Page 43 - Environmental Nanotechnology Applications and Impacts of Nanomaterials

Chapter
3

Nanomaterials Fabrication

Jean Pierre Jolivet Université Pierre et Marie Curie (Paris VI), Paris,
France
Andrew R. Barron Rice University, Houston, Texas, USA

The ability to fabricate nanomaterials (often in the form of nanoparti-
cles) with strictly controlled size, shape, and crystalline structure, has
inspired the application of nanochemistry to numerous fields, including
catalysis, optics, and electronics. The use of nanomaterials in such appli-
cations also requires the development of methods for nanoparticle
assembly or dispersion in various media. Although much progress has
been realized during the last decades in the development of highly
advanced analytical tools enabling the characterization of nanostruc-
tures and an understanding of their physical properties, the synthesis of
well-defined nanoparticles has resulted in several prominent milestones
in the progress of nanoscience, including the discovery of fullerenes [1],
carbon nanotubes [2, 3], the synthesis of well-defined quantum dots
[4–6] and the shape control of semiconductor CdSe nanocrystals [7].
However, despite a vigorous expansion in the methods of nanoparticles syn-
thesis, it is still difficult to generalize underlying physical or chemical
principles behind existing synthesis strategies to any arbitrary nanoma-
terial. A general, mechanistic understanding of nanoparticle formation
that might guide the development of new materials remains lacking [8].
Though the synthesis of nanoparticles with control over size, shape, and
size distribution has been a major part of colloid chemistry for decades, it
remains an intensely studied topic as is evident by a substantial body of
literature. In this chapter, we provide an overview of the main methods
that have proved to be successful for the fabrication of several classes of
nanomaterials: specifically, oxides, chalcogenides, metals, and fullerenes.

29
29
Copyright © 2007 by The McGraw-Hill Companies. Click here for terms of use.