Nanoparticle and Nanostructure Synthesis and Controlled Growth Methods

• Published in: Nanomaterials (Basel, Switzerland) Vol. 12; no. 18; p. 3226
• Main Authors: Harish, Vancha, Ansari, Md Mustafiz, Tewari, Devesh, Gaur, Manish, Yadav, Awadh Bihari, García-Betancourt, María-Luisa, Abdel-Haleem, Fatehy M., Bechelany, Mikhael, Barhoum, Ahmed
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Basel MDPI AG 16-09-2022; MDPI
• Subjects: Analysis; Carbon; Catalysis; Chemical Sciences; chemical synthesis; Classification; Composition; Dispersion; Fabrication; Graphene; Growth; Hybrids; mechanical synthesis; Metal oxides; Microelectromechanical systems; Nanomaterials; nanomaterials dimensionality; Nanoparticles; Nanotechnology; physical synthesis; Porosity; Publishing industry; Quantum dots; reaction phase; Review; Surface chemistry; synthesis approaches; United States; United Kingdom; Netherlands
• ISSN: 2079-4991; 2079-4991
• DOI: 10.3390/nano12183226

Nanomaterials are materials with one or more nanoscale dimensions (internal or external) (i.e., 1 to 100 nm). The nanomaterial shape, size, porosity, surface chemistry, and composition are controlled at the nanoscale, and this offers interesting properties compared with bulk materials. This review describes how nanomaterials are classified, their fabrication, functionalization techniques, and growth-controlled mechanisms. First, the history of nanomaterials is summarized and then the different classification methods, based on their dimensionality (0–3D), composition (carbon, inorganic, organic, and hybrids), origin (natural, incidental, engineered, bioinspired), crystal phase (single phase, multiphase), and dispersion state (dispersed or aggregated), are presented. Then, the synthesis methods are discussed and classified in function of the starting material (bottom-up and top-down), reaction phase (gas, plasma, liquid, and solid), and nature of the dispersing forces (mechanical, physical, chemical, physicochemical, and biological). Finally, the challenges in synthesizing nanomaterials for research and commercial use are highlighted.