Chapter 16 - Nanomaterial synthesis

Abstract

Synthesis of well-defined nanoparticles of controlled sizes and shapes is critical for the development of novel biotechnological innovations. Inorganic nanoparticles are interesting due to their high stability and unique optical and electronic properties. Owing to this high stability of inorganic materials, synthesis of inorganic nanoparticles of different shapes and sizes can be obtained by different methods such as by reduction of metal salts, hydrothermal approach, polyol method, pyrolysis method, preformed seed-mediated method, templated synthesis, and by electron beam lithography. The synthesis of organic nanoparticles, on the other hand, is mainly achieved by bottom-up approaches and spherical and spherical shape-derived materials are generally obtained due to self-assembly of polymer chains in the solvents. However, with the advances in the field of engineering and nanotechnology, new methods for the synthesis of polymeric nanoparticles by top-down methods are developed. These methods include lithographic approaches, particles stretching methods, and microfluidic techniques for the synthesis of organic nanoparticles. This chapter provides an overview on the mechanism of synthesis of inorganic and organic nanoparticles and on the synthetic approaches, which are being utilized in research and industry to develop nanomaterials of precise shapes and sizes.