Nanomaterial Characterization: An Introduction

Providing Various Properties of Nanomaterials and the Various Methods Available for their Characterization

Over the course of the last few decades, research activity on nanomaterial has gained considerable press coverage. The use of nanomaterials has meant that consumer products can be made lighter, stronger, more aesthetically pleasing and less expensive. The huge impact of nanomaterial to improve quality of life is clear, resulting in faster computers, cleaner energy production, target driven pharmaceuticals and better construction materials. It is not surprising therefore that nanomaterial research has really taken off, spanning across different scientific discipline areas from material science to nanotoxicology. A critical part of any nanomaterial research however is the need to characterize physicochemical properties of the nanomaterials, which is no trivial matter.

 Nanomaterial Characterization: An Introduction is dedicated to understanding key physicochemical properties and their characterisation methods. Each chapter starts by giving an overview of the topic area before a case study is presented. The purpose of the case study is to demonstrate how the reader may make use of background information presented to them and show how this can be translated to solve a nano–specific application scenario.  Thus, it will be useful for researchers, to help them design experimental investigations. The book begins with a general overview of the subject, thus giving the reader a solid foundation to nanomaterial characterisation.

Nanomaterial Characterization: An Introduction features:

Nanomaterial synthesis and reference nananomaterials Key physicochemical properties and their measurements including particle size distribution by number, solubility, surface area, surface chemistry, mechanical/ tribological and dustiness Scanning tunnelling microscopy methods operated under extreme conditions Novel strategy for biological characterisation of nanomaterials methods Methods to handle and visualise multidimensional nanomaterial characterization data

The book is written in such a way that both students and experts in other fields of science will find the information useful; whether they are in academia, industry or regulation, or those whose analytical background may be limited.  There is also an extensive list of references associated with every chapter, to encourage for further reading

Ratna Tantra is a Senior Scientist at National Physical Laboratory (NPL), UK. She has been at NPL for 12 years and worked on numerous projects in the field of nanoscience. Her multidisciplinary background was useful, allowing an expansion of her research portfolio in the area of nanomaterial characterization in different scientific disciplines e.g. surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy, nanotoxicology. Before coming to NPL, she was a research associate at Imperial College London, then University of Glasgow. She got her PhD in electrochemistry from University College London. She is a Chartered Scientist, Chartered Chemist and member of the Royal Society of Chemistry