Nanomaterials: an introduction to synthesis, properties and applications

This book is an introduction to nanomaterials; one may consider it as an approach to a textbook. It is based on the course on Nanomaterials for Engineers that I give at the University of Technology in Graz, Austria, and on the courses that NanoConsulting organizes for participants from industry and academia. I want to provoke your curiosity. The reader should feel invited to learn more about nanomaterials, to use nanomaterials, and to want to go beyond the content of this book. However, even when it is thought of as an introduction, reading this book requires some basic knowledge of physics and chemistry. I have tried to describe the mechanisms determining the properties of nanoparticles in a simplified way. Therefore, specialists in the different fields may feel uncomfortable with the outcome, but I saw no other way to describe the mechanisms leading to the fascinating properties of nanoparticles for a broader audience. I am fully aware of the fact that the selection of examples from the literature is, to some extent, biased against those who discovered these new phenomena. However, in most cases, where a new phenomenon was described for the first time, the effect is just shown in principle. Later papers only had a chance when they showed these phenomena very clearly. Therefore, from the viewpoint of a textbook, the later papers are preferred. I really apologize this selection of literature. Many exciting phenomena and processes are connected with nanoparticles. However, the size of this book is limited and, therefore, I had to make a selection of the topics presented. Unavoidably, such a selection was inevitably influenced by personal experience and preferences. Again, I apologize if the reader does not find information on a field that is important for their company or institution. I hope the reader will find this book inspiring, and will be motivated to go deeper into this fascinating field of science and technology. This is now the second edition and I am so thankful for all the kind reviews of the previous edition in different journals. I have now reshuffled the chapters according to my current views. Some topics have been removed, because scientific or technological developments did not go as expected, and a few new and exciting topics have been added.