1
Introduction
1
Everyone talks about nanomaterials. There are many publications, books and
journals devoted to this topic. This is not surprising, as the economic importance
is steadily increasing. Additionally, interested persons without specific education
in one of these fields, have, at the moment, nearly no chance to understand this
technology, its background and applications. This book fills this gap. It deals
with the special phenomena found with nanomaterials and tries to give explanations, avoiding descriptions that are directed to specialists and need specialized
education.
To get an idea about the actual size relations, think about a tennis ball, having
a diameter of a little more than 6 cm = 6 × 10
−2 m and compare it with a particle
with diameter of 6 nm = 6 × 10
−9 m. The ratio of the diameters of these two objects
is 10
7 . An object 10
7 times larger than a tennis ball has a diameter of 600 km. This
simple comparison makes clear: nanoparticles are really small.
The difficulty with nanomaterials arises from the fact that – in contrast to conventional materials – knowledge of material science is not sufficient; rather some
knowledge of physics, chemistry, and materials science is necessary. Additionally,
as many applications are in the fields of biology and medicine, some knowledge
in these fields is necessary to understand these important applications. Figure 1.1
demonstrates that science and technology of nanomaterials are influenced by
materials science, physics, chemistry, and for many, economically most important
applications, also of biology and medicine.
The number of additional facts introduced to materials science is not that large,
therefore, this new situation is not that complicated, as it may look to the observer
from the outside. However, the industrial user of nanomaterials, as a developer
of new products, has to accept that the new properties of nanomaterials demand
deeper insight to the physics and chemistry of the materials. Furthermore, in
conventional materials, the interface to biotechnology and medicine depends on
the application. This is different in nanotechnology, as biological molecules, such
as proteins or DNAs are building blocks, quite often also for applications outside
of biology and medicine.
The first question to be answered is: What are nanomaterials? There are two
definitions. One, the broadest, says: nanomaterials are materials with sizes of the
individual building blocks below 100 nm at least in one dimension. This definition
Nanoparticles – Nanocomposites – Nanomaterials: An Introduction for Beginners, First Edition. Dieter Vollath.
© 2013 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA. Published 2013 by Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA.
Introduction
1
Everyone talks about nanomaterials. There are many publications, books and
journals devoted to this topic. This is not surprising, as the economic importance
is steadily increasing. Additionally, interested persons without specific education
in one of these fields, have, at the moment, nearly no chance to understand this
technology, its background and applications. This book fills this gap. It deals
with the special phenomena found with nanomaterials and tries to give explanations, avoiding descriptions that are directed to specialists and need specialized
education.
To get an idea about the actual size relations, think about a tennis ball, having
a diameter of a little more than 6 cm = 6 × 10
−2 m and compare it with a particle
with diameter of 6 nm = 6 × 10
−9 m. The ratio of the diameters of these two objects
is 10
7 . An object 10
7 times larger than a tennis ball has a diameter of 600 km. This
simple comparison makes clear: nanoparticles are really small.
The difficulty with nanomaterials arises from the fact that – in contrast to conventional materials – knowledge of material science is not sufficient; rather some
knowledge of physics, chemistry, and materials science is necessary. Additionally,
as many applications are in the fields of biology and medicine, some knowledge
in these fields is necessary to understand these important applications. Figure 1.1
demonstrates that science and technology of nanomaterials are influenced by
materials science, physics, chemistry, and for many, economically most important
applications, also of biology and medicine.
The number of additional facts introduced to materials science is not that large,
therefore, this new situation is not that complicated, as it may look to the observer
from the outside. However, the industrial user of nanomaterials, as a developer
of new products, has to accept that the new properties of nanomaterials demand
deeper insight to the physics and chemistry of the materials. Furthermore, in
conventional materials, the interface to biotechnology and medicine depends on
the application. This is different in nanotechnology, as biological molecules, such
as proteins or DNAs are building blocks, quite often also for applications outside
of biology and medicine.
The first question to be answered is: What are nanomaterials? There are two
definitions. One, the broadest, says: nanomaterials are materials with sizes of the
individual building blocks below 100 nm at least in one dimension. This definition
Nanoparticles – Nanocomposites – Nanomaterials: An Introduction for Beginners, First Edition. Dieter Vollath.
© 2013 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA. Published 2013 by Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA.