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Review
. 2022 Sep 16;12(18):3226.
doi: 10.3390/nano12183226.

Nanoparticle and Nanostructure Synthesis and Controlled Growth Methods

Vancha Harish  1 , Md Mustafiz Ansari  1 , Devesh Tewari  2 , Manish Gaur  3 , Awadh Bihari Yadav  3 , María-Luisa García-Betancourt  4 , Fatehy M Abdel-Haleem  5   6 , Mikhael Bechelany  7 , Ahmed Barhoum  8   9
Affiliations
Review

Nanoparticle and Nanostructure Synthesis and Controlled Growth Methods

Vancha Harish et al. Nanomaterials (Basel). .

Abstract

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.

Keywords: biological synthesis; chemical synthesis; growth-controlled mechanisms; mechanical synthesis; nanomaterials dimensionality; physical synthesis; physicochemical synthesis; reaction phase; synthesis approaches.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Illustration of how nanomaterials can be classified in function of their composition, dimensionality, phases, dispersion, and origin. Image created with BioRender.
Figure 2
Figure 2
IUPAC classification of NMs in the three indicated classes in the function of their porosity MCM-41, MCM-48, MCM50, SBA-15, and SBA-16 are special types of organized mesoporous silicate systems [10]. Image created with BioRender.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Schematic representation of the nucleation steps (a) In the classical nucleation theory, cluster-free energy (ΔG) is influenced by the cluster radius (r). The maximum ΔG is reached at the critical cluster size rc when the first stable particles are formed. (b) Nucleation mechanism proposed by La Mer and Dinegar in which nanoparticle formation is shown as a function of time. The image was created with BioRender.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Schematic presentation of (a) Homogeneous nucleation and (b) Heterogeneous nucleation and reaction coordinates as a function of time. Images were created with BioRender.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Schematic representation of top-down and bottom-up techniques for nanomaterial fabrication. Figure created with BioRender.
Figure 6
Figure 6
Schematic showing the synthesis of single and agglomerated aerosol nanoparticulates starting from material ablation at atmospheric pressure. Figure created with BioRender.
Figure 7
Figure 7
Representation of plasma-assisted gas phase synthesis of silicon-coated nanoparticles. Image created with BioRender.
Figure 8
Figure 8
Schematic representation of the hot injection synthesis of nanocrystals. Image created with BioRender.
Figure 9
Figure 9
Supercritical fluid technology for producing nanoparticles in which the drug and the polymer (cellulose nanofibers) are processed together to improve the nanoparticle stability and disaggregation. Image created with BioRender.
Figure 10
Figure 10
Schematic representation of large-scale solid-state synthesis of Fe3O4@M nanostructures (M = Au, Ag, or Au-Ag alloy). Image created with BioRender.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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