NANOMATERIAL ECONOMY

• Estimated to be worth $2 Trillion to the

U.S. economy by 2020
• More that 2 Million jobs expected to
support nanotech industries
• Over 1,700 organizations worldwide are
actively engaged in “nano-research”
• Expected proliferation into virtually every
aspect of commerce
• Products containing nanomaterials
predicted to be worth $292 Billion by
end of this decade
 Example of Prominent
Nanomaterials
Advanced Carbon Materials
(Fullerenes, Carbon Nanotubes, C60
Molecules, Graphene)
Graphene (One Nanomaterial in
details)
How It behave with different other
nanostructures (With Ceramics nano
structures)
Fabrication
Physical Properties
 Detailed Examples of Nanomaterials:
Advanced Carbon Materials
Carbon comes in two basic but startlingly different forms (or allotropes),
namely
•Graphite (the soft, black stuff in pencil "leads")
•Diamond (the super-hard, sparkly crystals in jewelry).
The amazing thing is that both these radically different materials are made
of identical carbon atoms. So why is graphite different to diamond? The
atoms inside the two materials are arranged in different ways, and this is
what gives the two allotropes their completely different properties:
•Graphite is black, dull, and relatively soft
•Diamond is transparent and the hardest natural material so far discovered.
In the last few decades scientists have discovered various other carbon
allotropes with even more interesting properties.
Advanced Carbon Material:
Fullerenes (discovered in 1985; hollow cages of carbon atoms, including
the so-called Buckyball, made from a kind of football-shaped cage of 60
carbon atoms
Nanotubes (discovered in 1991; flat sheets of carbon atoms curled into
amazingly thin, hollow tubes one nanometer in diameter)
(Drum roll) graphene
(discovered in 2004) Graphene – Material of the 4
Future? Why so Special?
Physicists Andre Geim, left, and Konstantin
Novoselov right: Discovery of Graphene
Schematic of pristine graphene manipulation with a
scanning tunnelling microscope.
Credit: Chinese Academy of Sciences
 Graphene
Graphene is a single layer of graphite. The remarkable thing about it is that its
crystalline structure is two-dimensional. In other words, the atoms in graphene
are laid out flat, like billiard balls on a table. Just like in graphite, each layer of
graphene is made of hexagonal “rings” of carbon, giving a honeycomb-like
appearance. Since the layers themselves are just one atom high, you'd need a
stack of about three million of these layers to make graphene 1mm thick
 Wonder material
 2010 Physics Nobel Prize (Novoselov)
 20st Century (Plastics), 21st Century (Graphene)
 Zero gap semi conductor
 Strong, flexible, conductive transparent, high strength
 200 Times stronger than steel, G-Sheets held by Van der Waals
forces

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Graphene-2D Materials (One Atom Thick)
(b,c) Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) images and d,e)
Tunneling Electron Microscope (TEM) images of Graphene
 Physics of Graphene – Material of the Future? Why so Special?

An important characteristic of graphene is that it is made up of carbon

atoms arranged in a hexagonal honeycomb lattice. So in a single 2D layer
of graphene, each carbon atom is connected to 3 other carbon atoms.

No band gap: Graphene has no band gap. A band gap is the gap between
the energy of an electron when it is bound to an atom, and the so-called
conduction band, where it is free to move around. An electron can't have an
energy level between those two states. This makes graphene a wonderful
candidate for use in photovoltaic (PV) cells, for instance, because it can
absorb photons with energy at every frequency. No bandgap means
everything is accepted.

Transparency: Transparency of graphene is so high, humans can see

single layer of atom with naked eyes if they are graphene.

Thermal conductivity: Graphene also beats diamond in thermal

conductivity. In fact, graphene now holds the record for conducting heat —
it's better than any other known material.
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Elastic: Well, for a crystal, anyway. Graphene stretches up to 20 percent
of its length. And et it is also the stiffest known material — even stiffer than
diamond.

Impermeable: Graphene is also the most impermeable material ever

discovered. This makes it a great material for building highly sensitive gas
detectors, for example, since even the smallest quantity of a gas will get
caught in its lattice, changing its electrical properties.

Best at electricity: Graphene also has "the highest current density (a

million times that of copper) at room temperature; the highest intrinsic
mobility (100 times more than in silicon); and conducts electricity in the
limit of no electrons". Which means it can carry more electricity more
efficiency, faster and with more precision than any other material.
What happen if we mix graphene with ceramics
Nano Ceramics
 Low weight
 Brittle, low strength
 Low density
 Low thermal, electrical conductivity
 High melting temperature
 High wear/corrosion resistance
 High temperature/pressure phase stability
 Chemically inert, high hardness and fracture
toughness

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 Nano Fabrication Requirement/Limitations

Graphene-Hybrids Nanostructures

 Polymer composite, high conductive rGO-

polystyrene composite
 Inorganic hybrid, rGO-Co3O4 with enhanced
catalytic effect
 Ceramics hybrid, high strength rGO-silicon
nitride
In particular, Graphene-Ceramics
Hybrids:
Graphene with outstanding
physical properties
Monolithic Ceramics with higher
temperature/Higher pressure
stability
Limited field of applications due
to lower thermal/electrical
conductivity of monolithic ceramics
For Graphene-ceramics,
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Incorporating graphene in the
ceramics can have great potential
for electro-conductive applications
(higher electrical cond.)
Nano Fabrication Methods

Lesser Physical Properties

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(Strategies of low cost nano graphene)

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Application Requirements:
Good Thermal/Electrical
Conductivity?
What is Hybrid Nanomaterial?
What is Composite Nanomaterial?
 Gamma-Alumina-rGO Nanomaterials
 A Simple solvothermal/hydrothermal-hot pressing strategy is used.
 It is found that the oxygen-containing groups on graphene oxide benefit to the adsorption
of corresponding metal alkoxides, leading to the uniform dispersion of rGO with ceramic-
oxides which is hydrolyzed from metal alkoxide in solvothermal/hydrothermal reactions.
 Monolithic hybrids are achieved with enhanced physical properties.

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 Electrical Conductivity Measurements Thermal Conductivity Measurements

Dielectric Properties Measurements

Conclusion: Monolithic hybrids are achieved with enhanced physical properties.

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 A 90 % increase in tensile strength and 75 % in compressive strength
Mechanical occurs when the content of rGO is increased from 0 to 7.705 wt. % in
Strength the hybrid
Analysis

Conclusion: Monolithic hybrids are achieved with enhanced physical properties.

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Application of Nanotechnology
in Chemical Engineering
• Energy Materials
• New Trends of Renewable Energy in
Chemical Engineering
• Lithium Ion Batteries
• Super-capacitors
• Superior Energy Storage Devices
• Fuel Cells
• Photo catalytic Devices