What is a nanoparticle?

A nanoparticle or ultrafine particle is usually defined as a particle of matter that is between 1 and
100 nanometres in diameter, size very close to an atom

How does a nanoparticle occur?

 Natural (in volcanic ash, ocean spray, fine sand and dust, and even biological matter (e.g.
viruses).
 Incidental (by-products of combustion reactions, human activities)
 Engineered (produced purposefully through engineering to perform a specialized
function)

Are nanoparticles classified?

Nanoparticles can be classified as hard (e.g., titania [titanium dioxide], silica [silica dioxide]
particles, and fullerenes) or as soft (e.g., liposomes, vesicles, and nanodroplets)

What are the uses of nanoparticles?

 Biology or medicine: Fluorescent biological labels, Drug and gene delivery, Bio
detection of pathogens, Detection of proteins, Probing of DNA structure, Tissue
engineering, Tumour destruction via heating (hyperthermia), Separation and purification
of biological molecules and cells, MRI contrast enhancement; nanoparticles used as drug
carriers are high stability, high carrier capacity, feasibility of incorporation of both
hydrophilic and hydrophobic substances, and feasibility of variable routes of
administration, including oral application and inhalation. Technique used in genetic
engineering (gene therapy and stem cell therapy)
 Consumer products: Nanoparticles are now being used in the manufacture of scratchproof
eyeglasses, crack- resistant paints, anti-graffiti coatings for walls, transparent sunscreens,
stain-repellent fabrics, self-cleaning windows, and ceramic coatings for solar cells.
 Cosmetics: sunscreen, creams, shampoos, antiaging products, hair growth products,
lipsticks, etc.
 Foods and food-containers: The most common protein nanoparticles found in foods are
the casein micelles found in bovine milk and other dairy products. Common food-related
products that contain nanotechnology include candies (M&M's, Skittles), baby bottles,
and plastic storage containers.

Are nanoparticles dangerous?

Out of three human studies, only one showed a passage of inhaled nanoparticles into the
bloodstream. Materials which by themselves are not very harmful could be toxic if they are
inhaled in the form of nanoparticles. The effects of inhaled nanoparticles in the body may
include lung inflammation and heart problems.

Who invented or discovered nanoparticles?

Over a decade later, in his explorations of ultraprecision machining, Professor Norio
Taniguchi coined the term nanotechnology in 1974. It wasn't until 1981, with the development of
the scanning tunneling microscope that could "see" individual atoms, that modern
nanotechnology began.
What is nanotechnology?
Nanoscience and nanotechnology are the study and application of extremely small things and can
be used across all the other science fields, such as chemistry, biology, physics, materials science,
and engineering.

Who is the father of nanotechnology?

The American physicist and Nobel Prize laureate Richard Feynman, who introduced the concept
of nanotechnology in 1959. Dr. Heinrich Rohrer, Founding Father of Nanotechnology

How is nanotechnology involved in COVID-19 vaccine?

There are three major nanotechnological techniques of presenting adjuvants and antigens in
concert on vaccine productions. The first is co-delivery through encapsulation within or
conjugation onto a nanoparticle, wherein the adjuvant and antigen are bound within or onto a
nanoparticle which is then delivered to the cell. The second is direct antigen-adjuvant
conjugation, where the two particles are bonded for delivery. The third approach utilizes the
antigen delivery vehicle as an adjuvant itself.

Graphene – Nanoparticle of the future

Graphene is the name for an atom-thick honeycomb sheet of carbon atoms. It is the
building block for other graphitic materials (since a typical carbon atom has a diameter of about
0.33 nanometers, there are about 3 million layers of graphene in 1 mm of graphite).
Units of graphene are known as nanographene; these are tailored to specific functions and
as such their fabrication process is more complicated than that of generic graphene.
Nanographene is made by selectively removing hydrogen atoms from organic molecules of
carbon and hydrogen, a process called dehydrogenation.
Harder than diamond yet more elestic than rubber; tougher than steel yet lighter than
aluminium. Graphene is the strongest known material.
To put this in perspective: if a sheet of cling film (like kitchen wrap film) had the same strength
as a pristine monolayer of graphene, it would require the force exerted by a mass of 2000 kg, or a
large car, to puncture it with a pencil.
Graphene possesses other amazing characteristics: Its high electron mobility is 100x
faster than silicon; it conducts heat 2x better than diamond; its electrical conductivity is 13x
better than copper; it absorbs only 2.3% of reflecting light; it is impervious so that even the
smallest atom (helium) can't pass through a defect-free monolayer graphene sheet; and its high
surface area of 2630 square meters per gram means that with less than 3 grams you could cover
an entire soccer field (well, practically speaking you would need 6 grams, since 2630 m2/g is the
surface area for both sides of a graphene sheet).
Graphene is the basic building block for other graphitic materials; it also represents a
conceptually new class of materials that are only one atom thick, so-called two-dimensional (2D)
materials (they are called 2D because they extends in only two dimensions: length and width; as
the material is only one atom thick, the third dimension, height, is considered to be zero).
Graphene is also very attractive for the fabrication of mixed-dimensional van der Waals
heterostructures that could be carried out through hybridizing graphene with 0D quantum dots or
nanoparticles, 1D nanostructures such as nanowires or carbon nanotubes, or 3D bulk materials.
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