Nano Materials
- [Cornell University]
- Overview
Nanotechnology involves designing and producing objects or structures on a very small scale, at the level of 100 nanometers (millionths of a millimeter) or less. Nanomaterials are one of the main products of nanotechnology - as nanoscale particles, tubes, rods or fibers. Nanoparticles are generally defined as smaller than 100 nanometers in at least one dimension.
With the development of nanotechnology, nanomaterials are being applied in fields such as healthcare, electronics, cosmetics, textiles, information technology, and environmental protection.
The properties of nanomaterials are not always well characterized, and they require a risk assessment of possible exposures during their manufacture and use.
- Nanomaterials
Nanomaterials can be roughly classified according to their total number of nanometer sizes:
- If all three dimensions of a material are nanoscale, it is called a 0D (zero-dimensional) material, often referred to as a nanoparticle.
- If two dimensions of a material are nanoscale, and the other dimension is much larger (like a string shrinking to a tiny size), then it's a one-dimensional material or "nanotube/nanowire".
- If only one dimension was nanoscale, then it would be a 2D material—similar to a large but very thin sheet (like a sheet of paper).
- Finally, a material is not a nanomaterial if it does not have any dimensions small enough to be considered nanoscale. Instead, it should be called "bulk" material, the class we deal with in our daily lives.
| Number of Nanoscopic | Classification | Example |
|---|---|---|
| 0 | Bulk | Anything you can see by eye |
| 1 | 2D | (nanosheet)Graphene |
| 2 | 1D | (nanotube or nanowire)Carbon nanotube |
| 3 | 0D | (nanoparticle)Quantum dot |
[More to come ...]
