Nanoparticle
research is a very interesting field of science. The relationship between structure and properties of materials is
really fascinating, which has attracted much attention froom scientist from
different discipline (material science, physics and chemistry). The magic
things of nanoparticles is that its properties at nanoscale size is
significantly different from its bulky counterparts. For example, titania
(TiO2), at nanoscale (<30 nm), it is transparent and scatter UV light
resulting in its popularity in cosmetic application. Research also found that
CdS crystallites in the size range of a few nanometers does not exhibit the
optical spectra of its bulk counterparts. Nowadays, the application of
nanoparticles in society is so diverse, such as carbon black (20-50 nm) has
been used mainly to reinforce rubber (for car tires), amorphous silica as a
food additive E551, ZnO and TiO2 in cosmetic, nanoparticles in paint for car … Interestingly,
the application of nanoparticles were started dated back to ancien time, for instant
metal nanoparticles were used as color pigments in luster and glass technology,
the usage of silver or copper nanoparticles in the outermost layer of the
glaze, gold nanoparticles were used to introduce the red color to glass, in
ruby glass (Lycurgus Cup in the British Museum). Excitingly, this cup appears
with green color in daylight and change to red color when it was illuminated
from insight the cup.
The systematic
study of nanoparticles started by research of Michael Faraday (approximately
150 years ago) on the interaction of light with metal nanoparticles.
Because the
foundation of nanoparticle research is based on the size-dependent properties
of nanomaterials. The studies of nanoparticles link to the synthesis, the
controlling of its size, shape , chemical composition and the assembly of
nanoparticles. These jobs do not necessarily require to create new materials
with totally new composition.
Application
potential of nanoparticles is extremely vast, however, the way for nanoparticle
to go from laboratory to commerce take very long time.
