Nanomaterials and Their Exotic Properties

Dr. R.Balaji,
Thin Film Centre,
Department of Physics,
 Organization of the talk
What are Nano materials?
Evolution of nanotechnology
Exotic properties of nano particles
Science of nanotechnology
Applications
Conclusion
 How Small is NANO?
A nanometer is a billionth of a meter, that is, about
1/80,000 of the diameter of a human hair, or 10 times the
diameter of a hydrogen atom.

1m 1 mm (10-3 m) 1 m (10-6 m) 1 nm (10-9 m)

Human being Ant Red blood cell (2- Hydrogen

(1.7 m) (1 mm) 5 micrometer) Atom
(0.1 nm)
Physical Consequences of Scaling
Down
 A nanometer-sized gear would be 300, 000
times smaller than the micro-gear held by this
ant where the length of the ant is 1 mm.
 Definitions
Nanoscience: is the study of
the fundamental principles of
molecules and structures with
at least one dimension
between 1 and 100 nm.

Nanostructure: structure with

a size between 1 and 100nm.

Nanotechnology and
Nanomanufacturing: is the
application of these
nanostructures into useful
nanoscale devices and
components.
 WHAT IS NANOTECHNOLOGY?

ENGINEERING BIOLOGY

NANO
TECHNOLOGY

PHYSICS CHEMISTRY

The technology to study materials with very small sizes(<100 nm).

Its an interdisciplinary field of research.
HOW TO SEE NANOPARTICLES?

Transmission
Electron
Microscope

Scanning
Electron
Microscope
 Why Nanomaterials?

Nanomaterials/nanocrystalline materials manifest

extremely fascinating and useful properties, which can
be exploited for a variety of structural and non-
structural applications.

Nanostructures have have become an exciting

research field
New physics phenomena
Unusual quantum effects and structural
properties
Promising applications
There's Plenty of Room at the Bottom
-Richard P. Feynman
 Nano Manufacturing
Nanomanufacturing can be subdivided into
three broad categories
Synthesis of nanoparticles (e.g. nanopowder)
Integration of nanoparticles into a bulk nanostructured
component (e.g. aircraft brake pads, nanocomposites)
Device Manufacturing (Electronic, Magnetic, Optics and
Bio)

"The principles of physics, as far as I can see, do not

speak against the possibility of maneuvering things atom
by atom."
Richard P. Feynman
 Nanomanufacturing/Nanofabrication
Top-down
nanofabrication:
starting with a large
structure and
proceeded to make it
smaller (e.g.
Mechanical Milling)
Bottom-up
nanofabrication:
starting with individual
atoms and building up
a nanostructure. (e.g.
CVD)
 Science of Nanomaterials
Nanotechnology is based on some new properties acquired by
materials when prepared in the nanometer size.
For example, zirconia nano particles become transparent and
do not scatter visible light
Ceramic materials, which are brittle, become malleable and
ductile when reduced to nano form
Magnetic nano materials acquire large magnetic moments
Also that the strength of metals increases many folds
The electrical resistance of some semiconductors become
dependent on the applied voltage
The melting and sintering temperatures of some materials
decrease drastically
Ceramics and transition metals show better catalytic properties
when prepared in nano form
Why does such dramatic change in properties occur?
The answer to this( physics of nano manomaterials) help us to
make better use of them
. This leads to success of producing tailor-made materials.
 Scratch resistant plastic lenses
Normally the spectacles consist of a pair of
appropriate lenses made of glass. Why glass?
Because glass is transparent to visible light .

Plastic could replace glass since it transparent &

light weight material for making lenses.

But the surface of a plastic lens easily scratches and

a couple of scratches on the lens can reduce its
transparency.

If the surface of the plastic lens is coated with a layer

of zirconia (zirconium oxide) nanoparticles it scratch
resistant while retaining its transparency
 Dirt repellant trains
The outer side of the train compartments usually
coated with a thick layer of dust and other dirt
particles

Train compartments could be made dirt repellant by

painting the outside of the compartments with an
emulsion containing nano particles.

Small size of these particles ensures that the surface

is too smooth that dirt cannot stick to it. Now such
dust-resistant trains are running in Europe.

Dirt repellant cloth - Teflon Coated ties (which are

available in the market today).

Smart cloths that can control body temperature!!

 Malleable ceramic motor vehicle
engine
Wear of motor vehicle engines due to high
temperature corrosion could be avoided by using
some corrosion-resistant ceramic material.

Unfortunately ceramics are brittle. one cannot make

vehicular engines with brittle materials!

For this purpose the material has to be malleable and

ductile so that it can withstand shock, and also it can
be molded.

The ceramics when prepared in the nano particle size

become malleable. So motor vehicle manufacturers
are eagerly looking forward to put this into practice.
Nanomaterials as better varistors
Varistors are the materials in which the resistance decreases
on increasing the current or the voltage switching device.

Semi conductor doped polycrystalline zinc oxide has many

grains and hence grain boundaries.

The increase in voltage causes increase in current which results

in the coalescence of grains leads to decrease in resistance.

In a polycrystalline nanomaterial the grains being of nanometre

size the number of grain boundaries is enormously large
compared to its bulk counterpart.

On increasing the voltage, the current and hence the heating

increases causing the coalescence of millions of grains reducing
the number of grain boundaries leads to larger current densities
of a few orders of magnitude.

Hence best varistors.

 Hyperthermia: A treatment for
cancer
Cancerous cells in a body grow in an uncontrolled manner. Most
of the nutrition in the food is consumed by the cancerous cells.
So drugs for cancer can be delivered by mixing it with the
nutrients in food.

Nano particles of magnetic materials exhibit super para

magnetism large magnetic moments.

When mixed with the food consumed by the patient these

magnetic nano particles with random atomic magnetic moments
would accumulate near the cells affected by cancer.

By applying a strong magnetic field, the atomic magnet

moments in the nano particles will make a transition from the
disordered state to the ordered state.

Thermal energy released due to this transition would appear as

heat and increase the temperature of the region to about 50 C,
thus killing the cancerous cells.
Catalytic properties of nanomaterials
The metals titanium, platinum and rhodium are known to be
better catalysts in their nanoforms.

In the nanoform the surface-to-volume ratio is greatly

enhanced resulting in the enhancement of their catalytic
properties.

It has also been established that titania in its nanoform is more

efficient in removing sulphur from vehicular exhaust.

In nanoform a large surface and greater oxygen vacancies are

present.

Large surface area leads to more sulphur getting attached to

the surface of nanoparticles of titania,

Large number of Oxygen vacancies leads to migration of

Sulphur to the interior to fill up the oxygen vacancy.

This results in increasing the efficiency for sulphur removal

from vehicular exhausts.
 Band gap in semiconductor
nanomaterials
CdSe particles between 2 to 7 nm
suspended in liquid can exhibit
fluorescence between 450 to
650nm; that is, from bluish to
orange.
In contrast to a bulk
semiconductor where the energy
levels of the electron form a quasi
continuum like that for a free
particle;
In the case of quantum dots the
energy levels form a discrete
spectrum of localized states. This
makes it possible for an indirect
band gap semiconductor to have
a direct band gap component.
Hence a material like silicon in its
nano form can be made to emit Fluoroscence in different CdSe
visible light. quantum dots
 We can make CdSe
q-dots in three or four
different sizes and
illuminate them with
the same light when
they would fluoresce
in different colours.
This property can be
used for reporting
about different
functioning of the cell.

Quantum Dots in visualising

biological processes
Taking the heat off: Nanofluids promise efficient heat transfer
Chad Boutin
http://www.anl.gov/OPA/logos19-2/nanofluids01.htm
 HIGH STRENGTH

Conventional grains:
Short crack path

Nano grains:
Long crack path
 WHY USE NANO-MATERIALS ?

HUGE STRENGTH !!!

EVEN HULK CAN NOT BREAK !!!
 Silver Nano Wash
99.9% sterilization
(kills 650 different types of bacteria)

SILVER WASH uses nanotechnology to

electrolyze pure silver during wash and rinse
cycles. Over 400 billion silver ions are
released and penetrate deep into fabric for
effective sanitization.
 Trousers: Nanotex

Dockers recently came out with a new brand of pants, the Go

Khakis, which promise to keep your legs stain-free using
revolutionary nanotechnology.
http://www.nano-tex.com/
NANO IN MEDICAL SCIENCE
Severe Acute Respiratory
Syndrome (SARS) virus

A nanoporous silica
increases enzyme
activity and stability.

Flonase: Atomizer to create nano

droplets for faster relief from
congestion
Carbon Nanotubes
a revolution!
 CARBON NANO TUBE

Diamond Graphite
CNT, long, thin
cylinders of
carbon was
discovered and
first characterized
by Sumio Ijima in
1991.
Fullerene CNT
STRUCTURE OF Single Wall Nano Tube
CNT exhibits well-
defined perfect crystal
structure with strong
covalent C-C bonds.
Single layer of graphite
(graphene) is rolled up
in various ways into
seamless tubes to form
CNT.
The properties (except
the electrical
conductivity) of tubes
of different types are
essentially the same.
BENDING OF NANO TUBE

Nanotubes have strength 100 times more

than steel.
But only one-sixth as heavy !!!
 Solids of futuristic use

Related materials that also

exhibit many exotic properties
are the carbonnanotubes.

Scientists are visualizing their

use in making nanoelectronic
devices and in engineering
applications with such exotic
ideas as dent-resistant cars to
earth quake-resistant
buildings
Carbon Nanotube
 Solid made up of nanoparticles
Fullerides (compounds formed
by substituting metal atoms for
one or more carbon atoms in the
fullerene molecule), which are
bad conductors of electricity in
their pure form, become metallic
when doped with alkali atoms
and even become
superconductors at
comparatively high
temperatures.

The magnetic properties also

show dramatic changes with the
choice and concentration of the
dopants.

Fullerene
FUTURE USE OF CNT AS NANO GEARS
Worlds first single molecule car

The cars light-powered motor is attached mid-chassis. When struck by

light, it rotates in one direction, pushing the car along like a
paddlewheel. Credit: Takashi Sasaki/Rice University, April 2006.
The nanocar consists of a rigid chassis and four alkyne axles that spin
freely and swivel independently of one another. The wheels are
spherical molecules of carbon, hydrogen and boron called p-carborane.
About 20,000 nano cars can be parked on a human hair.
 DNA-functionalized CNT-FET for Chemical Sensor

CNT-FET with a single-stranded DNA can be used as chemical

sensing devices.
Upon exposure to chemical vapors, the electronic properties of
the transistor change in a way that is characteristic of
molecular composition of the vapor.
Chemicals can be detected by simply reading the electronic
signals produced by this device.

Gate Gas DNA CNT Au

S D
Source Drain
Nanowire Channel G
 Protein-functionalized CNT-FET Biological Sensor

Receptor proteins recognize and bind specific molecules such as

drugs, toxins, hormones or other proteins.
The binding of these molecules to their receptors can be detected
using CNT- FET that have been functionalized with receptor proteins.
Molecules (orange) that bind to their receptor (green) produce a
characteristic change in the electronic properties of the transistor.
The molecule can be detected by electronic signals..

Molecules Receptor proteins

The Brains Master Switch
 Impact of Miniaturization

Potential Positive Impacts

Reduction of disease.
Job opportunities in new fields.
Low-cost energy.
Cost reductions with improved efficiencies.
Improved product and building materials.
Transportation improvements
Potential Negative Impacts
Material toxicity
Non-biodegradable materials.
Unanticipated consequences.
Job losses due to increased manufacturing efficiencies.
 Welcome to Future

Clothing: anti-spill, anti-stain, anti-odor, anti-static,

anti-pollen and even anti-sand!
Food: adding nutritional value without affecting taste:
stronger, lighter, biodegradable plastic bags and packages
Home: anti-mold, anti-corrosion, and super thin insulation:
self-cleaning, scratch-free and fade resistant surfaces
Recreation: improved performance, increased focus on safety
Medicine: diagnostics, monitoring, elder care, robotics
Thank You for your
Attention