Types of Nanoparticles
Nanoparticles can be of different types depending on their size, texture, and properties. Generally, they are classified into the following groups:
1. Carbon-Based
These nanoparticles are made up of carbon components and are used for strengthening structures as an alternative to steel. Carbon-based nanoparticles include two main materials: carbon nanotubes (CNTs) and fullerenes. The CNT is nothing but a graphene sheet rolled into a tube. These materials are mainly used for structural reinforcement as they are 100 times stronger than steel. CNTs are unique in a way because they are thermally conductive along the length and non-conductive throughout the tube. Fullerenes are allotropes of carbon that have a hollow cage structure of 60 or more carbon atoms. The structure of C-60 is called buckminsterfullerene, and it looks like a hollow football. They have commercial applications due to their electrical conductivity, structure, high strength, and electron affinity.
2. Ceramic-Based
These are made up of oxides, carbonates, and phosphates. They show good resistance to chemicals and heat. By controlling certain characteristics of ceramic nanoparticles such as size, surface area, porosity, surface-to-volume ratio, etc., they exhibit a good drug delivery agent. These nanoparticles have been effectively used as drug delivery systems for many diseases such as bacterial infections, glaucoma, cancer, etc.
3. Metal-Based
These nanoparticles are prepared from metals using chemical and electromechanical processes. These nanoparticles have applications in research fields, detection and imaging of biomolecules, and environmental and bioanalytical applications. For example in SEM gold nanoparticles are used to coat the sample before analysis. This is usually done to enhance the electronic stream, which helps us to get high-quality images.
4. Semiconductor-Based
These nanoparticles have properties similar to many metals and non-metals. Its usages are in photocatalysis, electronics devices, photo-optics, and water splitting.
5. Polymer-Based
These are particles obtained from organic materials. They have applications in drug delivery and diagnostics. Drug delivery with polymeric nanoparticles is highly biodegradable.
Nanoparticles Types, Production and Uses
As the name suggests, nanoparticles are very small size particles. The size of nanoparticles is in the range of 1 -100 nanometers. So any particles below 100 nm in size can be termed nanoparticles. These particles are found to be composed of a few hundred atoms. These small-sized particles of any material possess some distinct properties and qualities that are significantly different from the bulk material. Due to the very small size, the ratio of surface area to volume is much more in the case of a nanoparticle. This feature attributes to some unique optical, chemical, and physical properties. For example, particles of a metal having size less than 50 nm have different performance in terms of ductility as compared to the larger size of the same metal.
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