NANOMATERIALS

The Chemistry of Engineering Materials

Lecture Notes 06
Chemistry for Engineers
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Nanostructured materials are characterized by at least one dimension in the

nanometer range.

Engineered nanomaterials are those that are already being used in many
commercial products and processes.

Nanoscience and nanotechnology primarily deal with the synthesis,

characterization, exploration and exploitation of nanostructured materials.

CLASSIFICATIONS OF NANOSTRUCTURES

Individual nanostructures include clusters, quantum dots, nanocrystals, nanowires,

and nanotubes.

Collections of nanostructures involve arrays, assemblies,

and super lattices of the individual nanostructures.
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CLASSIFICATIONS AND PROPERTIES OF NANOMATERIALS

1. Zero dimensional

- measured within the nanoscale

- represented by nanoparticles
- can be either amorphous or crystalline
- can be either a crystalline or polycrystalline
- can be composed of single or multi-chemical elements
- exhibit various shapes and forms
- may exist individually or incorporated in a matrix
- can be metallic, ceramic or polymeric

2. One-dimensional

- one of the dimensions of the material is outside the nanoscale leading to a needle-like
nanomaterials
- include nanotubes, nanorods and nanowires
- can either be amorphous or crystalline
- can either be crystalline or polycrystalline
- can either be a stand alone or embedded in within another medium
- can be metallic, ceramic or polymeric
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CLASSIFICATIONS AND PROPERTIES OF NANOMATERIALS

3. Two-dimensional

- two of the dimensions of the material are not confined to the nanoscale
- they exhibit palte-like shapes
- include nanofilms, nanolayers and nanocoatings
- can either be amorphous or crystalline
- made up of various chemical compositions
- used a single layer or as multilayer structures
- deposited on a substrate
- integrated in surrounding matrix
- can be metallic, ceramic and polymeric

2. Three-dimensional

- has characteristics of having three arbitrarily dimensions above 100nm

- possess a nanocrystalline structure
- can be composed of a multiple arrangement of nanosize crystals, typically in different orientations
- can contain dispersions of nanoparticles, bundles of nanowires and nanotubes
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SEMICONDUCTORS ON THE NANOSCALE

Quantum dots – semicondictor particles with diameters in the size of 1 to 10nm

Quantum wells – semiconductors that are laid down in a relatively-large two-

dimensional areas on a substrate but with thickness in the range of few nanometers

Quantum wires – semicondutors whose wire diameter is only few nanometers but
its length is very long
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FULLERENES – large molecules composed of only carbon atoms

IMAGE: Brown, 2012

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CARBON NANOTUBES – sheets of graphite that are rolled up; can behave
either as a metal or semiconductor depending on ho wthe sheet was rolled up.

IMAGE: Brown, 2012

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GRAPHENE – a two-dimensional carbon from an isolated layer of graphite

IMAGE: Brown, 2012

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PROPERTIES OF NANOMATERIALS (IN REFERENCE TO THEIR

CONVENTIONAL FORMS)

1. Nanomaterials have much greater surface area to volume ratio which can lead to
greater chemical reactivity and affect their strength

2. Presence of quantum effects which leads to their novel optical, electrical and
magnetic behaviors.
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METALS ON THE NANOSCALE

IMAGE: Brown, 2012

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IMAGE: Brown, 2012

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PHOTOLUMINESCENCE – the process of making semiconductors emit light by

illuminating them with light whose photons have energies larger than the energy of
the band gap of the semiconductor.

IMAGE: Brown, 2012

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GENERAL METHODS FOR CREATING NANOSTRUCTURES

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REFERENCES

3GLearning, (2016) Basic Engineering Chemistry, UAE

Brown, T.L., Lemay Jr., H.E., Bursten, B.E., Murphy, C.J., and Woodward, P.M.
(2012) Chemistry: The Central Science, 12th Ed., USA: Pearson Education, Inc.

Gogotsi, Y. (ed) (2006) Nanomaterials Handbook. New YorK: Taylor & Francis Group,
LLC.