Bulk Industrial Ingredients vs Nanoscale Feedstocks

A major area of focus in nanotechnology research is the size-dependent development of bulk metals to the nanoscale. While this topic may sound purely theoretical research, it actually has far-reaching implications for the manufacturing sector, as nanomaterials can provide significant savings, improved product quality, and unique selling points.

These advantages are possible thanks to modern science and its understanding of how the physics and chemistry of a material is different at the atomic level than at the conventional scale.

For example, bulk metals (with free-roaming electrons) are usually shiny, pliable, electrically, and thermally conductive, and generally easy to handle. These physical and chemical properties hardly change as it is shrunk down to the micron scale (about the diameter of a human hair) even though the surface-to-volume ratio does increase.

However, reducing the size even further to the nanoscale (less than 100 nm where a human hair is 90,000 nm thick) results in notable alterations to the material’s characteristics. Gold, for instance, is yellow or white in bulk form, but can be red or maroon coloured at the nanoscale. By fine tuning the size and shape of metallic nanoparticles (NPs) their properties can be adjusted as desired, making them, for example, not electrically conductive.

Furthermore, the high surface-to-volume ratio of nanoparticles contributes to their special qualities as a greater percentage of a material's atoms or molecules are found on its surface as the material gets smaller. Properties including adsorption capacity, interactions with the environment, and reactivity are all improved as a material’s surface area is increased.

Moreover, because of this high surface-to-volume ratio, nanomaterials can be mixed with bulk feedstocks to impart their more desirable properties without necessarily impacting the inherent properties in the original raw material. This means that nanoparticles can impart thermal conductivity, electrical conductivity, chemical resistance, optical qualities, and/or abrasion resistance to a material such as a polymer, without removing the polymer’s desired properties, such as pliability or impact strength.

Production and Synthesis

There are major differences between the synthesis and fabrication processes used for bulk and nanoparticles. Usually, bulk materials are made by using traditional manufacturing techniques like casting, extrusion, or machining.

These techniques make it possible to produce materials in vast quantities for comparatively little money, although they frequently don't have exact control over the composition and characteristics of the substance. Iron ore, for example, is extracted in bulk and processed into a metal with the grade of end product highly dependent on the original feedstock.

On the other hand, specific synthesis methods are needed to produce nanomaterials with the appropriate size, shape, and structure at the nanoscale, such as physical vapor deposition, sol-gel synthesis, and chemical vapor deposition. These highly technical processes involve building a material one atom at a time.

Significantly, this so-called ‘bottom-up’ approach allows for raw materials which are made exactly to order and in any desirable form – a pure industrial feedstock.

Uses

Numerous industries, including construction, automotive, electronics, and aerospace, use bulk materials extensively. They are appropriate for use as thermal insulators, electrical conductors, and structural components due to their macroscopic size and characteristics. For instance, because of their strength and durability, bulk materials like steel, aluminium, and concrete are frequently utilized in construction.

Thanks to a scientific understanding of nanoscale materials they can now also be used in all manner of industries to create new markets or improve on existing products.

In the electronics sector, for example, nanomaterials are utilized in mobile phones to create smaller, more effective devices with extended battery life, larger memory storage, and smaller transistors. Nanomaterials are also used in medicine for tissue engineering, imaging, and targeted drug delivery.

Additionally, because of their special antimicrobial qualities, nanomaterials are also applied to everyday products such as cleaners and coatings to combat the spread of bacteria and viruses.

Obstacles and Prospects for the Future

Although there are many exciting possibilities for expanding the use of nanomaterials, there are also concerns about cost-effectiveness, scalability, and safety. However, costs are falling as science progresses and as manufacturers begin to understand more about what nanotechnology can provide and how it can enhance their products. So too have safety concerns been allayed as the number of applications grown and studies increasingly find the risks are overstated.

It is also worth noting that it is now possible to synthesise nanomaterials from waste products making their use sustainable and a part of the circular economy.

Looking ahead, further developments in nanotechnology and nanomaterials are anticipated to transform a number of industries and open the door for the creation of brand-new technologies.

As a wise nanomaterial researcher once said, “When it comes to nanotechnology, the only limit is our imagination.”

To learn more about this topic and to discover how nanotechnology can improve your polymer products, visit Polymer Nano Centrum.

Photo credit: Fusion Medical Animation, Osman Talha Dikyar on Unsplash, Lookandlearn, Exaly, & Rawpixel