4
D. K. Subbiah et al.
Fig. 1 Classification of materials among various dimensions
Surface to Volume ratio =
4πr
2
4
3
πr 3 =
3
r
(1)
From this relation, it is clear that size reduction of the system obviously increases
the number of atoms on the surface that would be effectively involved in electrical
and chemical reactions. To numerically validate the influence of the size, consider
silicon samples with two different radii (a) 2 μm and (b) 2 nm and by substituting
it in the Eq. (1), the obtained surface to volume ratio were 1.5 × 10
6 and 1.5 × 10
9
respectively. Hence it could be inferred that the number of idle atoms in bulk has
been considerably reduced in nano regime, as 99.9% of atoms reside on its surface.
Reduction of material dimensions to nanoscale results in discretization of bands
and their exposure compared to a bulk material due to limited number of atoms
in the former. In addition, by reducing the dimensions of material to less than that
of the de-Broglie wavelength, the propagation of electron in that dimension stands
restricted resulting in its confinement within that particular dimension. This electron
confinement ultimately gets reflected in the energy band structure: staircase function
for 2-D materials, spike like function for 1-D materials and vertical line function for
0-D materials. Based on electron confinement, nanomaterials are classified as 3-D
(Bulk), 2-D (Thin Films), 1-D (Nano Wires) and 0-D (Quantum Dots) materials. The
representations of materials in various dimensions are shown in Fig. 1.
Irrespective of material dimensions, nanomaterials can also be categorized based
on its properties. In this chapter, distinguished materials such as carbon derivatives, conducting polymers, metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) and metals and metal
oxides towards textile functionalization for electronic applications are discussed elaborately. In each sub-set, the nature of the materials, its interaction mechanism with
the physical environment and the outcome due to the incorporation of the materials
on to the flexible substrate are discussed.
2.1 Carbon Derivatives
Carbon has received keen interest due to its unique bonding nature and different
allotropic forms. Despite its bulk form, allotropes of carbon are found at nanoscale
as well in three dimensions namely fullerenes, nanotubes (CNTs), graphene and
D. K. Subbiah et al.
Fig. 1 Classification of materials among various dimensions
Surface to Volume ratio =
4πr
2
4
3
πr 3 =
3
r
(1)
From this relation, it is clear that size reduction of the system obviously increases
the number of atoms on the surface that would be effectively involved in electrical
and chemical reactions. To numerically validate the influence of the size, consider
silicon samples with two different radii (a) 2 μm and (b) 2 nm and by substituting
it in the Eq. (1), the obtained surface to volume ratio were 1.5 × 10
6 and 1.5 × 10
9
respectively. Hence it could be inferred that the number of idle atoms in bulk has
been considerably reduced in nano regime, as 99.9% of atoms reside on its surface.
Reduction of material dimensions to nanoscale results in discretization of bands
and their exposure compared to a bulk material due to limited number of atoms
in the former. In addition, by reducing the dimensions of material to less than that
of the de-Broglie wavelength, the propagation of electron in that dimension stands
restricted resulting in its confinement within that particular dimension. This electron
confinement ultimately gets reflected in the energy band structure: staircase function
for 2-D materials, spike like function for 1-D materials and vertical line function for
0-D materials. Based on electron confinement, nanomaterials are classified as 3-D
(Bulk), 2-D (Thin Films), 1-D (Nano Wires) and 0-D (Quantum Dots) materials. The
representations of materials in various dimensions are shown in Fig. 1.
Irrespective of material dimensions, nanomaterials can also be categorized based
on its properties. In this chapter, distinguished materials such as carbon derivatives, conducting polymers, metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) and metals and metal
oxides towards textile functionalization for electronic applications are discussed elaborately. In each sub-set, the nature of the materials, its interaction mechanism with
the physical environment and the outcome due to the incorporation of the materials
on to the flexible substrate are discussed.
2.1 Carbon Derivatives
Carbon has received keen interest due to its unique bonding nature and different
allotropic forms. Despite its bulk form, allotropes of carbon are found at nanoscale
as well in three dimensions namely fullerenes, nanotubes (CNTs), graphene and