:
1. Attrition or milling
2. Etching
3. Emulsification
4. Comminution
5. Lithography
6. Epitaxy, etc.

Applications
1. Synthesis of nano particles such as Al2O3, SiO2, ZrO2 nano fillers used in enamel
2. It is used in the synthesis of nano fillers such as Al2O3, SiO2, ZrO2, TiO2 used in
enamel.
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Figure Typical synthetic methods for nanoparticles for the top-down and bottom-up approaches.

Porosity – It is the ratio of pore volume to its total volume. Here, pore volume is the difference
between the total volume and solid volume.

Pore diameter - The average or effective diameter of the openings in a membrane, screen, or other
porous material is known as pore diameter. Based on the pore diameter range, porous materials are
classified into three types.

i. Microporous materials: They are materials having the average pore diameter less than 2nm

Example: Zeolites, organic frame works and surgical tape.

ii. Mesoporous materials: They are materials having the average pore diameter in the range of
2nm to 50 nm

Example: Mobile Crystalline Materials (MCM-41), Mesoporous Molecular Sieves, Xerogels,

Silica, Alumina, titanium Oxide and Niobium oxide materials.

iii. Macroporous materials: They are materials having the average pore diameter greater than
50nm.

Example: Porous glasses and Aerogels.

Wafer - A wafer is a thin slice of semiconductor or substrate material.

Sol - It is a colloidal suspension of very small solid particles in liquid medium.

Example: Ink and Blood.

Gel - It is a colloidal suspension of very small liquid particles in solid medium

Example: agar, gelatin, jelly and tooth paste.
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Aerogel - It is a synthetic porous ultra-light material derived from a gel, in which the liquid component
of the gel has been replaced with a gas.

Example: Silica aerogel, Alumina aerogel and carbon aerogel.

Silica aerogel is a best insulator as well as lowest density solid. It porosity is 99%, surface area is
1000 m2/gm, Its average pore size is 2-50 nm.

Xerogel - A solid formed from a gel by drying with unhindered shrinkage is called a xerogel.

Surface area - The accessible or detectable area of solid surface per unit mass of material is called the
surface area.

Characterization techniques of nanomaterials

S.
Techniques Information acquired
No.
1. Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) with Surface topography (up to 10nm) and
Energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy composition
2. Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM) Surface morphology (up to 0.2nm)
3. Atomic Force Microscopy Identification of individual surface atoms
4. Particle Size Analyzer Particle Size distribution
5. FT-Raman Spectra Distinguish single walled carbon nanotubes
and multi walled carbon nanotubes
6. Photoluminescence Spectra CNT chirality or Asymmetry determination
7. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy Electronic state of the element

Chiral - A chiral molecule is a type of molecule that has non-superimposable mirror images (i.e.
enantiomers).

Example: A carbon having four different substituents.

Helicity - It is a form of axial chirality or with respect to axis non-superimposable mirror images.

Example: Protein folding.

II. SIZE DEPENDENT PROPERTIES OF NANOMATERIALS

The various properties, which get tremendously altered due to the size reduction in at least one
dimension are:
a) Chemical properties: Reactivity; Catalysis.
b) Thermal property: Melting point temperature.
c) Electronic properties: Electrical conduction.
d) Optical properties: Absorption and scattering of light.
e) Magnetic properties: Magnetization

Chemical Properties
 Based on the surface area to volume effect, nanoscale materials have:
a) Increased total surface area.
b) Increased number of atoms accessible on the surface.
c) Increased catalytic activity of those large number surface atoms.
d) Different/tunable surface catalytic properties by the change in shape, size and
composition.
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 Hence, nanoscale catalysts can increase the rate, selectivity and efficiency of various chemical
reactions.

Figure: Effect of Particle Size on the Reaction Rate

Thermal Properties
 The melting point of a material directly correlates with the bond strength. In bulk materials,
the surface to volume ratio is small and hence the surface effects can be neglected. However,
in nanomaterials the melting temperature is size dependent and it decreases with the decrease
particle size diameters.

 The reason is that in nanoscale materials, surface atoms are not bonded in direction normal to
the surface plane and hence the surface atoms will have more freedom to move.

Figure: Effect of Particle Size on the Melting Point

Electronic Properties
 In bulk materials, conduction of electrons is delocalized, that is, electrons can move freely in all
directions.

 When the scale is reduced to nanoscale, the quantum effect dominates. For zero dimensional
nanomaterials, all the dimensions are at the nanoscale and hence the electrons are confined in
3-D space. Therefore, no electron delocalization (freedom to move) occurs.

 For one dimensional nanomaterials, electrons confinement occurs in 2-D space and hence
electron delocalization takes place along the axis of nanotubes/nanorods/nanowires.

 Due to electron confinement, the energy bands are replaced by discrete energy states which
make the conducting materials to behave like either semiconductors or insulators.
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Optical Properties
Because of the quantum confinement in nanomaterials, the emission of visible light can be tuned by
varying the nanoscale dimensions. It is observed that the size reduction in nanomaterials shifts the
emission of peak towards the shorter wavelength (blue shift).

Figure: Effect of particle size on photoluminescence

Magnetic Properties
 The size of magnetic nanoparticles also influences the value magnetization. The figure 5.4
illustrates the effect of particle size on the saturation magnetization of zinc ferrite. The
magnetization increases significantly below a grain size of 20nm. Hence, by decreasing the
particle size of a granular magnetic material it is possible to improve the quality of magnets
fabricated from it.

Figure: Effect of Particle Size on the Saturation Magnetization

III. NANOPARTICLES

Particles or powders with particle size less than 100 nm are called nanoparticles.

The properties of many conventional materials change when formed from nano particles. This was due
to the reason that nano particles have a greater surface area per weight than larger particles.

- Iron oxide nano particles were used to improve MRI images of cancer tumors. The nano particles
were coated with a peptide that binds to a cancer tumour. Once the nano particles were attached
to the tumor, the magnetic property of the iron oxide enhances the images from the magnetic
resonance imaginary scan.
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Synthesis of Nanoparticles by Chemical Reduction Method

Group VIB metal halides like CrCl3, MoCl3, WCl4 can be reduced into their corresponding metals by
using NaBEt3H (sodium triethoxy boron hydride) with toluene as the solvent at room temperature.

toluene
𝑀𝐶𝑙3 + 𝑥𝑁𝑎𝐵𝐸𝑡3𝐻   𝑀 + 𝑥𝑁𝑎𝐶𝑙 + 𝑥𝐵𝐸𝑡3 + 𝑥/2 𝐻2
toluene
𝐶𝑟𝐶𝑙3 + 3𝑁𝑎𝐵𝐸𝑡3𝐻   𝐶𝑟 + 3𝑁𝑎𝐶𝑙 + 3𝐵𝐸𝑡3 + 3/2 𝐻2
toluene
𝑀𝑜𝐶𝑙3+ 3𝑁𝑎𝐵𝐸𝑡3𝐻   𝑀𝑜 + 3𝑁𝑎𝐶𝑙 + 3𝐵𝐸𝑡3 + 3/2 𝐻2

When M = W, then x = 4:

toluene
𝑊𝐶𝑙4 + 4𝑁𝑎𝐵𝐸𝑡3𝐻   𝑊 + 4𝑁𝑎𝐶𝑙 + 4𝐵𝐸𝑡3 + 2𝐻2

Properties of Nanoparticles
i. As the particle size decreases, surface area increases. This enhances the catalytic activity of the
nanoparticles.

ii. Reduction of particle size from micron to nanometer scale influences their optical properties.

For Example: CdS in micron size appear as red, 6 nm size appear orange in color, 4 nm size is
yellow colored and 2 nm size appear as white.

iii. Reduction of particle size from micron to nanometer scale influences the thermal properties
like melting point and thermal conductivity.

Applications of Nanoparticles
a) Silver nanoparticles have good antibacterial properties, and are used in surgical instruments,
refrigerators, air-conditioners, water purifiers etc.

b) Gold nanoparticles are used in catalytic synthesis of silicon nano wires, sensors carrying the
drugs and in the detection of tumors.

c) ZnO nanoparticles are used in electronics, ultraviolet (UV) light emitters, piezoelectric devices
and chemical sensors.

d) TiO2 nanoparticles are used as photocatalyst and sunscreen cosmetics (UV blocking pigment).

e) Antimony-Tin-Oxide (ATO), Indium-Tin-Oxide (ITO) nanoparticles are used in car windows,

liquid crystal displays and in solar cell preparations.

A. Applications of Metallic Nanoparticles

The various characteristics of different nanoparticles relative to bulk metals are summarized below.
1. Optical function: The surface absorption plasmon of Au and Ag can express various colors by
changing the size of the particle, the form or shape of the particle, and the rate of condensation.
A new paint that has the durability of an inorganic pigment and the vivid color of an organic
substrate can be made. Nanoparticles smaller than the wavelength of light can be used to make
high penetration conductivity materials (there is little absorption, dispersion, and reflection).
2. Catalyst function: Reaction efficiencies can be enhanced since the specific surface area of such
nanoparticles is large compared with existing particles; to the extent that the surface terrace is
regular at the atomic level, a hyperactive catalyst with high selectivity can be made: for example,
Au nanoparticles.
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3. Thermal function: When the particle diameter is small (less than 10 nm), the melting point is
also lower than a bulk metal. Electronic wiring can be made with nanoparticles that have a low
boiling point, for example, a polymer.
4. Electrical function: Since superconductivity transition temperature rises so that particle
diameter is small (less than 1 nm), it can be used to make high temperature superconductivity
material.
5. Mechanical function: Since the mechanical characteristics improve, mechanical strength can
be sharply raised by mixing the nanoparticles with metals or ceramics.
6. Magnetic function: The attractive force of a magnetic metal increases on reduction of the
particle diameter, such that soft-magnetic materials can be made in the form of an alloy of
nanoparticles. Moreover, a permanent magnet can be made if the nanoparticles are smaller than
the magnetic domain made to magnetize.

B. Application of Nanoparticles in Paints

C. Application in Chemical Catalysis

D. Application of Nanoparticles in Micro-wiring

E. Application of Nanoparticles in Medical Treatments

IV. NANOSTRUCTURED MATERIALS

Properties of materials depends on chemistry and arrangement of the building blocks in three
dimensional structures.

It is easy to understand of imagine that the properties of a single atom are different from a bulk
arrangement of many atoms. A metal is conducting, while a single metal atom is not. A small metal
cluster is also not conducting.

So the question is how small an arrangement may be and still keep its “bulk” properties.

Typical dimensions where properties become very size sensitive are between 1 and 100 nm. If one, two
or three dimensions of a material falls in the nanometer regime, the materials may have surprising
properties which are very different from the bulk materials.

A. Size effects
 Finite size effects: Electronic bands are gradually converted to molecular orbitals. Confining
electrons to small geometries results in “particle-in-a-box” energy levels. Nanostructures are
difficult to describe using either solid state physics (solid materials) or quantum chemistry
(molecules and atoms).
 • Surface and interface effects: A high percentage of atoms in nanomaterials are on the
surface (or interface). 5 nm spherical particle: ca. 50% of the atoms are on the surface.
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B. Nanomaterials
In nanocrystalline materials the dimensions of the grains are in the nanometer range. Two structural
components: small crystallites and a network of inter-crystalline regions.

 Nanocomposites: Nanoparticles imbedded in a matrix.

o Supported metal or metal oxide nanoparticles as heterogeneous catalysts. Composites
containing semiconductor nanoparticles (quantum dots). Nanoparticles or nanofibers in
ceramic matrices.

 Nanoporous materials(!): Pores with a diameter in the nanometer range.

 Nanotubes and nanowires: Two dimensional nanostructures. Carbon nanotubes (SWNT,

MWNT), inorganic nanotubes and nanoscrolls, nanowires, nanobelt

 Nanometer scaled layers.: Biological membranes, inorganic single or multilayers

(microelectronics, optics, magnetic properties)

C. Nanocrystalline ceramics
Typical grain size for ceramics: ca. 10μm
Nanocrystalline: 10-100 nm.
For 3nm grains: 70-80% of the atoms are in the interphase region
The density of the interphase is 60-70% of the bulk density.
The material is in a non-equilibrium state.

 Melting points: When the mean thermal displacement (d) of the atoms becomes larger than
some fraction of the interatomic distance, the material melts.
o Surface atoms have lower coordination and a higher displacement (dS), a factor of 2-4
compared to bulk (dV).
o When the surface/volume ratio increases, the mean d increase, i.e. the melting point
decreases.

 Diffusion and sinterablilty: Nanoceramics may sometimes be densified by sintering at

significantly lower temperatures than for conventional powders. Higher surface energy, short
diffusion paths, low stability of interfacial region. Nanocrystalline powders may also be doped
more efficiently at low temperatures.

 Hardness and strength of sintered nanomaterials are higher than in conventional materials.
o Superplasticity: The capability to undergo large tensile deformation without necking or
fracture. (100-1000%) (error in book).
o Superplasticity in ceramics at low temperature has yet to be properly proved, but is
theoretically predicted. Nanocrystalline ceramics may be ductile, as opposed to traditional
ceramics.
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D. Synthesis of nanoparticles
Many synthesis methods may be used. Increase nucleation and decrease growth rate.If nanoparticle s
are formed, agglomeration and aggregation must be prevented.

 Formation of nanoparticles from vapor.

o Aerosol route – advantage: Particle size may be controlled by droplet size, concentration etc.

 Gas condensation method: Ultra high vacuum (filled with ca. 100 PaHe). liquid nitrogen
cold finger, a scraper, and in-situ compactor.
o Evaporation of a solid (mostly metals) by heating. Clusters are formed, which grow by
cluster condensation. Convective transport towards cold finger. Gram quantities may be
produced.

 Formation of nanoparticles from solution.

o Precipitation or sol-gel processes.

 Mechanical attrition. (abrasion, grinding)

o High energy ball milling may reduce particle size to 2-20 nm. (may also be used for
synthesis or alloying)

E. Semiconductor nanoparticles
Semiconductor nanoparticles (1 - 20nm, quantum dots, Q particles) have a structural arrangement
similar to bulk materials, but very different physical properties (optical, electrical).

 Electronic properties
o Linear combination of atomic orbitals forms molecular orbitals (MO).
o When the number of atoms increases, the mean energy difference between levels
decreases.
o In a molecular cluster, discrete bonds are formed.
o In the bulk material the band structure is developed. In the nanoparticles, the situation is
in-between.

 Optical properties
o The energy gap between the valence band and the conduction band (corresponding to the
HOMO-LUMO gap in molecular compounds) widens as the particle size decreases.
o The corresponding absorption band is blue-shifted and becomes sharper. The size
distribution must be very narrow in order to obtain good optical properties.
o The optical properties may also be influenced by interaction with e.g. solvent molecules or
ligands, which may perturb the energy levels of the surface atoms.
o Semiconductor nanoparticles in a transparent matrix exhibits photoluminescence and
third order non-linear optical behavior (refractive index depends in the intensity of the
incident light.

V. SYNTHESIS OF NANOMATERIALS

Bottom up approach
1. Precipitation
Precipitation method based on the reduction of metal salts in appropriate solvents with variety of
reducing agents.

Alcohol, glycol, metal borohydride, Phosphonium chloride are some of the reducing agents involved
in this method.
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For example, reduction of chloroaurate ions in aqueous solution by citric acid or sodium borohydride
results in gold hydro sol with particle size in the range of 10-640 A.

reduction
Chloroaurite + Sodium borohydride  Gold hydrosol

Sols of metals and semiconductors nanoparticles are stabilized by the presence of ligand or stabilizing
agent. Long chain amines, thiol or polymers can be act as a stabilizing agents.

2. Thermolysis
Nanoparticles can also be made by decomposing solids or liquids at high temperatures having metal
cations, or molecular anions or metal organic compounds. This is called thermolysis.

For example Li particles can be made by decomposing lithium azide, LiN3.

Hydrothermal synthesis
Hydrothermal synthesis includes the various techniques of crystallizing substances from high
temperature aqueous solutions at high vapor pressures; also termed "hydrothermal method".

Hydrothermal synthesis can be defined as a method of synthesis of single crystals that depends on the
solubility of minerals in hot water under high pressure. The crystal growth is performed in an apparatus
consisting of a steel pressure vessel called an autoclave, in which a nutrient is supplied along with water.
A temperature gradient is maintained between the opposite ends of the growth chamber. At the hotter
end the nutrient solute dissolves, while at the cooler end it is deposited on a seed crystal, growing the
desired crystal.

Solvo thermal synthesis

Solvo thermal synthesis is a method of producing chemical compounds. It is very similar to the
hydrothermal route (where the synthesis is conducted in a stainless steel autoclave), the only difference
being that the precursor solution is usually not aqueous (however, this is not always the case in all
literature uses of the expression).

Using the solvo thermal route gains one the benefits of both the sol-gel and hydrothermal routes. Thus
solvo thermal synthesis allows for the precise control over the size, shape distribution, and crystallinity
of metaloxide nanoparticles or nanostructures. These characteristics can be altered by changing certain
experimental parameters, including reaction temperature, reaction time, solvent type, surfactant type,
and precursor type.

Solvo thermal synthesis has been used in laboratory to make nanostructured titanium dioxide,
graphene, carbon and other materials.

Top down’ approach

1. Laser ablation method

It is the process of removing material from a solid (or occasionally liquid) surface by irradiating it with
a laser beam. At low laser flux, the material is heated by the absorbed laser energy and evaporates or
sublimates. At high laser flux, the material is typically converted to a plasma. Usually, laser ablation
refers to removing material with a pulsed laser, but it is possible to ablate material with a continuous
wave laser beam if the laser intensity is high enough.

2. Chemical vapor deposition method

Chemical vapor deposition (CVD) is a chemical process used to produce high-purity, high performance
solid materials. The process is often used in the semiconductor industry to produce thin films. In typical
CVD, the wafer (substrate) is exposed to one or more volatile precursors, which react and/or decompose
on the substrate surface to produce the desired deposit.
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Frequently, volatile by-products are also produced, which are removed by gas flow through the reaction
chamber.

Microfabrication processes widely use CVD to deposit materials in various forms, including:
monocrystalline, polycrystalline, amorphous, and epitaxial.

These materials include: silicon, carbon fiber, carbon nanofibers, fluorocarbons, filaments, carbon
nanotubes, SiO2, silicon germanium, tungsten, silicon carbide, silicon nitride, silicon oxynitride,
titanium nitride, and various high-k dielectrics.

CVD is also used to produce synthetic diamonds.

3. Electrodeposition
Also knows as electroplating, electroplating is using a small sheet of metal in an electrocytic cell to coat
another object. It is used to protect objects from damage against rusting and corrosion of metals.

The Chemistry behind electroplating is this: the item to be plated by the metal gets the negative
charge and is put into a salt solution of the metal being used to plate the object. The metal being used
to plate the item has a positive charge and is placed in the same solution.

VI. APPLICATIONS OF NANOMATERIAL

Since nanomaterials possess unique, beneficial chemical, physical, and mechanical properties, they can
be used for a wide variety of applications. These applications include, but are not limited to, the
following:

 Next-Generation Computer Chips: The microelectronics industry has been emphasizing

miniaturization, whereby the circuits, such as transistors, resistors, and capacitors, are reduced
in size.
 Kinetic Energy (KE) Penetrators with Enhanced Lethality: The Department of Defense (DoD) is
currently using depleted-uranium (DU) projectiles (penetrators) for its lethality against
hardened targets and enemy armored vehicles.
 Better Insulation Materials: Nanocrystalline materials synthesized by the sol-gel technique
result in foam like structures called "aerogels." These aerogels are porous and extremely
lightweight; yet, they can loads equivalent to 100 times their weight. Aerogels are composed of
three-dimensional, continuous networks of particles with air (or any other fluid, such as agas)
trapped at their interstices. Since they are porous and air is trapped at the interstices, aerogels
are currently being used for insulation in offices, homes, etc.
 Phosphors for High-Definition TV: The resolution of a television, or a monitor, depends greatly
on the size of the pixel. These pixels are essentially made of materials called "phosphors," which
glow when struck by a stream of electrons inside the cathode ray tube (CRT). The resolution
improves with a reduction in the size of the pixel, or the phosphors.
 Low-Cost Flat-Panel Displays: Flat-panel displays represent a huge market in the laptop
(portable) computers industry. However, Japan is leading this market, primarily because of its
research and development efforts on the materials for such displays.
 Tougher and Harder Cutting Tools: Cutting tools made of nanocrystalline materials, such as
tungsten carbide, tantalum carbide, and titanium carbide, are much harder, much more wear
resistant, erosion-resistant, and last longer than their conventional (large-grained)
counterparts.
 Elimination of Pollutants: Nanocrystalline materials possess extremely large grain boundaries
relative to their grain size. Hence, nanomaterials are very active in terms of their of chemical,
physical, and mechanical properties. Due to their enhanced chemical activity, nanomaterials
can be used as catalysts to react with such noxious and toxic gases as carbon monoxide and
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nitrogen oxide in automobile catalytic converters and power generation equipment to prevent
environmental pollution arising from burning gasoline and coal.
 High Energy Density Batteries: Conventional and rechargeable batteries are used in almost all
applications that require electric power. These applications include automobiles, laptop
computers, electric vehicles, next-generation electric vehicles (NGEV) to reduce environmental
pollution, personal stereos, cellular phones, cordless phones, toys, and watches. The energy
density (storage capacity) of these batteries is quite low requiring frequent recharging. The life
of conventional and rechargeable batteries is also low. Nanocrystalline materials synthesized by
sol-gel techniques are candidates for separator plates in batteries because of their foam-like
(aerogel) structure, which can hold considerably more energy than their conventional
counterparts.
 High-Sensitivity Sensors: Sensors employ their sensitivity to the changes in various parameters
they are designed to measure. The measured parameters include electrical resistivity, chemical
activity, magnetic permeability, thermal conductivity, and capacitance.
 Automobiles with Greater Fuel Efficiency: Currently, automobile engines waste considerable
amounts of gasoline, thereby contributing to environmental pollution by not completely
combusting the fuel. A conventional spark plug is not designed to burn the gasoline completely
and efficiently. This problem is compounded by defective, or worn-out, spark plug electrodes.
 Aerospace Components with Enhanced Performance Characteristics: Due to the risks involved in
flying, aircraft manufacturers strive to make the aerospace components stronger, tougher, and
last longer. One of the key properties required of the aircraft components is the fatigue strength,
which decreases with the component’s age.
 Better and Future Weapons Platforms
 Longer-Lasting Satellites
 Longer-Lasting Medical Implants
 Ductile, Machinable Ceramics
 Large Electrochromic Display Devices.