BT 405 Nanotechnology

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BT405 Mid Term
PPT Slide 1 To 25
Admin: Merged date 12-04-20
*Efforts :Laiba Mahi*
Regards : Zarva Chaudhary
What is Nanotechnology
Learning Objectives
What is Nanotechnology
Definitions and Concepts
Towards a concept system for Nanotechnology
Welcome to
NanoWorld!
Nanotechnology
q Simplest _ technology at the nonscale
Ø Nanotechnology literally means any technology on a nanoscale that

has applications in the real world.
Ø Succinct definition of nanotechnology is engineering with atomic

precision or atomically precise technology _ APT
Ø US National nanotechnology _ the essence of nanotechnology is the

ability to work at the molecular level, atom‐by‐atom, to create large
structure with fundamentally new molecular organization.
Ø Nanotechnology is group of emerging technology in which the

structure of matter is controlled at the nanometer scale to produce
novel materials and device that have useful and unique properties.
Nanotechnology
Ø Nanotechnology encompasses the production and application of
physical, chemical, and biological systems at scales ranging from
individual atoms or molecules to submicron dimensions, as well as the
integration of the resulting nanostructures into larger systems.
q Define nanoscale:
Ø Nanoscale is considered to cover the range from 1‐100 nm
Ø Nanotechnology is the art and science of manipulating matter at the

nanoscale (down to 1/100,000 the width of a human hair) to create
new and unique materials and products with enormous potential to
change society.
Ø 1 nanometer (nm) = 1 billionth of a meter

Nanotechnology
Ø The design, synthesis, characterization, and application of
materials, devices, and systems that have a functional organization
in at least one dimension on the nanometer scale.
Ø Nanotechnology is likely to have a profound impact on our

economy and society in the early 21st century, Comparable to that
of semiconductor technology, Information technology, or cellular
and molecular biology.
Ø Science and technology research in nanotechnology promises

breakthroughs in areas such as materials and manufacturing,
nanoelectronics, medicine and healthcare, energy, biotechnology,
information technology, and national security.
Towards a Concept System for Nanotechnology

Towards a Concept System for
Nanotechnology
q Objects are perceived or conceived
Ø The properties of an object are abstracted into characteristics.

Ø The essential characteristics typically falling into different
categories e.g. shape and color is combined as a set to form a
concept.
Ø A set of essential characteristics that come together as a unit to
form a concept is called intension.
Ø A set of objects abstracted into a concept is called the extension
q Concepts are organized into a concept system

Ø A concept system is often called an ontology (study of categories)
A concept system (Ontology) for Nanotechnology

Most of the term would normally prefixed by nano e.g. nanodevice, nanometerology
Nanotechnology spans many Areas
Information Mechanical Biotechnology

Technology Engineering
Eng. & /
Robotics
Transportation
Advance
Materials &
Textiles NANOTECHNOLOGY National
Security &
Defense
Energy &
Environment
Food and
Aerospace Medicine / Agriculture
Health
Nanotechnology Language
Yow! •Nanobio
•Nanodots
•Nanowires
•Nanoelectronics
•Nanobots
•Nanomaterials
•Nanochondria
Why Nanotechnology
Learning Objectives
Why Nanotechnology
Nanotechnology impacts our lives on a daily basis
Why Nanotechnology
Ø The study of the controlling of matter on an atomic and molecular
scale.
Ø Generally nanotechnology deals with structures sized between 1 to
100 nanometer in at least one dimension, and involves developing or
modifying materials or devices within that size.
q is already making today’s products:

Lighter
Stronger
Faster
Smaller
More Durable
Why Nanotechnology
Ø Nanotechnology is associated with at least three distinct
advantages
v It offers the possibility of creating materials with novel

combinations of properties
v Devices in the nanoscale need less materials to make them, use
less energy and other consumables, their function may be
enhanced by reducing the characteristics dimensions, and they
may have an extended range of accessibility.
v It offers a universal fabrication technology, the apotheosis of
which is the personal nanofactory.
10 ways nanotechnology impacts

our lives on a daily basis.
Why Nanotechnology
1. Faster, smaller, and more powerful computers that consume far
less power, with longer‐lasting batteries
2. Faster, more functional, and more accurate medical diagnostic

equipment. Lab‐on‐a‐chip technology enables point‐of‐care
testing in real time, which speeds up delivery of medical care.
Nanomaterial surfaces on implants improve wear and resist
infection.
3. Nanoparticles in pharmaceutical products improve their

absorption within the body and make them easier to deliver,
often through combination medical devices. Nanoparticles can
also be used to deliver chemotherapy drugs to specific cells,
such as cancer cells.
Why Nanotechnology
4. Improved vehicle fuel efficiency and corrosion resistance by building
vehicle parts from nanocomposite materials that are lighter, stronger,
and more chemically resistant than metal. Nanofilters remove nearly all
airborne particles from the air before it reaches the combustion
chamber, further improving gas mileage.
5. Nanoparticles or nanofibers in fabrics can enhance stain resistance,

water resistance, and flame resistance, without a significant increase in
weight, thickness, or stiffness of the fabric. For example, “nano‐
whiskers” on pants make them resistant to water and stains.
6. Water filters that are only 15‐20 nanometers wide can remove nano‐
sized particles, including virtually all viruses and bacteria. These cost‐
efficient, portable water treatment systems are ideal for improving the
quality of drinking water in emerging countries.
Why Nanotechnology
7. Carbon nanotubes have a variety of commercial uses, including
making sports equipment stronger and lighter weight. For example, a
tennis racket made with carbon nanotubes bends less during impact,
and increases the force and accuracy of the delivery. Nanoparticle‐
treated tennis balls can keep bouncing twice as long as standard
tennis balls.
8. Most sunscreens today are made from nanoparticles that effectively

absorb light, including the more dangerous ultraviolet range. They
also spread more easily over the skin. These same nanoparticles are
also used in food packaging to reduce UV exposure and prolong shelf
life.
9. Many drink bottles are made from plastics containing nanoclays,

which increase resistance to permeation by oxygen, carbon dioxide,
and moisture. This helps retain carbonation and pressure and
increases shelf life by several months.
Why Nanotechnology
10. Thanks to nanotechnology, a huge variety of chemical sensors
can be programmed to detect a particular chemical at amazingly
low levels, for example, a single molecule out of billions. This
capability is ideal for surveillance and security systems at labs,
industrial sites, and airports. On the medical front, nanosensors
can also be used to accurately identify particular cells or
substances in the body.
Nanotechnology _ History
Learning Objectives
Short history of Nanotechnology
Birth of Nanotechnology
Professor Taniguchi of Tokyo Science University used the word

“nanotechnology” to describe the science and technology of
processing or building parts with nanometric tolerances.
A nanometer is a unit of length in the metric system, equal to

one billionth of a meter.
Dr. Richard P. Feynman
In 1959 at Caltech
Entitled: “There is a plenty of room at the botom”
q Dr. Richard Feynman, one of America’s most notable physicists, 1918

‐1988.
Ø It expounds his vision of machines making the components of smaller

machines, and simply continuing the sequence until the atomic
realm is reached.
Ø Dr. Feynman, Continued

The problems of chemistry and biology can be greatly helped if our
ability to see what we are doing, and to do things on an atomic level, is
ultimately developed – a development which I think cannot be avoided.
Atomic Scale
A computer image of the nano ice double helix.
In the nano ice image, oxygen atoms are blue in the inner helix,
purple in the outer helix. Hydrogen atoms are white
Eric Drexler
Coined the term “Grey Goo”…the potential problem of self‐
replicating and autonomous artificial intelligence machines.
Nanotechnology _ History Engines of Creation
The Coming Era

Eric Drexler, of Nanotechnology
Cell Repair Machines By K. Eric Drexler
“By working along molecule by molecule and structure by

structure, repair machines will be able to repair whole cells. By
working along cell by cell and tissue by tissue, they…will be able to
repair whole organs…they will restore health.” ‐ Drexler, 1986
Buckyballs
Three gentlemen—Harold Kroto from the University of Sussex,
Robert Curl and Richard Smalley from Rice University—were
awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1996 for their discovery
of a new composition of carbon, Carbon 60.
Fullerenes
Carbon 60 was named after Richard Buckminster Fuller, who
went by the nickname “Bucky.”
Top‐Down Approach
Two approaches used in producing nanotechnology systems. Top‐
down method is used by computer chip manufacturers.
Bottom‐Up Approach
Bottom‐up approach to manufacturing is analogous to the way
biological systems are made
Biotechnology
Learning Objectives
What Is Biotechnology and What

Does It Mean to You?
Types of Biotechnology
Biological Challenges of the 21st
Century
The Biotechnology Workforce
Biotechnology
Biotechnology – using living organisms, or the products of living organisms,
for human benefit to make a product or solve a problem.
Biotechnology has been defined as the application of scientific and

engineering principles to the processing of materials by biological agents to
provide goods and services.
Biotechnology is a multidisciplinary in nature, involving input from
Engineering
Computer Science
Cell and Molecular Biology
Microbiology
Genetics
Physiology
Biochemistry
Immunology
Virology
Recombinant DNA Technology ฀ Genetic manipulation of bacteria, viruses,
fungi, plants and animals, often for the development of specific products
Stages of Biotechnology
Ancient Biotechnology
Early history as related to food and shelter, including
domestication
Classical Biotechnology
Built on ancient biotechnology
fermentation promoted food production
medicine
Modern Biotechnology
Manipulates genetic information in organism
genetic engineering
Biotechnology _ Applications
Biotechnology is all around us and a big part of our lives, providing
breakthrough products to cure disease, protect against bio‐
terrorism, feed the hungry, and clean our environment.
q Example of "modern" biotechnology

Recombinant DNA technology started modern biotech as an industry
q Examples of applications
‐ development of disease‐resistant plants
‐ food crops that produce greater yields
‐ golden rice _ engineered to be more nutritious
‐ genetically engineered bacteria that can degrade environmental
pollutants
Biotechnology _ Applications
Most drugs are developed to combat diseases affecting humans –
Why?
Which disease has the most drug candidates? Why does that disease
have more drug candidates than hepatitis C?
This reflects the current needs of humans-
we have too many diseases and currently
too few drugs to target them.
By far, cancer has the most drug

candidates than any other disease. This
disease has many more drug candidates
than hepatitis C because hepatitis C
affects less people worldwide than
different kinds of cancer. Cancer, of
course, can affect many different organs.
On the other hand, hepatitis C only affects
the liver.
Types of Biotechnology
v Microbial Biotechnology
v Agricultural Biotechnology
v Animal Biotechnology
v Forensic Biotechnology
v Bioremediation
v Aquatic Biotechnology
v Medical Biotechnology
v Regulatory Biotechnology
Microbial Biotechnology
q Manipulation of microorganisms such as yeast and bacteria
Ø Create better enzymes
Ø More efficient decontamination processes for industrial waste
product removal
Ø Microbes used to clone and produce batch amounts of important
proteins
Agricultural Biotechnology
v United Nations Food and Agricultural Org. predicts by 2050, we
will need to feed a world population of 9.1 billion! This requires
raising food production by approximately 70%!
v Work in groups to brainstorm a few solutions to better feed the
world by 2050.
– Genetically Engineered Plants ‐ Resistance to diseases and insects
– Foods with higher protein or vitamin content
– Drugs developed and grown as plant products
Animal Biotechnology
Animals as a source of medically valuable proteins
Antibodies
Transgenic animal
Animals as important models in basic research
Gene "knockout" experiments Animals can be
Design and testing of drugs and genetic therapies
used as Bioreactors
Animal cloning
Source of transplant organs
– Transgenic animal: way to achieve large scale production

of therapeutic proteins from animals for use in humans
– Female transgenic animals express therapeutic proteins in
milk (contains genes from another source)
– Example: human genes coding for clotting proteins can be
introduced into female goats for production of these
proteins in their milk
Forensic Biotechnology
vDNA fingerprinting
• Inclusion or exclusion of a person from suspicion
• Paternity cases
• Identification of human remains
• Endangered species
• Tracking and confirmation of the spread of disease
Bioremediation
– The use of biotechnology to process and degrade a variety of
natural and manmade substances
• Particularly those that contribute to environmental pollution
– Example – stimulated growth of bacteria that degrade
components in crude oil
• 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill in Alaska
• 2010 Deep Water Horizon spill promoted research into natural
oil‐degrading organisms and enzymes
Aquatic Biotechnology
Ø Aquaculture – raising finfish or shellfish in controlled
conditions for use as food sources
• 50% of all fish consumed by humans worldwide
Ø Genetic engineering
• Disease‐resistant strains of oysters
• Vaccines against viruses that infect salmon and
other finfish
• Transgenic salmon that overproduce growth hormone
Ø Bioprospecting: rich and valuable sources of new genes,
proteins and metabolic processes with important
applications for human benefits
• Marine plankton and snails found to be rich sources of antitumor
and anticancer molecules
Medical Biotechnology
ØInvolved with the whole spectrum of human
medicine
• Preventive medicine
• Diagnosis of health and illness
• Treatment of human diseases
ØNew information from Human Genome Project
• Gene therapy
Stem cell technologies
v Stem cells – grown in lab and then treated with different
chemicals to allow them to develop into specific kinds of
tissues needed for transplant
• Current use: stem cells are used for diabetes; spinal cord
injuries
Medical biotechnology
Genes are headline news items
Medical biotechnology
Ø There are a wide variety of products that the biotechnology field
has produced.
Ø More than 65% of biotech companies in the U.S. are involved in
pharmaceutical production (relating to drugs developed for medical
use).
Ø 1982 ‐ Genentech developed Humulin (human insulin) to treat
diabetes.
Ø It was the first biotech drug to be FDA approved.
Ø There are more than 80 biotech drugs, vaccines, and diagnostics
with more than 400 biotech medicines in development targeting
over 2oo diseases!
Ø Nearly 1/2 of new drugs target cancer
Nanobiotechnology
Learning Objectives
What is Nanobiotechnology
Biology as Paradigm
Benefits for diagnosis
Nanobiotechnology
Ø Nanotechnology is beginning to allow scientists, engineers, and
physicians to work at the cellular and molecular levels to produce
major benefits to life sciences and healthcare. In the next century, the
emerging field of nanotechnology will lead to new
biotechnologybased industries and novel approaches in medicine.
Ø Bionanotechnology and Nanobiotechnology are terms that refer to

the intersection of nanotechnology and biology
Ø These two terms are often used interchangeably.
Ø Bionanotechnology generally refers to the study of how the goals of

nanotechnology can be guided by studying how biological "machines"
work and adapting these biological motifs into improving existing
nanotechnologies or creating new ones.
Nanobiotechnology
Ø Nanometer‐scale features are mainly built up from their elemental
constituents.
Ø Examples include chemical synthesis, spontaneous self‐assembly
of molecular clusters (molecular self‐assembly) from simple
reagents in solution, biological molecules (e.g., DNA) used as
building blocks for production of three‐dimensional
nanostructures, and quantum dots (nanocrystals) of arbitrary
diameter (about 10–105 atoms).
Biology as Paradigm
Bionanotechnology is biological applications of nanotechnology (science
and technology of miniaturization at scales of <100nm)
It is hoped that nanotechnology can deliver a valuable set of research

tools and clinically helpful devices in the near future.
The Nanotechnology Initiative expects new commercial applications to be

developed in the pharmaceutical industry including advanced drug
delivery systems, new therapies, and in vivo imaging.
Neuro‐electronic interfaces and other nanoelectronics‐based sensors are

also current goals of research.
In the speculative field of molecular nanotechnology it is thought that cell

repair machines could further revolutionize the field of medicine.
Biology as Paradigm
Nanotechnology is designed to provide a novel and improved
approach to cancer diagnosis and treatment.
Nanoscale devices can interact with large biological molecules on

both the surface and inside cells involved in cancer.
Since biological processes, including events that lead to the

development of cancer, occur on a nanoscale at the surface of and
inside cells, nanotechnology offers many tools.
Benefits for diagnosis
Ø In the fight against cancer, winning half the battle is based on early
detection.
Ø Nanotechnology is contributing new molecular agents and methods to
enable earlier and more accurate diagnoses and treatment monitoring.
q Imagine instead if cancerous or even precancerous cells could

somehow be tagged for detection by conventional scanning devices.
Two things would be necessary:
‐ Something that specifically identifies a cancerous cell and
‐ Something that enables it to be seen
Ø Antibodies that identify specific receptors found to be over‐expressed
in cancerous cells can be coated on to nanoparticles that then produce
a high contrast signal when Magnetic Resonance Images (MRI) or
Computed Tomography (CT) scans are used.
Nanotechnology imaging in cancer

diagnosis
Ø Nanoparticles can enhance the efficacy of magnetic resonance
imaging (MRI) in detecting the spread of cancer.
o In clinical trials, lymphotropic iron oxide nanoparticles acted as
effective contrast agents and allowed the detection of small
nodal metastases in men with prostate cancer that would
otherwise have been overlooked.
o Nanoparticulate iron oxide particles were used with MRI to
accurately detect metastatic lesions in lymph nodes without
surgery.
Ø Nanoparticle contrast agents for ultrasound have also been
developed that can enhance the sensitive detection of vascular
and cardiac thrombi, as well as solid tumors of the colon, liver
and breast, in a noninvasive manner.
Biomarker Screening
Ø Diagnostic screening for biomarkers in tissues and fluids could also be enhanced
and potentially revolutionized by nanotechnology.
Ø Individual cancers differ from each other and from normal cells by changes in the
expression and distribution of tens to hundreds of molecules.
Ø As therapeutics advance, it may require the simultaneous detection of several

biomarkers may be required to identify a cancer for treatment selection.
Nanoscale cantilevers and nanowire sensors
can detect biomarkers of cancer from a single
cell.
Ø Nanoparticles such as quantum dots, which

emit light of different colors depending on their
size, could enable the simultaneous detection of
multiple markers.
Applications of Nanotechnology
Learning Objectives
What are the applications of Nanotechnology

In medical related
Diagnostic
Drug delivery
Silver particles
Sunscreen
Fabric
Ø Nanotechnology is the act of manipulating materials at very
tiny scales – at the level of atoms and molecules
Ø Two principal parts to defining what is to be considered

nanotechnology:
(i) Scale and (ii) Uniqueness/novelty
Ø Nanotechnology is the understanding and control of matte

(i) at dimensions between approximately 1 nm to 100 nm
(ii) where unique phenomena enable novel applications
Ø Nanotechnology is one of the leading scientific fields today since it
combines knowledge from the fields of Physics, Chemistry, Biology,
Medicine, Informatics, and Engineering.
Ø It is an emerging technological field with great potential to lead in
great breakthroughs that can be applied in real life.
Ø Novel nanoand biomaterials, and nanodevices are fabricated and
controlled by nanotechnology tools and techniques, which investigate
and tune the properties, responses, and functions of living and non‐
living matter, at sizes below 100 nm
Ø The application and use of nanomaterials in electronic and
mechanical devices, in optical and magnetic components, quantum
computing, tissue engineering, and other biotechnologies, with
smallest features, widths well below 100 nm, are the economically
most important parts of the nanotechnology nowadays and
presumably in the near future.
Ø The number of nanoproducts is rapidly growing since more and
more nanoengineered materials are reaching the global market .
Ø The continuous revolution in nanotechnology will result in the

fabrication of nanomaterials with properties and functionalities
which are going to have positive changes in the lives of our citizens,
be it in health, environment, electronics or any other field.
Ø In the energy generation challenge where the conventional fuel

resources cannot remain the dominant energy source, taking into
account the increasing consumption demand and the CO2
emissions alternative renewable energy sources based on new
technologies have to be promoted.
Ø Innovative solar cell technologies that utilize nanostructured
materials and composite systems such as organic
photovoltaics offer great technological potential due to their
attractive properties such as the potential of large‐scale and
low‐cost roll‐to‐roll manufacturing processes
Ø The advances in nanomaterials necessitate parallel progress of

the nanometrology tools and techniques to characterize and
manipulate nanostructures.
Ø Revolutionary new approaches in nanometrology will be

required in the near future and the existing ones will have to
be improved in terms of better resolution and sensitivity for
elements and molecular species
Ø For centuries, silver has been used for its ability to destroy
bacteria — from ancient Romans treating their water with
silver coins to NASA using the metal to purify water aboard the
Space Shuttle.
Ø Silver(Ag) nanoparticles are embedded in sticking plasters for
their ability to inhibit the transmission of viruses.
Ø Pancreatic cancer has a devastatingly low survival rate (less than
5 percent after 5 years) because it is usually diagnosed at an
advanced stage.
Ø Scientists have created tools for the early diagnosis of
pancreatic cancer by attaching a molecule that binds specifically
to pancreatic cancer cells to iron oxide nanoparticles that are
clearly visible under magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).
Ø If you hate injections, you'll be glad to hear that oral
administration of drugs that are currently delivered by injection
may be possible in many cases.
Ø The drug is encapsulated in a nanoparticle which helps it pass
through the stomach to deliver the drug into the bloodstream.
Ø There are efforts underway to develop oral administration of
several different drugs using a variety of nanoparticles. One
company has progressed to the clinical testing stage with a drug
for treating systemic fungal diseases.
Ø Titanium dioxide confers the white appearance of high‐
protection sunscreens.
Ø Titanium oxide nanoparticles have a comparable UV protection
property to the bulk material, but lose the cosmetically
undesirable whitening since the particle size is decreased.
Ø Nanotechnology can be used to create fabrics with superior
performance without compromising the look, feel or comfort of
the fabric.
Ø For instance, nanomaterials can be added to the fabric and
make them stain resistant.
Nanotechnology &
Medicine Learning Objectives
Role of Nanotechnology in Medcine

What is Nanomedicine
Nanotechnology in Medicine
Nanotechnology is a new field with many

possible uses, medicine being one of them
Nanotechnology
v The manufacturing technology of the 21st century

Ø The study and manufacture of devices of molecular dimensions, in
the range of nanometers or one‐billionth of a meter
Ø Most of industrial manufacturing processes are based on top‐
down technologies i.e., they take larger objects and make them
smaller yielding products of fairly high precision and complexity
Ø Most products of living organisms are constructed by tiny
molecular machines, such as cells and organelles, working from
the bottom up.
Ø By organizing individual atoms and molecules into particular
configurations, these molecular machines are able to create works
of astonishing complexity and size, such as the human being
Nanotechnology
Ø Nature shows that molecules can serve as machines
because living things work by means of such machinery
Ø Enzymes are molecular machines that make, break, and
rearrange the bonds holding other molecules together
Ø Muscles are driven by molecular machines that haul fibers
past one another
Ø DNA serves as a data‐storage system, transmitting digital
instructions to molecular machines e.g., the ribosomes,
that manufacture protein molecules.
Nanotechnology
Ø Using special bacterium‐sized "assembler" devices,

nanotechnology would permit on a programmable
basis exact control of molecular structures that are
not readily manipulated by natural molecular
machines and molecular techniques presently
available.
Ø With nanotechnology, atoms will be specifically

placed and connected, all at very rapid rates, in a
fashion similar to processes found in living
organisms
Nanomedicine
Ø Some medicines are made through biotechnological
processes, for example those using recombinant
DNA (human hepatitis vaccine)
Ø Under these processes the DNA of living creatures

(usually bacteria) is altered
Ø Nanotechnology represents a similar approach to

the manufacture of pharmaceuticals and other
goods.
Nanorobots: Medicine of the Future
What are they?
Ø Nanorobots are nanodevices that will be used for the purpose of
maintaining and protecting the human body against pathogens.
Ø They will have a diameter of about 0.5 to 3 microns and will be
constructed out of parts with dimensions in the range of 1 to 100
nanometers
Ø The powering of the nanorobots can be done by metabolizing
local glucose and oxygen for energy
Ø Other sources of energy within the body can also be used to
supply the necessary energy for the devices
Ø They will have simple onboard computers capable of performing
around 1000 or fewer computations per second.
Nanorobots
Ø A navigational network may be installed in the body, which may
provide high positional accuracy to all passing nanorobots
Ø This will enable the physician to keep track of the various devices
in the body
Ø These nanorobots will be able to distinguish between different cell
types by checking their surface antigens
Ø When the task of the nanorobots is accomplished, they can be
retrieved by allowing them to exfuse themselves via the usual
human excretory channels
Mechanical drilling of a small tumor mass by a
nanorobot
Application of Nanotechnology in Medicine
Diagnostic Therapeutic
‐ Imaging ‐ Delivering medication to the exact
location
‐ Quantum dots ‐ Killing of bacteria, viruses & cancer
‐ Microscopic cells
sampling ‐ Repair of damaged tissues
‐ Oxygen transport
‐ Detection of airway ‐ Skin and dental care
abnormalities ‐ Augmentation of immune system
‐ Treatment of Atherosclerosis
‐ The clottocyte concept
‐ Brain enhancement
Diagnostic Applications of Nanotechnology in

Medicine
Ø Improved imaging of the human (or any) body
Ø Nanoprobes (miniature machines) can attach
themselves to particles in the body (e.g.,
antibodies) and emit a magnetic field.
Ø Probes that aren’t attached to anything don’t
create a detectable magnetic
Ø Nano‐tracking may be able to detect tumors
A that are ananorobot
single inhaled few cells in deeply
reaches, size.inspired into
the lungs, enters an alveolar duct and attaches to the
tissue surface.
Diagnostic Applications of Nanotechnology in
Medicine
Ø Another way to use nanotech as tracking devices
is to use “quantum dots
Ø These tiny semiconductors are able to emit
wavelengths of light (colors) that depend on their
size. If quantum dot A is twice as big as quantum
dot B, it will emit a different color.
Ø Quantum dots are better than conventional
dyes:
A– They last
microscopic much
machine longer
roaming through the bloodstream,
injecting or taking samples for identification and
– More colors
determining can be made
the concentrations available.
of different compounds
Therapeutic Applications of Nanotechnology in

Medicine
Ø Nanotech is capable of delivering medication to the exact
location where they are needed – hence lesser side effects
• Organic dendrimers ‐ a type of artificial molecule roughly the
size of a protein‐ would be ideal for the job of delivering
medicine
• Hollow polymer capsules ‐ gold‐coated glass beads that are
near infrared light sensitive
Ø Destruction of harmful eukaryotic organisms / cancer cells

by interrupting their division process
• Certain proteins are capable of doing this (e.g., Bc12 family of
proteins)
Medicine
Ø Nanoprobe can be made to generate
radiation, that could kill bacteria, viruses and
cancer cells
Ø Nanoprobe comprising of a single caged
actinium‐225 atom would detect (using
antibodies) and enter a cancerous cell
Ø Location and destruction of cancer cells by
acoustic signals
Comparison of normal and cancerous cells in
respiratory airway of the lung

Medicine
Ø Nanotechnology also theoretically allows the mimicking of natural
biological processes e.g., repair of damaged tissues
‐ Using nanotech to build scaffoldings of artificial molecules that bone
cells often adhere to and grow bones on
‐ Broken bones would heal much faster.
Ø Transport of oxygen within the body by creating an artificial red blood
cell
Ø To cure skin diseases, a cream containing nanorobots may be used it
may:
‐ Remove the right amount of dead skin
‐ Remove excess oils
‐ Add missing oils
‐ Apply the right amounts of natural moisturising compounds
‐ Achieve the elusive goal of deep pore cleaning by actually reaching
down into pores and cleaning them out.
Dental Robots
Four remote‐controlled nanorobots examine
and clean the subocclusal surfaces of a
patient's teeth, near the gumline.
Medical nanodevices could augment the

immune system by finding and disabling
unwanted bacteria and viruses.
Ø Devices working in the bloodstream could nibble away at

atherosclerotic deposits, widening the affected blood vessels.
Ø It may be prevented most heart attach
Nanotechnology
GOALS
Ø Construction of a nano‐assembler
• A machine capable of building nanoprobes on a grand scale
Ø The next step would be self‐replication of nanoprobes‐
mitosis
Ø Rough estimates say that this will be reached in about 10‐
20 years
PREDICTIONS
Ø Predicting the future of nanotechnology is much like trying
to predict the remainder of a motion picture from a single
frame
Ø Although the future of medicine lies unclear, it is certain
that nanotechnology will have a significant impact
Nanotechnology: Current Uses
Learning Objectives
What are the current use of Nanotechnology

in
Food & packaging
Textile and clothing
Sports & leasure, household
Computing & electronics
Transport, building, construction
Medical
Environment
Global Market for Nanotechnology Products
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Global Market for Nanotechnology
Products
The total market for nanobiotechnology products was
$19.3 billion in 2010 and is growing at a compound
annual growth rate (CAGR) of 9% to reach a forecast
market size of $29.7 billion by 2015.
Medical applications, including drug delivery and

microbicides, dominate today's market, with sales of
$19.1 billion in 2010. This market segment is growing
at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 8.7%, and
is forecast to reach sales of $29 billion by 2015 (BCC).
More and more consumer products are branded

worldwide as nano.
The Most Common Nanoscale

Substance Used in Consumer
Products
Yet, very little is known about how companies are using
nanotechnology for innovation and product development.
As of March 10, 2011, the nanotechnology consumer products

inventory contains 1317 products or product lines, up substantially
from 2006 when it originally contained 212 products.
The most common nanoscale substance used in consumer products

is nano‐silver (anti‐bacterial and anti‐fungal properties)
Baby bottle nipples, door handles, food contact products, interiors

of refrigerators and washing machines, clothing, bedding, paints,
cleaning products, food storage containers, bandages, medical
devices, mattresses, and children‘s teddy bears
Carbon based nanomaterials are the second most common

nanoscale materials found in consumer products (light‐
weight, high strength, electrical and thermal conductivity).
Sports equipment, vehicle parts, storage of power in

batteries, moisturizing effectiveness of cosmetics, drug
delivery
CURRENT USES OF
NANOTECHNOLOGY
Nano‐sized TiO2 and ZnO – sunscreens
Silver nanoparticles – antibacterial properties (soaps,
toothpastes, deodorants, lip products, make‐up
instruments, hair brushes, curling tongs, foils for
electric razors, foot massagers, tooth brushes, rubber
gloves, hair dryers, facial ionic steamers).
Nanosomes ‐ improve the solubility of ingredients and
add shimmer.
Nano emulsions and nanosomes ‐preserve active
ingredients, such as vitamins and anti‐oxidants.
Nano gold ‐ healing and anti‐oxident properties.
Fullerenes, bucky balls ‐ anti‐oxidant and smoothing
properties in moisturisers, increased penetration into
the skin , anti‐aging properties.
FOOD & PACKAGING: Natural and engineered nanomaterials in the food,
additives and packaging.
New flavours and textures, less use of fat, enhanced absorption of nutrients,
blockage of ingredients that contribute to elevated blood cholesterol.
Smart packaging identifying contaminated food, nanoscale sensors identifying
the presence of bacteria and releasing chemicals as food spoils.
Nanomaterials preventing adhesion of the microbes to the surfaces and
equipment.
Nanosilver ‐ food contact utensils and containers.
TEXTILE AND CLOTHING: Stain resistant, waterproof, wrinkle resistant,
antibacterial, radiation absorbency properties , waterproof, windproof,
ultraviolet protection, breathable, grime resistant fabrics.
SPORTS & LEASURE, HOUSEHOLD: Tennis rackets, skis, snowboards, golf balls,
nano‐bike, baseball bats, sports clothing.
Nanoceramic‐ smoothness and heat resistance of household equipment (flat
iron)
Nanoparticles ‐ household appliances to kill bacterial and odors (refrigerators),
shoe protection nano‐sprays, etc.
COMPUTING & ELECTRONICS: Computer technologies, mobile phones, digital
cameras and other high technology equipment.
Moore's law decrease in size and increase in density
Faster and smaller non‐silicon‐based chipsets, memory and processors, new
materials for semiconductors that increase processing speeds, advanced
microscopy, faster and smaller telecom switches, higher‐speed transmission, new
class of display using carbon nanotubes as emission device, flat‐screen TVs and
computer monitors.
TRANSPORT, BUILDING, CONSTRUCTION: Nanotechnologies in transport‐ lighter
and stronger materials, more efficient fuels (cars, aeroplanes, ships)
Paints with improved adhesion and anti‐mildew properties, insulation with
increased insulating properties, concrete and steel with increased strength and
durability, glass that acts as a fire barrier (Nanoforum), self‐cleaning sheet glass
based on a layer of titanium dioxide nanoscale particles (nano titanium dioxide is
fixed in layers onto glass which enables sunlight to break down any dirt making it
easy for the rain to wash the dirt away on ships and tankers) (Meandnano).
MEDICAL_Use
Diagnostic devices, contrast agents, analytical tools, physical therapy
applications and drug delivery vehicles.
Cancer diagnosis ‐ “molecular imaging” intended to improve diagnostic
accuracy.
Targeting and localized delivery of drugs ‐ delivering drugs specifically to
cancer cells using nanoparticles that can be loaded with drugs
The US Food and Drug Administration has already approved first
generation nanodrugs such as Abraxane, a nanoformulation of the anti‐
cancer chemotherapy paclitaxel
An anti‐cancer drug approved by Health Canada containing a nanomaterial
designed to find cancer cells, which attaches itself to the cells and then
releases a chemical that kills them
The drug is only released when attached to the cancer cell, the toxic side
effects associated with many drugs used for chemotherapy are thereby
reduced
Further advances in nanomedicine may help to reproduce or to repair
damaged tissue and replace today’s conventional treatments like organ
transplants or artificial implants.
ENVIRONMENT
Safer and more efficient approaches to waste management, air
and water purification, reduction in pollution.
Nanofiltration to remove dissolved salts, heavy metal contaminants,
soften water and treat wastewater.
Nanofibers filtrate dangerous bacteria in the air, gold
nanoparticles clear volatile organic compounds.
Developed by the oil industry, MCM‐41 (known also as “self‐
assembled monolayers on mesoporous supports,” SAMMS), with
pore sizes in the range of 10－100 nanometers, is used for the
removal of ultrafine contaminants.
A nanoparticle‐reinforced polymeric material can replace structural
metallic components in automobiles and lead to a reduction of 1.5
billion liters of gasoline consumption over the life of one year’s
production of vehicles, thereby reducing carbon dioxide emissions
annually by more than 5 billion kilogram
Nanotechnology_Healthcare
Learning Objectives
Nanotechnology in Healthcare
Ø With the use of nanotechnology, scientists hope to prevent
illness, more quickly diagnose, control disease and treat disease
with fewer side effects, and create better medical aids such as
more compatible prosthetics.
Ø Nanoparticles and surfaces made of nanostructures are used in
many areas of healthcare research.
Ø Specific applications for nanotechnology in medicine include
these developments:
‐ Better tools for prevention
‐ Nanoscopes and nanotweezers
‐ Novel membranes for cleaning blood
‐ Miniaturized probes for recognizing disease
Ø Nano‐dots that trace disease
Ø Improved detection through medical imaging
‐ MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging) with better contrast agents
‐ CAT (Computerized Axial Tomography) scans
Ø Innovative medicines and drug delivery for detection and
treatment
‐ Cancer medicines that only target cancer cells
‐ Antimicrobials (germs)
Ø Implants and orthopedics (having to do with your bones) that are
more compatible and that last longer.
Ø Small molecules and biological barriers ‐ Small molecules (<

100nm) pass through capillary membranes
Ø Small molecules pass through the Blood Brain Barrier, when

lipophilic or transport mechanism is available
Mean free path ∝ √(t/r)

r ∝ t for fixed diffusion distance
Ø Nanoparticles have easier access into cells with applications in
chemotherapy and as antibacterial agents.
Ø High aspect ratio nanorods pass cell membranes more easily and
penetrate deeper into cells than low aspect ratio particles
Ø Reptated polymers and nanorods can enter angiogenic
endothelial cells
Ø Nanoscience can potentially help us detect and treat cancer at
the molecular level.
Ø Nanotechnologies will most likely allow us to rapidly sequence
DNA (nanosequencing). Doctors could know right away if you
have a genetic tendency for a disease or a drug interaction.
Ø Enhanced Permeability and Retention(EPR) Effect
Ø Causes accumulation of nanoparticle drugs in tumours due

to the increased permeability of angiogenic blood vessel
Ø Drug loaded carbon nanotubes 100nm long and a few nm
wide enter angiogenic blood vessels but not normal blood vessels
Structure and Physical Properties
Structural properties of nanomaterials lead to advanced physical

characteristics increased mechanical strength, low coefficient of
friction, high electrical & thermal conductivity etc.
Applications
– Nanowire: superconducting magnets for MRI
– Nanocomposites: X‐Ray tube anodes
– Carbon nanotube, Spindt electrodes: field emitters for X‐Ray
tube cathodes, displays for point of care devices
– Nanolayers: ow friction bearings for X‐Ray tube anodes
– Nanomaterials: high density electronics, thermal expansion
compensation for miniature medical devices
– Nanoneedles: biosensors
– Block copolymers: tissue engineering.
Nanotechnology in Imaging and Therapy

Ø Contrast agents for Medical Imaging and Pathogen Detection
– MRI Magnetic Resonance Imaging
– Optical imaging
– Ultrasound
– CT Computerized Tomography with X Rays
– PET Positron Emission Tomography (PET)
– Photo‐Acoustic Tomography (PAT)
– Surface Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy (SERS)
– Surface Plasmon Resonance Imaging SPRI
Microfluidics synthesis of PET molecules

Targeted agents for molecular imaging
Targeted image guided therapy
Magnetic heating of nanoparticles during therapy
Infra‐red heating of nanoshells/nanotubes during therapy
Convection enhanced delivery with liposomes
Ø Applications of nanotechnology are being developed for cancer
therapies and diagnostics.
Ø In the diagnostic realm, nanoparticles have been used to enhance
the efficiency of Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) to detect the
spread of cancer.
Ø In one study, lymphotropic iron oxide nanoparticles were
demonstrated to act as effective contrast agents and allowed the
detection of small nodal metastases in men with prostate cancer
that would otherwise have been overlooked. Such imaging with
nanoparticles might also help eliminate invasive biopsy procedures
as the only means to monitor a cancer’s spread.
Ø Nanoparticle contrast agents for Ultrasound have also been
developed, which may enhance the sensitive detection of vascular
and cardiac thrombi, as well as solid tumors of the colon, liver and
breast, in a noninvasive manner.

Ø Recently developed nanowires ‐‐ silicon strands containing receptors
for tumor markers such as prostate specific antigen (PSA) ‐‐ were
shown to be sensitive enough to detect markers from as few as ten
tumor cells. They can test a drop of blood in a few minutes,
providing a simultaneous scan for multiple cancers.
Ø Nanotubes, developed by materials science engineers and used to
increase the strength and elasticity of concrete and plastics, have
also been shown to be capable of crossing cell membranes and
ferrying proteins into cells.
Ø Because eliminating specific RNA molecules has been shown to
down‐regulate cancer growth, attaching RNA‐degrading enzymes to
nanotubes is one approach under development.
Ø In addition to the enzymes, additional drugs can be inserted inside
the tubes as secondary payloads.
Ø More than 25 million patients in the U.S. undergo MRIs each year.
Doctors use contrast agents in about 30% of MRIs. The contrast
agents increase the sensitivity of the scans, making it easier for
doctors to deliver a diagnosis. Gadolinium agents are the most
effective agents and the most commonly used.
Ø Carbon nanotubes have become an unexpected source of highly
effective contrast agents for enhancing MRI scans.
Ø The new agents ‐ dubbed gadonanotubes ‐ use the same highly
toxic metal, gadolinium, that is given to more than a quarter of
MRI patients today, but the metal atoms are encased inside a
hollow nanotube of pure carbon.
Ø Shrouding the toxic metals inside the benign carbon is expected
to significantly reduce or eliminate the metal's toxicity to patients.
Nanotechnology in Diagnostic
Learning Objectives
What is Nanodiagnostic
Unique Properties of Gold Nanoparticles for
Diagnostic Purpose
Ø Several nanoparticles have been used for diagnostics. Of these, the
most frequently used are gold nanoparticles, QDs, and magnetic
nanoparticles.
Ø Nanodiagnostics is the new term that describes use of methods and
techniques of nanotechnology and its principles for diagnostics
purposes.
Ø It includes, although not limited to, the manipulation and
assessment of single molecule, size reduction of systems and
platforms to make use of nanoscale properties obtainable from
interactions between surfaces and biomolecules.
Ø Nanodiagnostics is an evolving application of nanoscale technology
to meet the demand of clinical diagnostics, determining disease
state, any predisposition to such, the pathology of the condition and
the identification of causative organisms
Ø With nanotechnology, diagnosis is being carried out on a nano‐scale
leading to a trend of the use of hand held devices that are easy to
use and marketable
Ø Nanodiagnostics as surging new field of molecular diagnostics, have
been positively changing laboratory procedures, providing new
ways for patient’s sample assessment and early detection of disease
biomarkers with increased sensitivity and specificity.
Ø Nanoparticle platforms have been developed and optimized for the
detection of pathogens and cancer biomarkers such that diagnostic
proceedures now become less cumbersome but more sensitive
because most of the complex proceedures are now integrated onto
a simple device having the capacity to be used for on the spot
diagnosis.
Ø Gold particles (AuNPs) find significant exploitations in biomedical
field due to
(i) their comparative chemical stability, making them less hazardous,
(ii) simple and straightforward synthesis and fabrication process,
and (iii) genuine biocompatibility and noninterference with other
labeled biomaterials (e.g., antibody and other biomarkers)
Ø Colloidal Au has been playing an important role for curing various

diseases although the exact mechanism of action is still poorly
understood.
Ø Today, the applications of AuNPs are increasing day by day in
pharmaceutical sciences for human welfare. It can be used to
understand more about the nature of diseases like cancer and
HIV by providing significant target with nanovehicle

Diagnostic Purpose
Tuning the Optical Properties of Gold for Biodiagnosis
Ø The size‐dependent absorbance of AuNPs was explored to demonstrate
how alloying affects the chemical stability of NPs and also how
composition, size, and nanostructure can be employed to adjust the
optical properties
Ø The absorbance and scattering properties of AuNPs can be tuned in
accordance with their size parameter
Ø NPs less than 20 nm show only their surface plasma resonance (SPR),
but scattering properties of such materials is negligible. In the case of
large NPs (20–80 nm), the scattering properties of the materials increase
Ø The large AuNPs show relatively high‐scattering properties making them
more applicable for biomedical applications, whereas those having
relatively high‐absorption properties are widely used in colorimetric
detection of analytes as well as for biological analysis by changing
refractive index of AuNP’s environment
Diagnostic Purpose
Gold Nanoparticles and Surface Plasmon Resonance (SPR)
Ø Surface plasmon resonance (SPR) is a phenomenon occurring at the
metal surface when a beam of light is incident on the surface of the
molecules at a particular angle and distance (typically in case of gold
(Au) and silver (Ag) metals or spherical NPs)
Ø Application of biosensing SPR instruments is the determination of
affinity parameters for biomolecular interaction.
Ø This technique holds utility not only for measurement in real‐time
kinetics of ligand‐receptor interactions but also in screening of lead
compound identification in pharmaceutical drug development as well
as in detection of small molecules, DNA hybridization,
enzymesubstrate interactions, antibody characterization, studying
antigen‐antibody interaction, characterization of antibody
orientations, epitope mapping, protein conformational studies, and
labelfree immunoassays
Unique properties of AuNPs along with their applications in clinical diagnosis and
different biological studies
Diagnostic Purpose
Magnetic Resonance Properties of AuNPs for MRI
Ø The new era of molecular imaging, in vivo characterization, and
measurement of biological processes at cellular and molecular level
aims at quantifying molecular changes associated with the onset and
development of pathological states, thereby, providing early
diagnosis and prognosis of diseases like cancer
Ø The imaging of cells, cellular and subcellular structures, requires
imaging agents of high relaxivity and density endowed with targeting
ability to specific cellular receptors.
Ø AuNPs are especially attractive for imaging and therapy due to their
SPR, enhanced light scattering, and absorption. In the field of MRI,
AuNPs can be used as a template agent in place of Gadolinium (Gd)
chelates for use as MRI contrast agents due to their high sensitivity
and also in diagnosis
Ø PEG‐coated iron oxide gold is a type of

core‐shell nanoparticles (PEG‐AuIONs),
measuring approximately 25 nm in
diameter, which reveals high specificity
to solid tumors as they accumulate
mostly within the tumor mass along
with low nonspecific accumulation in
the liver and spleen.
Ø PEG‐AuIONs as promising MRI contrast
agents for diagnosis of malignant
tumors including pancreatic cancer
Diagnostic Purpose
Fluorescence Behavior of Gold Nanoparticles
Ø Fluorescence‐based assays and detection techniques are among the
most highly sensitive and popular biological tests in clinical diagnosis.
Ø AuNPs show excellent behavior of antiphotobleaching under the
presence of strong light illumination
Ø A new fluorescence method has been developed for cell imaging,
when the cells stained with AuNPs are illuminated with strong light,
the fluorescence of AuNPs on cell membrane or inside cells can be
collected for cell imaging
Ø Au nanoprobes immobilized with fluorescein‐hyaluronic acid (HA)
conjugates which are fabricated and utilized for monitoring
intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation in live cells via
NP surface energy transfer.

Diagnostic Purpose
Fluorescence Behavior of Gold Nanoparticles
Ø AuNPs as fluorescent labels for optical imaging and sensing for
analytical genomics and proteomics
Ø Fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) is a spectroscopic
technique whereby the excitation energy of the donor electron is
transferred to the acceptor via an induced‐dipole movement
interaction
Ø AuNP‐based FRET monitors DNA hybridization, and DNA cleavage by
nucleobases after hybridization has been developed by varying the
DNA length
Ø Large molecules such as proteins can be sensed with 20 nm AuNPs
stabilized by Cy5.5‐Gly‐PoLeu‐Gly‐Val‐Arg‐Gly‐Cys‐(amide) showing
selectivity for a matrix metalloprotease served as fluorescent imaging
probe for in vivo drug screening and protease activity
Quantum Dots
Ø QDs are inorganic fluorophores that offer significant advantages over
conventionally used fluorescent markers.
Ø Inorganic crystals of CdSe (cadmium selenide 200‐10000 atoms wide),
coated with ZnS (zinc sulphide). They emit fluorescent light when irradiated
with low energy light.
Ø The size of the dots (< 10 nm) determines the frequency of light emitted (i.e.
colour). The dots usually have a polymer coating with multivalent bio‐
conjugate attached, or are embedded into microbeads.
Ø Collection of dots of different size embedded to a given microbead emits
distinct spectrum of colours ‐ spectral bar code specific for this bead.
Ø Detection technique with the use of 10 intensity levels and 6 colours could
theoretically provide 106 distinct codes.
Ø Quantum dots, for example CdSe‐ZnS nanocrystals, do no emit in the near
infrared, so they cannot be used for analysis in blood
Ø QDs have a wide range of applications for molecular diagnostics and
genotyping.
Nanoscale
Learning Objectives
What is Nanoscale
Nanoparticle size and properties
Nanoscale
q What is nanoscale?
Ø There is no fixed definition for what nanoscale is, but there are a
couple of things that are very important – small size and different
properties.
q Nanoparticle size
Ø At least one dimension (height, length or depth) is less than 100 nm
Ø A nanotube can be much longer than 100 nm, but it is still called a
nanoparticle because it is only about 3 nm wide.
Ø A very thin film of material can be many centimetres wide, but if it is

less than 100 nm thick, it is still called a nanofilm.
Nanoscale
q Nanoparticle properties
Ø To many scientists, things are at the nanoscale if they are so small

that they display different properties to the large scale material.
This mostly happens when particles are only a few nanometres
across.
Ø For example, you may know that water boils at 100 ºC (at a pressure
of 1 atmosphere), but that is only true for large amounts of water. A
drop of water only 5 nm across boils at 95.9 ºC.
Ø One nanoparticle can behave differently to another nanoparticle

even if it is only slightly a different size. It may be a different colour,
it may have a different melting point, or it may conduct electricity
differently.
Nanoscale
The study of objects and phenomena at a very small scale, roughly 1
to 100 nanometers (nm)
‐ 10 hydrogen atoms lined up measure about 1 nm
‐ A grain of sand is 1 million nm, or 1 millimeter, wide
What’s interesting about the nanoscale?
‐ Nanosized particles exhibit different properties than larger particles of
the same substance
‐ As we study phenomena at this scale we…
Ø Learn more about the nature of matter
Ø Develop new theories
Ø Discover new questions and answers in many areas, including health
care, energy, and technology
Ø Figure out how to make new products and technologies that can
improve people’s lives
Nanoscale
Ø The naked eye can see to about 20 microns
Ø A human hair is about 50‐100 microns thick
Ø Light microscopes let us see to about 1 micron
Scanning electron microscopes (SEMs), invented in the 1930s, let us
see objects as small as 10 nanometers
Ø Higher resolution due to small size of electrons
Atomic Force Microscope (AFM)
Ø A tiny tip moves up and down in response to the electromagnetic
forces between the atoms of the surface and the tip
Ø The motion is recorded and used to create an image of the atomic
surface
Scanning Tunneling Microscope (STM)
Ø A flow of electrical current occurs between the tip and the surface
Ø The strength of this current is used to create an image of the atomic
surface
Nanoscale
q Nano means a billionth (a billion is a thousand million) so
‐ A nanometre is a billionth of a metre
‐ A nanosecond is a billionth of a second.
The head of a pin 1,000,000 nm across
You can see these with your eyes
The page of a book 100,000 nm thick unaided
A human hair 40,000 nm thick
A red blood cell 7000 nm across
You can see these using
light microscope
Bacteria 1000–10 000 nm
Transistor on latest computer 100 nm
chips
(there are up to 100 million of
them)
You need an electron microscope
DNA molecule 2 nm wide or other device to see these
Most atoms 0.1–0.2 nm
10 hydrogen atoms side by 1 nm long
side
The differences between Atomic scale,

Nanoscale, Microscale and Macroscale
Nanoscale_Properties
Learning Objectives
Size of atom
Molecules
Physics at the Nanoscale
Chemistry at the Nanoscale
Nanoscale_Properties
The fundamental properties of matter change at the nanoscale.
The properties of atoms and molecules are not governed by the

same physical laws as larger objects, but by quantum mechanics
The physical and chemical properties of nanoparticles can be quite

different from those of larger particles of the same substance.
Altered properties can include but are not limited to colour,

solubility, material strength, electrical conductivity, magnetic
behavior, mobility (within the environment and within the human
body), chemical reactivity and biological activity.
The Size of Atom

Ø An atom is important because it designates the ultimate
particles in which matter exists.
Ø The smallest unit into which matter can be divided and building
blocks of all matter
Ø Comprised of a nucleus (at it’s center) and an electron cloud
Ø A human hair is about 1 million carbon atoms wide.
Ø A typical human cell contains roughly 1 trillion atoms.
Ø A speck of dust might contain 3x1012 (3 trillion) atoms.
Ø It would take you around 500 years to count the number of
atoms in a grain of salt.
Ø Nanomaterials are closer in size to single atoms and molecules
than to bulk materials
Ø Molecule is the smallest part of a substance that retains all the
properties of the substance without losing its chemical identity and
is composed of one or more atoms.
Ø Quantum mechanics is a scientific model that was developed for
describing the motion and energy of atoms and electrons
Ø Due to the smallness of nanomaterials, their mass is extremely
small and gravitational forces become negligible. Instead,
electromagnetic forces are dominant in determining the behavior
of atoms and molecules.
Ø One of the consequences is a phenomenon called tunnelling.

Ø Tunnelling is a fundamental quantum effect and it is the basis of a very
important instrument for imaging nanostructured surfaces called the
Scanning Tunnelling Microscope (STM).
Ø Quantum confinement: in a nanomaterial, such as a metal, electrons are
confined in space rather than free to move in the bulk of the material.
Ø Quantisation of energy: electrons can only exist at discrete energy levels.
Quantum dots are nanomaterials that display the effect of quantisation
of energy.
Ø Random molecular motion: molecules move due to their kinetic energy.
This is called random molecular motion and is always present. At the
macroscale, this motion is very small compared to the sizes of the
objects and thus is not influential on how the object moves. At the
nanoscale, however, these motions can be of the same scale as the size
of the particles and thus have an important influence on how they
behave. One example of a random kinetic motion is Brownian motion.
Chemistry at the nanoscale
Ø It has already been stated that a nanomaterial is formed of at least
a cluster of atoms, often a cluster of molecules. It follows that all
types of bonding that are important in chemistry are also
important in nanoscience.
q They are generally classified as:
Ø Intramolecular bonding (chemical interactions): these are
bondings that involve changes in the chemical structure of the
molecules and include ionic, covalent and metallic bonds;
Ø Intermolecular bonding (physical interaction): these are bondings
that do not involve changes in the chemical structure of the
molecules and include ion‐ion and ion‐dipole interactions; van der
Waals interactions; hydrogen bonds; hydrophobic interactions;
repulsive forces (such as steric repulsions).

Ø Nanomaterials often arise from a number of molecules held
together or large molecules that assume specific three‐
dimensional structures through intermolecular bonding
(macromolecules).
Ø Therefore, nanoscience also deals with supramolecular chemistry ‐
‐ i.e. the chemistry that deals with interactions among molecules.
Ø Intermolecular bondings, such as hydrogen bonding and van der
Waals bonding are weak interactions but in a large number they
can have a total energy that can be quite significant.
Ø For instance, the structure of DNA (which has a cross‐section of 2
nm): the two helixes are held together by numerous hydrogen
bonds
Ø One type of intermolecular bonding particularly significant in
nanoscience is the hydrophobic effect.
Ø This is a process basically driven by entropy and which has a major
role in biological materials.
Ø In simple terms, it is the property by which non‐polar molecules
(e.g. oil) tend to form aggregates of like molecules in water.
Material Properties
_ Nanoscale
Learning Objectives
Nanomaterials properties
The importance of surface atoms
Surface energy
Material Properties
Ø Regardless of whether we consider a bulk material or a
nanoscale material, its physical and chemical properties depend
on many of its surface properties.
Ø Surfaces perform numerous functions: they keep things in or
out; they allow the flow of a material or energy across an
interface; they can initiate or terminate a chemical reaction, as
in the case of catalysts.
Ø The branch of science that deals with the chemical, physical and
biological properties of surfaces is called surface science.
The importance of surface atoms

Ø In surface science, the chemical groups that are at the material
interface determine its properties
Ø Properties like catalytic reactivity, electrical resistivity,
adhesion, gas storage and chemical reactivity depend on the
nature of the interface.
Ø Nanomaterials have a significant proportion of atoms existing at
the surface.
Ø The fact that in a nanomaterial a larger fraction of the atoms is
at the surface influences some physical properties such as the
melting point.
Surface energy
Ø Atoms and molecules that exist at the surface or at an interface
are different from the same atoms or molecules that exist in the
interior of a material.
Ø Atoms and molecules at the interface have enhanced reactivity
and a greater tendency to agglomerate: surface atoms and
molecules are unstable, they have high surface energy.
Ø One of the ways of reducing the surface energy innanoparticles
is agglomeration.
Ø The surface of 10 identical nanoparticles is equal to the sum of
the surface energy of each individual nanoparticle.
Ø If these were to agglomerate, and become one large particle,
the overall surface energy would be reduced.
Surface energy
Ø The surface energy of two separate cubes is higher than the

surface energy of the two cubes agglomerated
Ø Nanoparticles have a strong intrinsic tendency to agglomerate.

Ø To avoid this, surfactants can be used
Material Properties
_ Nanoscale II
Learning Objectives
Electrical properties
Quantum confinement
Optical properties
Magnetic properties
Mechanical properties
Electrical Properties
Ø There are three categories of materials based on their electrical
properties: (a) conductors; (b) semiconductors; and (c)
insulators.
Ø The energy separation between the valence band and the
conduction band is called Eg (band gap).
Ø The ability to fill the conduction band with electrons and the
energy of the band gap determine whether a material is a
conductor, a semiconductor or an insulator.
Ø In conducting materials like metals, the valence band and the
conducting band overlap, so the value of Eg is small: thermal
energy is enough to stimulate electrons to move to the
conduction band.
Ø In semiconductors, the band gap is a few electron volts.
Quantum confinement
Ø The general principle is that confinement occurs if a
characteristic size is less than or equal to the electron
coherence length.
Ø Quantum confinement causes the energy of the band gap to
increase.
Ø At very small dimensions when the energy levels are quantified,
the band overlap present in metals disappears and is actually
transformed into a band gap.
Ø This explains why some metals become semiconductors as their
size is decreased.
Ø The increase in band gap energy due to quantum confinement
means that more energy will be needed in order to be absorbed
by the band gap of the material
Quantum confinement
Ø The quantum confinement effect is observed when the size of the
particle is too small to be comparable to the wavelength of the
electron.
Ø To understand this effect we break the words like quantum and
confinement, the word confinement means to confine the motion
of randomly moving electron to restrict its motion in specific
energy levels( discreteness) and quantum reflects the atomic
realm of particles.
Ø As the size of a particle decrease till we a reach a nano scale the
decrease in confining dimension makes the energy levels discrete
and this increases or widens up the band gap and ultimately the
band gap energy also increases
Optical properties
Ø Some nanomaterials display very different optical properties,
such as colour and transparency, compared to bulk materials.
Ø The ‘colour’ of a material is a function of the interaction
between the light and the object.
Ø If a material absorbs light of certain wavelengths, an observer
will not see these colours in the reflected light.
Ø Only reflected wavelengths reach our eyes and this makes an
object appear a certain colour.
Ø In general light (I) incident on a material can be transmitted (T),
absorbed (A) or reflected (R):
I = T+A+R
As the size of the materials is reduced, scattering (S) of light can
also contribute to its colour.
Optical properties
Ø Reflection (R) occurs when light strikes a smooth surface and the
incident wave is directed back into the original medium. The reflected
wave has same geometrical structure as the incident wave.
Ø Absorption (A) is a process that involves energy transformation. The
energy levels of a substance determine the wavelengths of light that
can be absorbed. It is a molecular phenomenon, dependent on the
chemical identity and structure of the substance (not on the size of the
molecules or clusters), and involves electronic transitions, vibrations
and rotations. Chromophores and fluorephores are examples of organic
materials that have specific electronic transitions.
Ø Transmission (T) is the ability of light to pass through a material: it is
complementary to absorption. Transmission of light is what is left after
reflection, scattering and absorption have occurred.
Ø Scattering (S) is the phenomenon that occurs when radiation hits a
structure with dimensions comparable to the incident wavelength.
Magnetic properties
Ø The magnetic properties of a magnet are described by its
magnetisation curve.
Ø In general terms, the magnetisation curve of a ferromagnetic
material is a plot of the total magnetisation of the sample versus
the applied DC field with strength H.
Magnetic properties
Ø Initially, as H increases, M increases until a saturation point Ms is
reached. When H is decreased from the saturation point, M does
not decrease to the same value it had before: rather, it is higher on
the curve of the decreasing field. This is called hysteresis.
Ø When the applied field H is returned to zero, the magnet still has a
magnetisation, referred to as remnant magnetisation Mr.
Ø In order to remove the remnant magnetisation, a field Hc has to be

applied in the direction opposite to the field applied the first time.
This field is called the coercive field.
Ø Some nanomaterials have inherent exceptional mechanical
properties which are connected to their structure.
Ø One such material is carbon nanotubes: these are extremely
small tubes having the same honeycomb structure of
graphite, but with different properties compared to graphite.
Ø Carbon nanotubes are 100 times stronger than steel but six
times lighter.
Ø Nanomaterials can also be used
to improve the mechanical
properties of existing materials.
In this case, nanocomposites are
formed.
Ø Nanocrystalline materials, which are polycrystalline (i.e. made of
many crystals which are identical but connected without
orientation) and defined as materials with grain sizes from a few
nanometres up to 100 nm.
Ø In contrast, the grain size in industrial metallic materials is about

10, 000 nm or greater. These materials generally show improved
mechanical properties (toughness, hardness, etc.).
Overview of
Nanomaterials
Learning Objectives
Overview of Nanomaterial
Overview of
Ø
Nanomaterials
Nanoscience will impact the design and fabrication of new
materials with innovative properties and functions.
Ø Contributions to this field are very widespread, and include
enhancing the properties of plastics, ceramics, coatings,
composites, fibres and many more.
Ø Nanoscience also introduces an entirely new concept in
material design, the bottom‐up approach of material self‐
assembly, which is directly inspired from how organic and
inorganic materials are created in nature.
Ø Nanostructured materials are solids or semi‐solids (e.g.
hydrogels, liquid crystals) characterised by a nano‐sized
inner structure.
Ø They vary differ from crystalline, microstructured and
amorphous solids because of the scale order.
Overview of
Nanomaterials
Ø In crystalline solids, the atoms are neatly
arranged in a grid where the distance between
neighbouring atoms is well defined, and this
order extends to macroscopic dimensions.
Ø In contrast, microstructured materials show
structural variation only on a micron scale,
whereas amorphous materials exhibit short‐
range order only.
Ø In nanostructured materials, the spatial order
is at the nanoscale, which lies between the
microscopic and the atomic scale.
Overview of
Nanomaterials
Ø The size of the nanostructures and the scale order
within them in the solid impacts the properties of a
material.
Ø Nanostructured materials differ from conventional
polycrystalline materials in the size of the structural
units of which they are composed.
Ø Due to the large surface area, bulk properties become
governed by surface properties.
Ø This surface — also called an interface — can form a
border with the embedding matrix, a nanoparticle, air
or vacuum in the case of a pore or defect.
Ø Examples of nanostructured materials are
nanoporous, nanocrystalline, nanocomposite and
hybrid materials
Overview of
Nanomaterials
Ø Nanoporous materials have nano‐sized pores.
Ø Nanocrystalline material consists of many nano‐sized

crystalline domains.
Ø Nanocomposite material contains two or more

phaseseparated components with morphology of
spheres, cylinders or networks with nano‐sized
dimensions (further divided into inorganic and
polymer nanocomposites)
Ø Hybrid materials are made of a combination of

organic and inorganic components interconnected at
a molecular level (e.g. block copolymers).
Overview of
Nanomaterials
Ø One of the distinguishing features of
nanostructured materials is that they can have
properties that differ significantly from those
displayed in bulk.
Ø This means that scientists have the opportunity

to design new materials with specific functions
by exploiting the intrinsic properties of
nanomaterials.
Ø As a result, coatings, plastics and metals with

new properties can be made to fulfil specific
functions.
Biomimetic Nano-
materials I
Learning Objectives
Overview of Biomimetic nanomaterials
Biomimetic nanomaterials
Ø Biomimetics, also known as bionics, biognosis, or biomimicry, is
the use and implementation of concepts and principles from
nature to creating new materials, devices and systems.
Ø Nature is the best nanotechnology platform
Ø Biomimetic materials are materials developed using inspiration

from nature.
Ø Biomimetics is the study of the formation, structure, or

function of biologically produced substances and materials and
biological mechanisms and processes especially for the purpose
of synthesizing similar products by artificial mechanisms which
mimic natural ones
Ø There is significant current interest in bio‐mimetic synthesis
as technologies to underpin the development of processes
which are modular, scalable and crucially accessible to the
broad materials community.
Ø The state of the art research, such as DNA nanotechnology

(nanoscale fabrication using DNA building blocks) and DNA
templated synthesis (in vitro replication, transcription and
translation using DNA templates) currently all have a
complete reliance on biological polymers.
Ø Knowing the structure and functions of biological molecules,

we can synthesise hybrid molecules, including peptides,
lipids and organic polymers, and develop biomimetic
nanofibres, bioinorganic composites and nanoporous
coatings for tissue engineering.
Ø Biomimetic nanoparticles are under active development. For
example, ferritin, a protein that transports and stores iron in
an organism, forms nanocavities with an inner diameter of 8
nm.
Ø Magnetic nanoparticles of iron oxide and cobalt oxide with a
mean size of 6 nm can be encapsulated in these nanocavities.
Ø Aapproaches employ “growing” nanoparticles of specific
sizes inside bacteria or the biomass of plants (oats, wheat or
alfalfa).
Ø Metal salts are added to these biological objects, and after
biocatalitic reduction to metals they form nanoparticles.
Ø Methods of growing metallic nanoparticles in plants by
adding metal salts to the irrigation water have been
described. Nanoparticles are formed in the stems and other
parts of plants and can be extracted.
Ø Utilizes biological mechanisms to create materials
‐ Mimicking biological self‐assembly processes
‐ Using single biological units as a building block
along with inorganic materials
Ø Mimics biology at the molecular level
‐ Synthesizing structures that mimic biological
structures
Ø Atom‐precise manipulation yields composite
materials and nano‐scale structures with desirable
properties
Ø Parallel self‐assembly processes achieve precision
with high speed and reproducibility.
Gecko-inspired adhesive (or
Ø
bio-rubber)
The adhesive properties of the gecko foot will discuss here.
Ø Sspecifically, how these are not related to a glue in the foot, but
rather to van der Waals and capillary forces exerted by millions of
nanostructures (called setae) that make up the foot.
Ø This allows the animal to walk upside down, against gravity and on
many different surfaces, including those which are wet
Ø Scientists have been inspired by this animal to design and fabricate
adhesives for numerous applications.
Ø A group of researchers at the University of California, Berkeley, has
developed adhesive gecko‐foot‐like surfaces for use in climbing robots.
Ø The adhesive is made of patches of microfibre arrays with 42 million
polypropylene microfibre per square centimetre. The patches can
support up to 9 N cm‐2: a 2 cm2 patch can support a load of 400 g.
Ø This result is very close to the loads supported by a gecko, which are
about 10 N cm‐2. This gecko‐like adhesive is very similar in
functionality to the natural gecko foot, but not as good—yet
Biomimetic Nano-
materials II
Learning Objectives
Overview of Biomimetic molecules ‐

Self healing adhesive
Self-healing adhesives
Ø Diatoms are a type of algae with nanostructured amorphous
silica surfaces.
Ø Diatoms are unicellular algae that have the capability to
colonize any natural and man‐made submerged surfaces.
Ø Diatoms are a large group of eukaryotic microalgae that have a
rigid cell wall made of silica (SiO2).
Ø Diatoms are often among the first organisms to colonize
underwater surfaces, because their adhesive mucilage enables
the cells to attach to substrata of a very wide range of chemical
composition (organic, inorganic, natural or man‐made).
Ø Surface adhesion of diatoms belonging to the raphid pennate
type requires the secretion of so‐called adhesive mucilage
strands through a dedicated slit in the silica cell wall, which is
termed the raphe.
Ø Adhering cells can then move across the surface, which is
accomplished through an actin‐myosin dependent cytoskeletal motor
that translocates the adhesive mucilage strands in a rearward
direction through the raphe, thereby moving the cell forward.
Ø Some diatom species have evolved strong self‐healing
underwater adhesives. Some are free‐floating, others have
adhesive properties in water: for instance, diatoms in the
Antarctic seas can attach to ice.
Ø Others secrete viscous mucilage which binds colonies together
while protecting the silica shells from wear as they rub against
each other.
Ø Molluscs are another species that have adhesive properties
under water.
Ø Both diatoms and molluscs have strong underwater glues that
can also resist stress and self‐heal.
Ø They serve as a biomimetic model for self‐healing materials.
Ø These natural adhesives and their self‐healing properties are
due to the properties of the proteins contained in them.
Ø These proteins have sacrificial bonds that allow the molecule to
be reversibly stretched by breaking and re‐bonding.
Ø This sacrificial bond behaviour has been observed in many
other materials, such as wool.
Ø Closing the wounds with sticky materials has been introduced
to prevent bleeding and induce the wound healing process.
Ø Many types of surgical adhesives including tissue adhesives
have been developed to be a suitable alternative for sutures
and staples.
Ø A new approach which aims at producing bio‐adhesives by
mimicking the nature along with applying nanotechnology
methods.
Ø Engineering stable underwater adhesives currently poses a
major technical challenge, because most man‐made adhesives
fail in wet conditions, owing to chemical modification of the
adhesive or its substrate.
Ø Diatoms produce adhesives that are extremely strong and
robust, in both fresh‐ and seawater environments.
Ø AFM (Atomic Force Microscopy) study of living diatoms, phase
imaging and force spectroscopy experiments revealed
characteristics of these natural adhesives that may be of use in
designing man‐made adhesive analogues that function in wet
environments.
Ø The AFM allows for investigations of micromechanical
properties of the cell surface, for example viscoeleastic
properties, adhesion forces and hardness measurements, in
physiological conditions.
Ø Experiments with three diatom species that produce
outstanding natural adhesives: Eunotia sudetica, Navicula
seminulum and an unidentified species
Biomimetic Nano-
materials III
Learning Objectives

Biomimetic membranes, capsules and
bioreactors
Biomimetic membranes, capsules

and bioreactors
Ø The bilipid membrane has served as a
biomimetic model for decades.
Ø A simple example is liposomes (lipid vesicles)

which are easily formed by shaking oil
vigorously in water.
Ø Planar‐supported bilayers are also inspired by

the lipid membrane and are formed by simply
‘dipping’ a suitable substrate inside an organic
aqueous phase
Biomimetic membranes
Ø Mode of thinking that has given rise to the research and advancement
of biomimetic membranes, an innovation in water filtration
technology that aims to replicate a natural process occurring at the
cell level ‐ specifically, the highly‐selective and efficient transport of
water molecules across a cell membrane.
Ø A promising approach to this concept is based on the use of aquaporin
molecules, a naturally‐existing protein that serves the important
function of maintaining osmoregulation in living organisms by
facilitating water transport through cell walls.
Ø Aquaporin molecule is the ability to restrict the passage of
contaminants including bacteria, viruses, minerals, proteins, DNA,
dissolved gases, salts, detergents, and even protons without
encumbering the passage of water.
Ø For the past several years, a number of research efforts have been
underway in an attempt to utilize aquaporins in the development of a
new biomimetic membrane technology.
Biomimetic membranes
Ø Biomimetic membranes hold considerable promise as a
low‐energy option and a more effective alternative to
desalination, industrial water treatment and other water
purification applications.
Ø The Aquaporin Inside technology is essentially a thin film
coating that hosts aquaporin proteins in an environment
that retains the molecules natural activity of moving
water molecules.
Ø The coating can be applied to both flat‐sheet membranes
and hollow fiber modules.
Ø The design approach to Applied Biomimetic's technology
involves controlling the amount of integrated aquaporin
proteins in order to design membranes to a specific
permeability
Polyelectrolyte - Supported Lipid
Bilayers
Ø Phospholipid membranes, as an important component of cell
structures, can naturally create a boundary to separate the
internal environment from the external environment of cells.
Ø To better understand the structure, function, and properties
of biological membranes, researchers have attempted to
develop various biomimetic models, well known as lipid
vesicles (liposomes).
Ø Due to the amphiphilic nature of lipid molecules, they can
spontaneously form hollow spherical closed bilayers in water.
Ø Such biomimetic vesicles have not only served as model
biological membranes in our outstanding of basic cell
physiology, but have also been expanded to numerous
applications such as drug vehicles, gene therapy, and
nanoreactors.
Biomimetic energy nanomaterials

Ø Many challenges that we are now facing in the energy
area (improvements needed in solar panels, hydrogen
fuel cells, rechargeable batteries, etc.) can be solved
through the use of nano‐engineered materials.
Ø Some of these materials have been developed following

direct inspiration from nature, such as the new types of
solar photovoltaic cells, which try to imitate the natural
nanomachinery of photosynthesis.
Ø Another interesting example is that of using battery

electrodes with self‐assembling nanostructures grown
by genetic engineered viruses.
Self Assembled
Nanomaterials I
Learning Objectives

Self Assembled Nanomaterials
Self‐assembled monolayers (SAMs)
SAM ‐ Applications

Ø The concept of self‐assembly derives from the observation that, in
natural biological processes, molecules self‐assemble to create
complex structures with nanoscale precision.
Ø Examples are the formation of the DNA double helix or the
formation of the membrane cell from phospholipids.
Ø Self‐assembly is a process that builds an ordered structure, brick‐by‐
brick, starting from disordered building blocks, using simple key
ingredients.
Ø Self‐assembly is commonly controlled by certain intrinsic material
parameters e.g., composition, strain, thickness, phase
transformation, structural changes and results from the interaction
between different factors e.g., deposit/substrate, liquid/gas/solid
phases, crystals.
Ø A number of extrinsic factors, including thermal treatment, chemical
and electrochemical reactions, mechanical stress, electric or
magnetic fields, can strongly influence the self‐assembled
morphologies.
Ø Nanoparticles have the ability to assemble chemically
through covalent or noncovalent interactions with their
capping ligand.
Ø The terminal functional group on the particle are known as
capping ligands.
Ø These ligands tend to be complex and sophisticated, self‐
assembly can provide a simpler pathway for nanoparticle
organization by synthesizing efficient functional groups.
Ø DNA oligomers have been a key ligand for nanoparticle
building blocks to be self‐assembling via sequence‐based
specific organization.
Ø The successful design of ligand‐building block units can play
an essential role in manufacturing a wide‐range of new
nano systems, such as nanosensor systems,
nanomachines/nanobots, nanocomputers
Self-assembled monolayers
(SAMs)
Ø Some organic molecules, when exposed from solution
or vapour to a suitable substrate, self‐assemble to
produce homogeneous, densely packed layers of
monomolecular thickness.
Ø These organic molecules have long chains with two
different end groups.
Ø monolayer is formed when one of the two end groups
of the organic molecule reacts with a particular surface
forming a chemical bond.
Ø The surface properties of the substrate are then
defined by the exposed functional groups of the
monolayer.
Ø For example, alkyl‐silane or alkane thiol molecules
exposed to a silica or metal surface assemble into
organised layers.
(SAMs)
Ø SAM‐forming materials may be physisorbed layers,
v Langmuir‐Blodgett films
v Chemisorbed layers,
‐ such as organosilanes bonded to silica or organothiols
bonded to gold.
Ø Films of mixed SAMs with tailored surface properties can be
fabricated by mixing two (or more) precursor molecules and
photosensitive SAM layers can be produced by molecularly
engineering the precursor to include a photoreactive
species.
Ø Whitesides and his co‐workers from Harvard University have
introduced the use of mixed SAMs of alkanethiols on gold
surfaces to control protein and cell adhesion.
Ø SAMs of alkanethiol on gold are formed when a gold surface
is exposed to a solution or to the vapour of an alkanethiol
(SAMs)
Ø The sulphur atoms of the alkanethiols
coordinate with the gold surface, while the
alkyl chains are closely pack and tilted to 30°
from the surface normal.
Ø The terminal end group of a ω‐substituted
alkanethiol determines the surface properties
of the monolayer.
(SAMs)
Ø Surfaces with micron and nanopatterns of SAMs are interesting
since they allow the creation of metallic hybrid circuits where
biomolecules can be selectively attached (and released) to patterns
of gold.
Ø Different methods exist for creating micro and nanopatterns of
SAMs, such as microcontact printing (µCP), nanocontact printing
(nCP), conventional lithography and Dip Pen Nanolithography.
Ø Applications: SAMs are extremely useful in thin‐film technology since
they provide a simple, versatile and relatively inexpensive way of
producing coatings with specific functionalities.
Ø Thin coatings are used in many applications, for example to control
surface wetting and adhesion properties; to provide chemical
resistance or specific biocompatibility; to confer antibacterial
properties; and for sensors.
Ø SAMs are particularly interesting for developing DNA and protein
micro and nanoarrays for medical screening and for future
electronic components in computer chips and other ICT
developments.
Self Assembled
Nanomaterials II
Learning Objectives
Liquid crystals
Liquid crystals Phase
Liquid crystal self‐assembly
Phases of liquid crystals and their
properties
Liquid crystal applications
Liquid crystals
Ø A liquid crystal is a fourth state of matter: it has properties between
those of a conventional liquid and those of a solid crystal.
Ø Like a liquid, it flows, and, like a crystal, it can display long‐range
molecular order.
Ø In terms of classifications, liquid crystals (together with polymers
and colloids), are often classified as soft matter and treated under
the branch of physical chemistry of condensed matter.
Ø A stable phase of matter characterized by anisotropic properties
without the existence of a 3‐dimensional crystal lattice – generally
lying between the solid and isotropic (liquid) phase.
Isotropic: Anisotropic:
Liquids and Liquid Crystals
gases have
(uniform orientational
properties order
in all
directions).

Ø A fluid phase in which a liquid crystal flows and will take
the shape of its container.
Ø It differs from liquid that there are still some
orientation order possessed by the molecules
Ø A phase that exists between solid and liquid
Ø Discovered in 19th century when studying a cholesterol
derivative
Nematic, Smectic & Cholesteric
Anisotropic substances may go through one or several

Liquid Crystal Phases
Ø Nematic Phase: Molecules in this phase are long and rod‐like in shape. They
are free to move in space.
Ø Smectic Phase: This phase can be reached at lower temperatures than the
nematic phase.
Ø Molecules align themselves in layers.
Ø More order and higher viscosity
Ø Cholestric Liquid Crystal: Molecules with intermolecular forces that favor

alignment between molecules at a slight angle to one another
Ø The director is not fixed in space as in a nematic phase, it rotates
throughout the sample
Ø A fascinating and characteristic feature of liquid‐

crystalline systems is that they change their molecular
and supermolecular organisation drastically as a result
of very small external disturbances
Ø The molecules in liquid crystal displays, for instance, are

reoriented by relatively weak electrical fields.
Ø If a small amount of chiral molecules are dissolved in an

achiral liquid‐crystalline host phase, remarkable
macroscopic chirality effects occur, ranging from helical
superstructures to the appearance of ferroelectricity.
Liquid crystal self-assembly
Ø Liquid crystals are partly ordered materials, somewhere between their solid and
liquid phases. This means that liquid crystals combine the fluidity of ordinary liquids
with the interesting electrical and optical properties of crystalline solids.
Ø Molecules of liquid crystals are often shaped like rods or plates or some other form
that encourages them to align collectively along a certain direction.
Ø Liquid crystals are temperature sensitive since they turn to solid if it is too cold and
to liquid if it is too hot. This phenomenon can, for example, be observed on laptop
screens when it is very hot or very cold.
Example of the self‐organisation of

anisometric molecules in liquid‐crystalline
phases
Left: Rod‐like molecules form a nematic
liquid, in which the longitudinal axes of the
molecules are aligned parallel to a common
preferred direction (director).
Right: Disc‐like (discotic) molecules arrange to
molecule‐stacks (columns), in which the
longitudinal axes are also aligned parallel to
the director. As a result of their orientational
order, liquid crystals exhibit anisotropic
Phases of liquid crystals and their
physical properties, just like crystals.
properties
Ø A liquid crystal is formed by the self‐assembly of molecules into ordered
structures, or phases.
Ø An external disturbance, such as a change in temperature or magnetic field,
even very small, can induce the liquid crystal to assume a different phase.
Ø Different phases can be distinguished by their different optical properties
v Liquid crystals are divided into three groups:
q thermotropic liquid crystals consist of organic molecules, typically having
coupled double bonds, and exhibit a phase transition as temperature is
changed (Figure 5, left)
q lyotropic liquid crystals consist of organic molecules, typically amphiphilic
(water‐loving) and exhibit a phase transition as a function of both
temperature and concentration of the liquid crystal molecules in a solvent
(typically water) (Figure 5, right, and Figure 6)
q metallotropic liquid crystals are composed of both organic and inorganic
molecules, and their liquid crystal transition depends not only on
temperature and concentration but also on the organic‐inorganic
composition ratio.
Liquid crystal applications
Ø The order of liquid crystals can be manipulated with mechanical,
magnetic or electric forces.
Ø What is interesting is that this change of order can be obtained with
very small variations of these forces.
Ø The properties of liquid crystals are useful in many applications.
Ø The colour of some liquid crystals depends on the orientation of its
molecules, so any influence that disturbs this orientation (e.g. a
difference in magnetic or electric field, temperature, or the
presence of certain chemicals) can be detected with a colour change.
Ø Liquid crystals are routinely used in displays for cell phones,
cameras, laptop computers and other electronics.
Ø In these displays, an electric field changes the orientation of the
molecules in the liquid crystal, and affects the polarisation of light
passing through them.
Ø Because of their sensitivity to temperature, and the property of
changing colour, they are also used in thermometers.
Ø In miniaturised sensors, liquid crystals can detect certain chemicals,
electric fields and changes in temperature.
Nanostructured metals
and alloys
Learning Objectives
Nanostructured metals and alloys

Nanostructured metals and
alloys
Ø Nanostructuring is the new and promising way to
enhance the properties of metals and alloys for
advanced structural and functional application.
Ø A nanostructured material is made of grains or other
microstructural entities that have average size 100 nm
or less in length at least in one dimension.
Ø Gold
Other entities include ~ 35,000 second phase, a
precipitates,
years ago
third phase, etc.
Copper ~ 4,000 BC
Bronze (Cu–Sn) ~ 1,200 BC
Brass (Cu‐Zn) 2,000 – 1,000
BC
Iron ~ 1,200 BC
Steel ~ 500 BC
Metal nanoparticles _ MNPs

Ø The term metal nanoparticleis used to described nanosized
metals with
dimensions (length, width or thickness) within the size rang
e 1‐100 nm.
Ø The existence of metallic nanoparticlesin solution was first r
ecognized by Faraday
in 1857 and a quantitative explanation of their colourwas gi
ven by Mie in 1908.
Ø Metal nanoparticles are a clear example of how the
properties of matter can change at the nanometre scale.
Ø For instance, metal gold is notably yellow in colour and used
for jewellery. As the noblest of all metals, gold is very stable.
Ø However, if gold is shrunk to a nanoparticle, it changes
colour, becoming red if it is spherical and even colourless if
it is shaped in a ring. Moreover, gold nanoparticles become
very reactive and can be used as new catalysts
The main characteristics of MNPs
Ø large surface‐area‐to‐volume ratio as compared to the bulk
equivalents;
Ø large surface energies
Ø the transition between molecular and metallic states
providing specific electronic structure (local density of state
s LDOS);
Ø plasmon excitation;
Ø quantum confinement;
Ø short range ordering;
Ø increased number of kinks;
Ø a large number of low‐coordination sites such as corners an
d edges, having a large number of danglingbonds and
consequently specific and chemical properties and the abilit
y to store excess electrons.
Plasmonic structures
Ø Noble metal nanoparticles, meaning gold, silver, platinum and palladium
nanoparticles, show localised surface plasmon‐resonances (LSPR).
Ø The energy of the LSPR depends on the particle shape, size, composition,
inter‐particle spacing and dielectric environment.
Ø The surface of the nanoparticles can be functionalised with numerous
chemical and biochemical molecules enabling specific binding of organic
molecules such as antibodies, making them useful in sensors.
Ø Special interest for optical detection and sensing in analytical chemistry
and molecular biology.
Ø The refractive index can be used as the sensing parameter: changes in the
local dielectric environment, induced by the sensing process, are used to
detect the binding of molecules in the particle nano‐environment.
Ø The change in aggregation between the nanoparticles as a result of analyte
attachment affects the LSPR energy, so this effect can be used for highly
miniaturised sensors.
Reinforcements
Ø Metal nanoparticles are used as reinforcement in alloys
for applications in lightweight construction within the
aerospace sector and, increasingly, the automotive
sector.
Ø The method is used, for example, to harden steel.
Ø Titanium nanoparticles are used as an alloy compound
in steel, and the resulting material shows improved
properties with respect to robustness, ductility,
corrosion and temperature resistance.
Ø Particles of iron carbide are also precipitated in steel to
make it harder.
Ø The nanoparticles block the movement of the
dislocations in the crystalline material increasing the
hardness.
Environmental applications
q Some forms of metal nanoparticles have important environment
applications.
Ø Zero‐valent (Fe0) iron nanoparticles are under investigation for the
remediation of contaminated groundwater and soil.
Ø Iron, when exposed to air, oxidises easily to rust; however, when it
oxidises around contaminants such as trichloroethylene (TCE),
carbon tetrachloride, dioxins, or PCBs, these organic molecules are
broken down into simple, far less toxic carbon compounds.
Ø Iron nanoparticles are more effective than conventional ‘iron
powder’, which is already used to clean up industrial wastes. Iron
nanoparticles are 10 to 1 000 times more reactive than commonly
used iron powders.
Ø Silver nanoparticles have a strong antibacterial capacity.
Ø They are used in numerous products to prevent or reduce the
adherence of bacteria to surfaces.
Polymer
Learning Objectives
What are polymers

Conductive polymers
Block copolymers
Their Biomedical Applications
Polymer
Ø A polymer is a large molecule made of a chain of individual
basic units called monomers joined together in sequence.
Ø A copolymer is a macromolecule containing two or more types

of monomers.
Ø When the polymer is a good conductor of electricity, it is

referred to as conductive polymer (or organic metal).
Conductive polymers
Ø Polymers that are good conductors of electricity are called
conductive polymers and include polyacetylene, polyaniline,
polypyrrole, polythiophene.
Ø Characterised by their alternating double‐single chemical
bonds, so they are π‐conjugated.
Ø Responsible for the good electrical conduction properties of the
material.
Ø Conductive polymers has revealed that these are made of a
sequence of metallic nanoparticles about 10 nm in diameter.
Ø The high conductivity of polymers such as polyacetylene and
polyaniline is related to the nanostructure of the polymer.
Block copolymers
Ø A copolymer is a macromolecule containing two or more types
of monomers and a block copolymer comprises these basic
units or monomer types joined together in long individual
sequences called blocks.
Ø An example is the diblock polymer (A)m(B)n, which is made of a
linear sequence of m monomers of type A joined together to a
linear sequence of n monomers of type B.
Ø Block copolymers are made of a hydrophilic (water‐attractive)
block, and a hydrophobic (water‐repellent) block.
Ø In general, macromolecules having hydrophilic and hydrophobic
regions, such as lipids, self‐assemble in ordered structures
when in water, the hydrophobic region packs together, avoiding
the water molecules, leaving the hydrophilic molecules to the
exterior of the structure.
Block copolymers
Ø The block copolymer can form spherical micelles (nanospheres),
cylindrical micelles and membranes.
Ø Both cylindrical and spherical micelles consist of a non‐soluble
(hydrophobic) core surrounded by a soluble corona.
Ø Membranes are made up of two monolayers of block copolymer
aligned to form a sandwich‐like membrane, soluble block‐
insoluble block‐soluble block.
Biomedical applications
Ø The ability of block copolymers to form nanoparticles and
nanostructures in aqueous solutions makes them particularly useful for
biomedical applications, such as therapeutics delivery, tissue
engineering and medical imaging.
Ø In the field of therapeutic delivery, materials that can encapsulate and
release
Ø drugs are needed.
Ø Hydrogels are very useful for the controlled release of drugs and block
copolymer hydrogels are particularly advantageous for the possibility of
conferring some stimuli‐activated properties, such as temperature‐
sensitivity.
Ø Block copolymers form nanostructures with both hydrophilic and
hydrophobic areas, so they can form vesicles that can encapsulate and
carry both hydrophobic and hydrophilic therapeutic agents.
Ø Micelles formed using block copolymers have a hydrophilic corona that
makes them more resistant to the interaction of proteins, in particular
plasma proteins; therefore, these types of micelles exhibit long
circulation times in vivo.
Polymeric Nanofibers
Learning Objectives
What are polymeric Nanofibers

The Nanofibers Applications
Polymeric Nanofibers
Ø Fiber with diameter in nanometer range. Many types of polymers
were processed into nanofibers of 50 to 1000 nanometers in
diameter, several orders of magnitude smaller than conventional
fiber spinning.
Ø Nanostructured fibrous materials, or nanofibres, are an important
class of nanomaterials, now readily available due to recent
developments in electrospinning and related fabrication
technologies.
Nanofibres have some unique properties:
Ø they are highly porous
Ø It is possible to increase the mechanical stability of nanofibrous
structures by annealing the fabric so to join together the crossing
points of those fibres.
Ø These properties make nanofibrous scaffolds useful for many
biomedical and industrial applications.
Nanofibers
Ø Properties
‐large specific surface area
‐high porosity
‐small pore size
‐diameter range (50 – 1000) nm
Ø Material
‐ Polymer solutions or melts
‐More than 30 polymers, including polyethylene oxide, DNA,
polyaramids, and polyaniline, have been electrospun.
‐ These fibers can be made of variety organic (nylon, polyester,
acryl) or biological polymers (proteins, collagens).
‐ Peptide amphiphiles or cellulose.
Nanofiber Applications
Ø Air and liquid filters
Ø Wound dressings
Ø Tissue enginnering
Ø Surface modifications
Ø Sound absorptive materials

Semiconductors
Learning Objectives
What are Semiconductors

Quantum dots
Semiconducting Oxides
Titanium dioxide
Zinc dioxide
Indium tin oxide
Semiconductors
Ø Semiconductors, unlike metals, have a band gap.
Ø The band gap is between the valence band and the conduction
band.
Ø In intrinsic semiconductors which possess no impurities (e.g.
boron, germanium, indium, silicon), there are no electronic
states in the band gap.
Ø The properties of semiconductors, in particular the band gap,
are manipulated by the addition of dopants — impurities able
to donate charge carriers in the form of electrons (n‐type) or
holes (p‐type).
Quantum dots
Ø Quantum dots are made of semiconductor materials, such as
CdSe, ZnSe and CdTe
Ø 10 nm in size
Ø A quantum dot (QD) has a discrete quantised energy spectrum, so
it can absorb a specific wavelength and emit a monochromatic
colour.
Ø Depending on their size, QDs emit different colours.
Semiconducting oxides
Ø Semiconducting oxides like TiO2 and ZnO in bulk (macro) form
are widely used in industry in many products.
q Titanium dioxide
Ø Titanium dioxide (TiO2) is a mineral mainly found in two forms:
rutile and anatase.
Ø Titanium dioxide is the most widely used white pigment
because of its brightness (white colour) and very high refractive
index (n = 2.4).
Ø It is used in paints, plastics, toothpastes, papers, inks, foods and
medicines. In sunscreens with a physical blocker, titanium
dioxide is used both because of its high refractive index and its
resistance to discolouration under ultraviolet light.
Titanium nanoparticles
Ø 30–50 nm
Ø Often referred to as nano-TiO2
Ø Optical and catalytic properties
Ø Retain the ability to absorb UV light but light scattering is
dramatically reduced, so that TiO2 goes from appearing white
to transparent.
Ø Nano‐TiO2 is thus suitable for transparent coatings, and for new
‐generation sunscreens, which are characterised by a high
protective factor but transparent appearance.
Ø The catalytic properties of TiO2 when nano sized are also
greatly enhanced by the large surface‐to‐volume ratio.
Zinc dioxide
Ø Zinc oxide (ZnO) has some similar properties to TiO2 (i.e. its
nanoparticles scatter light so it can be used for transparent UV
filters, in creams or coatings).
Ø Like TiO2, it is used for solar photocatalytic remediation but,
compared to TiO2, it has a weaker photocatalytic effect.
Ø ZnO is that it has a tendency to grow in self‐organised
nanostructures.
Ø Zinc oxide nanocolumns are of particular interest since low‐
temperature photoluminescence measurements have revealed
intense and detailed ultraviolet light emission near the optical
band gap of ZnO at 3.37 eV.
Ø ZnO can act as an optical amplification medium and as a laser
resonator.
Indium tin oxide
Ø Indium tin oxide (ITO) is a semiconducting material whose main
feature is the combination of electrical conductivity and optical
transparency. ITO is typically around 90 % indium(III)‐oxide
(In2O3) and 10 % tin(V)‐oxide (SnO2).
Ø It is widely used in its thin‐film form as transparent electrodes in
liquid crystal displays, touch screens, LEDs, thin‐film solar cells,
semiconducting sensors, etc.
Ø ITO is an infrared absorber and is currently used as a thermal
insulation coating on window glass.
Ø Its anti‐static properties make it additionally useful in applications
such as the packaging and storage of electronic equipment.
Ceramic and Glassy Materials
Learning Objectives
What are Ceramic and Glassy Materials

Ø Ceramic materials by definition are ionically bound; they are
hard materials, both electrically and thermally very stable.
Ø Included in this category are, for example, Al2O3, Si3N4, MgO,
SiO2, Na2O, CaO and ZrO2.
Ø Ceramics are characterised by being hard yet brittle, therefore,
in many cases, they are used as composites where they are
mixed with other materials (e.g. metals) to increase their
mechanical performance.
Ø Ceramics exist both in a crystalline and non‐crystalline

q Porous alumina
Ø Porous alumina membranes produced by anodic aluminium oxidation
are characterised by having hexagonally close‐packed channels with
diameters ranging from 10 to 250 nm or greater.
Ø This material is often used as a template for the synthesis of other
materials.
q Zeolites
Ø Natural crystalline materials with pores having regular arrangements.
Ø They are also often used in the template synthesis of nanomaterial.
Ø Selenium can be incorporated into the channels of mordenite ‐ a
natural zeolite
q Aerogels
Ø Silicon dioxide (SiO2) is the main component of quartz. It is
chemically robust and finds widespread applications.
Ø Aerogels are manufactured with a sol‐gel technique and can be
made of carbon, metal oxide, polymers or silicates.
Ø Due to their high porosity, aerogels have an extremely high
surface area and very low thermal conductivity.
Ø Suitable for thermal insulation and as filter materials.
Ø Low specific weight _ making them interesting for lightweight
construction.

Ø High optical transparencies.
Ø Silica aerogels are made of pores of about 10 nm arranged in
distances between 10 and 100 nm.
Ø They are resistant and chemically inert to liquid metals, heat
resistant up to 1 200 °C and non‐toxic.
Ø Biomedical applications, such as substrates for cell growth and
analysis.
Carbon nanotube I
Learning Objectives
What are carbon nanotubes

Who found first nanotube?
1970: Morinobu Endo-- First carbon filaments of nanometer dimensions,

as part of his PhD studies at the University of Orleans in France.
He grew carbon fibers about 7 nm in diameter using a vapor-growth

technique. Filaments were not recognized as nanotubes and were not
studied.
1991:Sumio Iijima-- NEC Laboratory in Tsukuba-- used high-resolution

transmission electron microscopy to observe carbon nanotubes.
Carbon nanotube
➢ Carbon nanotubes are large molecules of pure carbon that are long and thin and
shaped like tubes, about 1-3 nanometers (1 nm = 1 billionth of a meter) in diameter,
and hundreds to thousands of nanometers long.
➢ As individual molecules, nanotubes are 100 times stronger-than-steel and one-sixth
its weight.
➢ Some carbon nanotubes can be extremely efficient conductors of electricity and
heat; depending on their configuration, some act as semiconductors.
➢ A significant nanoparticle discovery that came to light in 1991 was carbon
nanotubes.
➢ Where buckyballs are round, nanotubes are cylinders that haven’t folded around to
create a sphere.
➢ Carbon nanotubes are composed of carbon atoms linked in hexagonal shapes, with
each carbon atom covalently bonded to three other carbon atoms.
Carbon Nanotubes (CNT) Properties
➢ CNTs have High Electrical Conductivity
➢ CNTs have Very High Tensile Strength
➢ CNTs are Highly Flexible- can be bent considerably without damage
➢ CNTs are Very Elastic ~18% elongation to failure
➢ CNTs have High Thermal Conductivity
➢ CNTs have a Low Thermal Expansion Coefficient
➢ CNTs are Good Electron Field Emitters
➢ CNTs Aspect Ratio
Carbon Nanotubes (CNT)
➢ Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) are allotropes of carbon.
➢ Carbon nanotubes can appear as single-wall nanotubes (SWNTs), with a diameter

of approximately 1.4 nm.
➢ Multi-wall nanotubes (MWNTs), consisting of 2–30 concentric tubes with an

outer diameter of 30–50 nm.
➢ The structure of an SWNT can be conceptualised by wrapping a one-atom-thick

layer of graphite sheet (grapheme) into a cylinder.
➢ To complete the nanotube, imagine adding two half fullerenes on each end of the
nanotube.
➢ Nanotubes can be characterized by their number of concentric
cylinders, cylinder radius and cylinder length.
➢ Some nanotubes have a property called chirality, an expression of
longitudinal twisting.
➢ Multiple nanotubes can be assembled into microscopic mechanical
systems called nanomachines.
Nanotubes are formed by rolling up
a graphene sheet into a cylinder and
capping each end with half of a
fullerene molecule.
Shown here is a (5, 5) armchair

nanotube (top), a (9, 0) zigzag
nanotube (middle) and a (10, 5)
chiral nanotube.
The diameter of the nanotubes

depends on the values of n and m.
Carbon based Materials
Learning Objectives
What are carbon based materials

➢ Carbon is the most important element for all living organisms in Earth, as most of the
organic elements are made out of it.
➢ Carbon has attracted a great deal of interest in the scientific community due to the
discovery of several allotropes (i.e., fullerenes, carbon nanotubes, graphene).
➢ Carbon-based nanomaterials demonstrate unprecedented physical and chemical
properties such as
- high strength,
- excellent resistance to corrosion and exceptional electrical
- thermal conduction and stability.
➢ Nano-carbon materials are used in a wide range of fields, including biology, energy
storage and medicine.
➢ Graphite and diamond: two very popular materials, one used conventionally in
pencils and the other in jewellery.
➢ These two materials could not be more different:
- graphite is soft, light, flexible, and conducts electricity
- while diamond is extremely strong, hard and does not conduct electricity.
➢ Both materials are made of carbon atoms linked through strong bonds (covalent).
➢ In graphite, each carbon atom uses three out of its four electrons to form single
bonds with its neighbours, forming a linear sheet,
➢ Whereas, in diamond, each carbon atom uses all its four electrons to form four single
bonds, resulting in a 3D structure.
from bpc.edu
Lectine Carbon-based molecules are

somewhat important for life on
Earth…
The two allotropes of carbon and their
respective chemical structure: (left,
top and bottom) diamond; (right, top
and bottom) graphite
➢ In 1985, a new allotrope of carbon was discovered formed of 60 atoms of carbons
linked together through single covalent bonds arranged in a highly symmetrical,
closed shell that resembles a football.
➢ This material was officially named Buckminsterfullerene and is often referred to as
buckyball, fullerene or simply C60.
➢ Since its discovery, fullerenes with 70, 80 and even more carbon atoms have been
discovered.
➢ In the early 1990s, an incredible new carbon form was discovered: carbon
nanotubes.
➢ These appear to be like graphite sheets rolled up with fullerene-type end caps, but
have totally different properties compared to graphite.
Learning Objectives
What are carbon based materials

 Carbon is the most important element for all living organisms in Earth, as most of the
organic elements are made out of it.
 Carbon has attracted a great deal of interest in the scientific community due to the
discovery of several allotropes (i.e., fullerenes, carbon nanotubes, graphene).
 Carbon-based nanomaterials demonstrate unprecedented physical and chemical
properties such as
- high strength,
- excellent resistance to corrosion and exceptional electrical
- thermal conduction and stability.
 Nano-carbon materials are used in a wide range of fields, including biology, energy
storage and medicine.
 Graphite and diamond: two very popular materials, one used conventionally in
pencils and the other in jewellery.
 These two materials could not be more different:
- graphite is soft, light, flexible, and conducts electricity
- while diamond is extremely strong, hard and does not conduct electricity.
 Both materials are made of carbon atoms linked through strong bonds (covalent).
 In graphite, each carbon atom uses three out of its four electrons to form single
bonds with its neighbours, forming a linear sheet,
 Whereas, in diamond, each carbon atom uses all its four electrons to form four single
bonds, resulting in a 3D structure.
from bpc.edu
Lectine Carbon-based molecules are

somewhat important for life on
Earth…
The two allotropes of carbon and their
respective chemical structure: (left,
top and bottom) diamond; (right, top
and bottom) graphite
 In 1985, a new allotrope of carbon was discovered formed of 60 atoms of carbons
linked together through single covalent bonds arranged in a highly symmetrical,
closed shell that resembles a football.
 This material was officially named Buckminsterfullerene and is often referred to as
buckyball, fullerene or simply C60.
 Since its discovery, fullerenes with 70, 80 and even more carbon atoms have been
discovered.
 In the early 1990s, an incredible new carbon form was discovered: carbon
nanotubes.
 These appear to be like graphite sheets rolled up with fullerene-type end caps, but
have totally different properties compared to graphite.
Carbon nanotube I
Learning Objectives
What are carbon nanotubes

Who found first nanotube?
1970: Morinobu Endo-- First carbon filaments of nanometer dimensions,

as part of his PhD studies at the University of Orleans in France.
He grew carbon fibers about 7 nm in diameter using a vapor-growth

technique. Filaments were not recognized as nanotubes and were not
studied.
1991:Sumio Iijima-- NEC Laboratory in Tsukuba-- used high-resolution

transmission electron microscopy to observe carbon nanotubes.
Carbon nanotube
 Carbon nanotubes are large molecules of pure carbon that are long and thin and
shaped like tubes, about 1-3 nanometers (1 nm = 1 billionth of a meter) in diameter,
and hundreds to thousands of nanometers long.
 As individual molecules, nanotubes are 100 times stronger-than-steel and one-sixth
its weight.
 Some carbon nanotubes can be extremely efficient conductors of electricity and
heat; depending on their configuration, some act as semiconductors.
 A significant nanoparticle discovery that came to light in 1991 was carbon
nanotubes.
 Where buckyballs are round, nanotubes are cylinders that haven’t folded around to
create a sphere.
 Carbon nanotubes are composed of carbon atoms linked in hexagonal shapes, with
each carbon atom covalently bonded to three other carbon atoms.
Carbon Nanotubes (CNT) Properties
 CNTs have High Electrical Conductivity
 CNTs have Very High Tensile Strength
 CNTs are Highly Flexible- can be bent considerably without damage
 CNTs are Very Elastic ~18% elongation to failure
 CNTs have High Thermal Conductivity
 CNTs have a Low Thermal Expansion Coefficient
 CNTs are Good Electron Field Emitters
 CNTs Aspect Ratio
 Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) are allotropes of carbon.
 Carbon nanotubes can appear as single-wall nanotubes (SWNTs), with a diameter

of approximately 1.4 nm.
 Multi-wall nanotubes (MWNTs), consisting of 2–30 concentric tubes with an

outer diameter of 30–50 nm.
 The structure of an SWNT can be conceptualised by wrapping a one-atom-thick

layer of graphite sheet (grapheme) into a cylinder.
 To complete the nanotube, imagine adding two half fullerenes on each end of the
nanotube.
 Nanotubes can be characterized by their number of concentric
cylinders, cylinder radius and cylinder length.
 Some nanotubes have a property called chirality, an expression of
longitudinal twisting.
 Multiple nanotubes can be assembled into microscopic mechanical
systems called nanomachines.
Nanotubes are formed by rolling up
a graphene sheet into a cylinder and
capping each end with half of a
fullerene molecule.
Shown here is a (5, 5) armchair

nanotube (top), a (9, 0) zigzag
nanotube (middle) and a (10, 5)
chiral nanotube.
The diameter of the nanotubes

depends on the values of n and m.
Carbon nanotube properties
Learning Objectives
What are carbon nanotubes properties

Carbon nanotube Properties
 Strength
 Electrical
 Thermal
 Defects
 One-Dimensional Transport
 Toxicity
Carbon nanotube Properties
 Carbon Nanotubes are an example of true nanotechnology: they are less than 100
nanometers in diameter and can be as thin as 1 or 2 nm.
 They are molecules that can be manipulated chemically and physically in very
useful ways.
 They open an incredible range of applications in materials science, electronics,
chemical processing, energy management, and many other fields. Some
properties include
 Extraordinary electrical conductivity, heat conductivity, and mechanical properties.
 They are probably the best electron field-emitter known, largely due to their high
length-to diameter ratios.
 As pure carbon polymers, they can be manipulated using the well-known and the
tremendously rich chemistry of that element.
 Some of the above properties provide opportunity to modify their structure, and
to optimize their solubility and dispersion.
 These extraordinary characteristics give CNTs potential in numerous applications.
Electrical Properties
If the nanotube structure is armchair then

the electrical properties are metallic.
If the nanotube structure is chiral then the
electrical properties can be either
semiconducting with a very small band gap,
otherwise the nanotube is a moderate
semiconductor.
In theory, metallic nanotubes can carry an
electrical current density of 4×109 A/cm2
which is more than 1,000 times greater than
metals such as copper.
Thermal Properties
All nanotubes are expected to be very good thermal conductors along the tube, but
good insulators laterally to the tube axis.
It is predicted that carbon nanotubes will be able to transmit up to 6000 watts per
meter per Kelvin at room temperature; compare this to copper, a metal well-known
for its good thermal conductivity, which transmits 385 watts per meter per K.
The temperature stability of carbon nanotubes is estimated to be up to 2800oC in

vacuum and about 750oC in air.
Strength and Elasticity:
 Each carbon atom in a single sheet of graphite is connected via strong chemical
bond to three neighboring atoms.
 CNTs can exhibit the strongest basal plane elastic modulus and hence are
expected to be an ultimate high strength fiber.
 The elastic modulus of SWNTs is much higher than steel that makes them highly
resistant.
Defects
 Defects can occur in the form of atomic vacancies. High levels of such defects
can lower the tensile strength by up to 85%.
 Because of the very small structure of CNTs, the tensile strength of the tube is
dependent on its weakest segment in a similar manner to a chain, where the
strength of the weakest link becomes the maximum strength of the chain.
Strength and Elasticity:
 Each carbon atom in a single sheet of graphite is connected via strong chemical
bond to three neighboring atoms.
 CNTs can exhibit the strongest basal plane elastic modulus and hence are
expected to be an ultimate high strength fiber.
 The elastic modulus of SWNTs is much higher than steel that makes them highly
resistant.
Defects
 Defects can occur in the form of atomic vacancies. High levels of such defects
can lower the tensile strength by up to 85%.
 Because of the very small structure of CNTs, the tensile strength of the tube is
dependent on its weakest segment in a similar manner to a chain, where the
strength of the weakest link becomes the maximum strength of the chain.
Health Hazards
According to scientists at the National Institute of Standards and Technology,
carbon nanotubes shorter than about 200 nanometers readily enter into
human lung cells similar to the way asbestos does, and may pose an
increased risk to health.
Carbon nanotubes along with the majority of nanotechnology, are an
unexplored matter, and many of the possible health hazards are still
unknown.
Carbon nanotube Applications
Learning Objectives
What are carbon nanotubes Applications

Carbon nanotubes are very promising materials for

numerous applications
Applications include: nanomedicine (drug delivery),
environment (chemical sensors), energy
(supercapacitors, hydrogen storage materials, solar
cells), ICT (integrated circuits, electronic paper),
advanced materials for construction, transport, sports
equipment and more.
 CNTs have not only unique atomic arrangements but also have unique
properties that include large current carrying capability
- long ballistic transport length
- high thermal conductivity
- mechanical strength
 These extraordinary properties of CNTs qualifies them exciting prospects
and variety of applications in the area of
microelectronics/nanoelectronics
- spintronics
- optics
- material science
- mechanical
- biological fields
 Particularly, in the area of nanoelectronics, CNTs and graphene

nanoribbons (GNRs) demonstrates wide range of applications such
as
-energy storage devices
-energy conversion devices that includes thermoelectric
-photovoltaic devices
-field emission displays and radiation sources
-nanometer semiconductor transistors
-nanoelectromechanical systems (NEMS
-electrostatic discharge (ESD) protection
-interconnects and passive
Carbon nanotube Applications - Structural
 CNTs possesses remarkable properties and qualities as structural materials. Their

potential applications include:
(a) Textiles—CNTs can produce waterproof and tear-resistant fabrics.
(b) Body armor—CNT fibers are being used as combat jackets. The jackets are used to
monitor the condition of the wearer and to provide protection from bullets.
(c) Concrete—CNTs in concrete increases its tensile strength and halt crack propagation.
(d) Polyethylene—CNT fibers can be used as polyethylene. The CNT based polyethylene can
increase the elastic modulus of the polymers by 30 %.
(e) Sports equipment—Golf balls, golf clubs, stronger and lighter tennis rackets, bicycle
parts, and baseball bats.
(f) Bridges—CNTs may be able to replace steel in suspension and bridges.
(g) Flywheels—The high strength/weight ratios of CNTs enable very high rotational speeds.
(h) Fire protection—Thin layers of buckypaper can potentially protect the object from fire.
The dense, compact layer of CNT or carbon fibers in the form of buckypaper can efficiently
reflect the heat.
Carbon nanotube Applications - Electromagnetic
 CNTs can be fabricated as electrical conductors, semiconductors and insulators. Such

applications include:
(a) Buckypaper—Thin nanotube sheets are 250 times stronger and 10 times lighter than
steel. They can be used as heat sink for chipboards, backlight for LCD screens, or
Faraday cage to protect electrical devices/aeroplanes.
(b) Light bulb filament—CNTs can be used as alternative to tungsten filaments in
incandescent lamps
(c) Magnets—A strong magnetic field can be generated using multi-walled CNTs coated
with magnetite
(d) Solar cells—Germanium CNT diode exploits the photovoltaic effect. In some solar
cells, nanotubes are used to replace the ITO (indium tin-oxide) to allow the light to pass
to the active layers and generate photocurrent
(e) Electromagnetic antenna—CNTs can act as an antenna for radio and other
electromagnetic devices due to its durability, light weight and conductive properties.
Carbon nanotube Applications - Chemical
 CNTs finds tremendous applications in the chemical field also, few of them are as follows:
(a) Air pollution filter—CNTs are one of the best materials for air filters because they possess high
adsorption capacity and large specific area. The conductance of CNTs changes when polluted gas
comes in its contact. This helps in detecting and filtering the polluted air. CNT membranes can
successfully filter carbon dioxide from power plant emissions
(b) (b) Water filter—CNT membranes can aid in filtration. It can reduce distillation costs by 75 %. These
tubes are so thin that small particles (like water molecules) can pass through them, while blocking
larger particles (such as the chloride ions in salt). CNTs have high active site and controlled
distribution of pore size on their surface. This increases not only its sorption capabilities, but also its
sorption efficiency. CNTs have effective sorption capacity over broad pH range (particularly for 7 to
10 pH).
(c) (c) Chemical Nanowires—The CNTs finds their applications in nanowire manufacturing using
materials such as gold, zinc oxide, gallium arsenide, etc. The gold based CNT nanowires are very
selective and sensitive to hydrogen sulphide (H2S) detection. The zinc oxide (ZnO) based CNT
nanowires can be used in applications for light emitting devices and harvesters of vibrational energy.
(d) (d) Sensors—CNT based sensors can detect temperature, air pressure, chemical gases (such as
carbon monoxide, ammonia), molecular pressure, strain, etc. The operation of a CNT based sensor is
primarily dependent on the generation of current/voltage. The electric current is generated by the
flow of free charged carrier induced in any material. This charge is typically modulated by the
adsorption of a target on the CNT surface.
Composite
Learning Objectives
What are composite

Inorganic nanocomposites
Polymer nanocomposites
Composite
 The idea behind nanocomposites is to use building blocks with
dimensions in the nanometre range to design and create new
materials with unprecedented flexibility and improvements in their
physical properties.
 This concept is exemplified in many naturally occurring materials,
such as bone, which is a hierarchical nanocomposite built from
ceramic tablets and organic binders
 When designing the nanocomposite, scientists can choose
constituents with different structures and composition and, hence,
properties, so that materials built from them can be
multifunctional.
Composite
 Nanocomposites typically consist of an inorganic (host) solid containing
an organic component or vice versa or two (or more) inorganic/organic
phases in some combinatorial form.
 At least one component must be nano-sized. In general, nanocomposite
materials can demonstrate different mechanical, electrical, optical,
electrochemical, catalytic and structural properties which are different
from those of the individual components.
 Apart from the properties of the individual components, interfaces in a
nanocomposite play an important role in determining the overall
properties of the material.
 Due to the high surface area of nanostructures, nanocomposites present
many interfaces between the intermixed phases and, often, the special
properties of the nanocomposite are a consequence of the interaction of
its phases at interfaces.
Inorganic nanocomposites
 High-performance ceramics are sought in many applications, such
as highly efficient gas turbines, aerospace materials, cars, etc.
 The field of ceramics that focuses on improving their mechanical
properties is referred to as structural ceramics.
 Nanocomposite technology is also applicable to functional ceramics
such as ferroelectric, piezoelectric, varistor and ion-conducting
materials.
 In this case, the properties of these nanocomposites relate to the
dynamic behaviour of ionic and electronic species in electro-
ceramic materials.
 Among these materials,in this document, the review is limited to
nanocomposite with enhanced magnetic properties.
 Polymer composites are materials where a polymer is filled with an
inorganic synthetic and/or natural compound in order to increase
several properties, such as heat resistance or mechanical strength,
or to decrease other properties, such as electrical conductivity or
permeability for gases like oxygen or water vapour.
 Materials with synergistic properties are used to prepare
composites with tailored characteristics; for instance, high-modulus
but brittle carbon fibres are added to low-modulus polymers to
create a stiff, lightweight polymer composite with some degree of
toughness.
 Current polymer composites are really filled polymers, since these
materials lack an intense interaction at the interface between the
two mixed partners.
 Although some nano-filled composites have been used for more than a
century, such as carbon-black and fumed-silica-filled polymers,
researchers have only recently started to systematically produce and
study these materials.
 One of the most common reasons for adding fillers to polymers is to
improve their mechanical performance.
 Although the scientific community has made remarkable progress in this
field in the last years, polymer nanocomposites have just started to be
explored, and many research questions still need to be addressed.
 What is clear so far is that the use of nanoscale fillers opens the way for
the development of materials with exceptional properties.
 For instance, nanoparticles do not scatter light significantly, thus it is
possible to make polymer composites with altered electrical or
mechanical properties that remain optically clear. Nanoparticles are also
of interest not just for their small size, but for their inherent unique
properties.
Nanocoating
Learning Objectives
What is nanocoating
Nanocoating properties
Nano-Particles for Coatings
Nanocoating
 Nanocoatings are a type of nanocomposite.
 The layer thickness of a nanocoating is usually 1–100 nm.
 A nanocoating refers to very fine, thin layers of polymeric chemical

substances used to impart specific corrosion resistance, chemical and
physical properties to a substrate surface.
 Nanocomposite films include multilayer thinfilms, in which the phases are

separated along the thickness of the film, or granular films, in which the
different phases are distributed within each plane of the film.
Nanocoating
 A nanocoating is the sealing of a material at the atomic level through methods
such as atomic layer deposition (ALD).
 A nanocoating is a consistent network of molecules which arrange themselves
to form a nanostructured network that is used to protect the material it is
covering.
 A nanocoating can be produced with utmost precision through a process which
involves atomic building blocks, where atoms are deposited in a controlled
fashion to produce a layer that conforms uniformly on every distinct feature of
the surface.
 There is a growing interest in the application of nanomaterials in building
industry mainly because of their positively perceived characteristics including
thermal properties, moisture behavior, energy efficiency, air quality
improvement, self-cleaning, and anti-bactericidal effects.
Nanocoating
 Nanocoatings make it possible to change the properties of some materials,
for example to change the transmission of visible and IR radiation in glass, or
to introduce new properties such as ‘self-cleaning’ effects.
 Nano coatings are used on a wide variety of substrates, including metals,
glass, ceramics and polymers.
 Some benefits of nanocoatings are:
 Reduced need for substrate maintenance activities to prevent corrosion
 Reduced labor and material costs
 Prolonged substrate lifespan and application use
 Increased substrate resistance to temperature fluctuations
 Substrate waterproofing
 Ultraviolet (UV) stability and abrasion resistance
Coating properties
 Highly effective dirt-repellent, non-stick coatings resembling glass-
ceramic or Teflon
 Hydrophilic, conductive, coloured, transparent or decorative ("soft
feel") and corrosion-proof coatings
 High adhesion to the coating's chemical bond with the workpiece's
surface
 High chemical and temperature resistance (up to 600°C)
 Diffusion barrier for certain metal ions
 Can be cleaned with very little effort
Nano-Particles for Coatings
Nanocoating Applications
Learning Objectives
Responsive nanocoatings
Superhydrophilic coatings
Superhydrophobic coatings
Surface Engineering for Mechanical Enhancement of Cell Sheet by
Nanocoatings
Nanocoating
 Current applications for its technology are in the categories of Electronics,
Lifestyle, Life Sciences, Filtration & Energy and Military & Institutional.
 Important area of application of nanocoatings is tribological coatings.
 Tribology is the science and technology of interacting surfaces in relative
motion.
 Tribological properties include friction, lubrication and wear.
 Tribological coatings are those coatings that are applied to the surface of a
component in order to control its friction and wear.
 In this area, the term ‘thin films’ is often used as an alternative to nanocoatings
 Traditional materials used in coatings for tribological applications are
carbides, cemented carbides, metal ceramic oxides, nitrides and carbon-
based coatings.
Responsive nanocoatings
 Responsive nanocoatings are those where the properties of the material in the coating react to
environmental conditions, such as light or heat, either in a passive or an active way.
 These coatings allow the properties of some materials to change, such as glass, by conferring new or
improved properties.
 The use of glass is very common in modern buildings, since it allows the construction of transparent and
seemingly lightweight structures.
 Low-e coatings are a type of passive nanocoatings, since the properties of the layers are undisturbed during
its operation.
 Another class of coatings used in glasses are those often described as dynamic or smart coatings.
 Smart coatings can also be passive in the sense of changing their optical properties due to a change of
external temperature (thermochromic) or light incidence (photochromic).
 Another ex ample of nanotechnology applied to smart coatings is the use of a family of wavelength-selective
films for manufacturing heat mirrors.
 One of these materials is indium tin oxide (ITO), an infrared absorber.
 A 300 nm ITO coating on glass provides more than 80 % transmission for the wavelengths predominant in
sunlight.
Superhydrophilic coatings
 Photocatalytic coatings (commercialized as self cleaning glass) which use the
catalytic properties of titanium dioxide (TiO2).
 When irradiated with UV light, the coating becomes superhydrophilic:
therefore, rain water adheres to the glass providing ‘selfcleaning’.
 Pilkington Activ™ Self-cleaning Glass is a commercial example of a glass with a
photocatalytic coating that renders the material easier to clean.
 Superhydrophilic coatings are also useful for rendering a surface fog-resistant.
 Substances that can be used as anti-fog agents include surfactants (e.g. soap),
hydrogels, hydrophilic nanoparticles and colloids.
 The anti-fog agent creates a thin film that does not allow the formation of
water droplets but rather ‘forces’ the water molecules to spread on the
surface.
Superhydrophobic coatings
 Nanocoating is hydrophobic (water repellent), oleo phobic (oil repellent) surface layer that
repels water, oil, dirt, and other dry particles.
 High hydrophobicity eco-friendly nano coating can be applied onto objects to make them
waterproof for the long-term.
 The opposite to superhydrophilc coatings are superhydrophobic coatings, which totally
repel water.
 Droplets of water on these surfaces have very high contact angles and ‘bead-up’ forming
nearly spherical droplets.
 Superhydrophobic coatings have surfaces that
mimic the surface found in the lotus leaf and are
being developed for many applications that require
resistance to dirt and ease of cleaning.
Surface Engineering for Mechanical Enhancement of
Cell Sheet by Nanocoatings
 Cell sheet technology is becoming increasingly popular in tissue engineering and
regenerative medicine, due to integrity into versatile organ and manageable cell and
tissue type from the bank, and no needs of large volume organ for transplantation.
 Cell-based therapies and tissue engineering are widely used in regenerative
medicine.
 Three-dimensional (3-D) biodegradable polymer scaffolds seeded with cells have
been used for the regeneration of various host tissues, including bone, skin, cartilage,
and heart tissues.
 However, artificial polymer scaffolds can lead to inflammatory responses and
pathological fibrosis.
 Excessive connective tissue formation and insufficient cell-seeding are considered to
be additional limitations to the use of scaffolds in regenerative medicine.
Surface Engineering for Mechanical Enhancement of
Cell Sheet by Nanocoatings
 Layer-by-layer (LbL) assembly of nanometer scaled film coating method was introduced to
inter-planar cell sheet for multilayered cell sheet and a single cell before sheet formation.
 LbL self-assembly technique is a widespread method of thin film fabrication that is based
on alternate immersion into solutions of interactive materials.
 Nano-films with collagen and alginate increased mechanical property of cell sheets
without altering cell functions, viability, and proliferation.
 This integration with biological materials to cell sheet has a still room to be controlled
with defined molecular layer in nano-meter scale, as regarding that oxygen transportation
is limited due to the sheet thickness and its permeability after in vivo transplantation.
 The LbL assembly not only allows for nanometer-scale control over film thickness, but also
can be performed on virtually any kind of substrate, even cell membranes.
 Through the LbL technique, multi-functional films can be manufactured from diverse
materials, such as polymers, proteins, nanoparticles and therapeutics.
Characterization Method_ Microscopy
Learning Objectives
Microscopy and Nanotechnology
Electron microscopes
Scanning Probe Microscopy (SPM)
Atomic Force Microscope (AFM)
Characterization Method_ Microscope
 An optical microscope uses visible light (i.e. electromagnetic radiation)
and a system of lenses to magnify images of small samples.
 For this reason, it is also called a light microscope. Optical microscopes
are the oldest and simplest of the microscopes.
 The resolution limit of an optical microscope is governed by the
wavelength of visible light.
 Visible light is the part of the electromagnetic spectrum with
wavelengths between 400 and 700 nm.
 The resolving power of an optical microscope is around 0.2 µm or 200
nm: thus, for two objects to be distinguishable, they need to be
separated by at least 200 nm.
 Single objects smaller than this limit are not distinguishable: they are
seen as fuzzy objects. This is known as the diffraction limit of visible
light.
 Other microscopes have been designed which use other beams: rather
than light, they use electron beams to illuminate the sample.
 Electron microscopes have much greater resolving power than light
microscopes that use electromagnetic radiation and can obtain much
higher magnifications of up to two million times, while the best light
microscopes are limited to magnifications of 2 000 times.
 There are various types of electron microscopes, such as the scanning
electron microscope (SEM) and or the transmission electron microscope
(TEM).
 Scanning Tunnelling Microscope (STM) can create detailed 3D images of a
sample with atomic resolution.
Scanning electron microscope (SEM)
Transmission electron microscope (TEM)
 There are various types of electron microscopes, such as the scanning
electron microscope (SEM) and or the transmission electron microscope
(TEM).
 The resolution is actually so high that it is possible to see and distinguish
the individual atoms (0.2 nm = 2 * 10-10 m) on the surface.
 Scanning tunnelling microscope is a fundamental tool in nanoscience and
nanotechnologies.
 It is used in both industrial and fundamental research to obtain atomic-
scale images of metal and semiconducting surfaces
 STM can be used to manipulate (move!) individual atoms, trigger chemical
reactions, as well as performing electronic spectroscopy.
 STM is a Scanning Probe Microscopy (SPM) technique provides images of
surfaces by scanning the surface line by line with a probe.
 The tip of an STM is about 3 mm (3 * 10-3 m) long and should be located
very close to the surface to be scanned.
 In practice, the distance between the end of the tip and the surface must
be less than 0.1 nm (10-10 m), without the tip actually hitting the surface.
 To visualise how small and precise this actually is, it corresponds to
placing the 300 m tall Eiffel Tower (3 * 102 m) top down with a distance of
0.01 mm (1 * 10-5 m) over a neighborhood and scanning across it without
actually touching it.
 The Atomic Force Microscope (AFM) was developed specifically to overcome
the intrinsic limitations of the STM, which is not suitable for imaging surfaces
coated with biological entities such as DNA or proteins.
 The AFM operates in air and not under a vacuum.
 The AFM measures the interaction force (attractive or repulsive) between the
probe and the surface.
 The probe is continuously moved along the surface and the cantilever
deflection is constantly monitored.
 The vertical movement of the probe is recorded to create a topographic map of
the surface under study.
 The AFM probe tip is very sharp, with a radius of curvature in the range of tens
of nanometres. If the surface under analysis is soft, the probe can penetrate it,
with the risk of damaging it and degrading the spatial resolution of the resulting
micrograph.
Characterization Method_ Spectroscopy
Learning Objectives
What is Spectroscopy
X-ray method
Characterization Method_ Spectroscopy
 Spectroscopy is defined as the branch of science that is concerned with the
investigation and measurement of spectra produced when matter interacts
with or emits electromagnetic (EM) radiation.
 Spectroscopy is a technique that uses the interaction of energy with a
sample to perform an analysis.
 Depending on the wavelength of the electromagnetic used and the type of
interaction with matter that occurs (absorption, scattering, etc.), different
spectra are measured from which much information can be inferred.
X-ray method
 X-rays were discovered in 1895 by German physicist Roentgen.
 X-ray methods involve exciting a sample either with X-rays (creating
more X-rays) or with electrons (creating X-rays).
 X-rays can be also generated by bombarding a sample with alpha
particles.
 The energy of emitted X-rays is equal to the difference between the
binding energies of the electrons involved in the transition.
 There are various methods that use X-rays: X-ray fluorescence (XRF), X-
ray diffraction (XRD), etc.
 In the context of nanomaterials, the most important method is small-
angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) analysis.
 Like XRD, this method is based on the principle of scattering of X-rays.
X-ray methods
 Spanning a wide range of research fields, such as biology, chemistry, physics,
and engineering, nanotechnology is uniquely interdisciplinary in character.
 The common factor in nanotechnology is the lateral dimension of the
structures studied.
 Defined as materials being in, or having components in, the one billionth (10-
9) of a meter range, nanotechnology research and development relies on
accurate measurement of atomic and molecular distances within structures
ranging from semiconductor devices to nano-powders.
 The dimensions of X-ray wavelengths are of the same magnitude as the size
of nanostructures, X-ray diffraction (XRD) and associated techniques are
primary tools for the nanotechnology researcher.
 X-ray reflectometry (XRR) determines layer thickness, roughness, and
density.
 High-resolution X-ray diffraction can measure layer thickness, roughness,
chemical composition, lattice spacing, relaxation and more.
 X-ray diffuse scattering is used to determine lateral and transversal
correlations, distortions, density, and porosity.
X-ray methods
 A new advance in X-ray imaging has revealed the
dramatic three-dimensional shape of gold
nanocrystals, and is likely to shine a light on the
structure other nano-scale materials.
 The new technique improves the quality of
nanomaterial images, made using X-ray
diffraction, by accurately correcting distortions in
the X-ray light.
 Most nanomaterial imaging has been done using
electron microscopy. X-ray imaging is an
attractive alternative as X-rays penetrate further
into the material than electrons and can be used
in ambient or controlled environments.
BIOSENSORS
Learning Objectives
What is Sensors
What is biosensors
SENSORS
 A sensor is a device capable of recognizing a specific chemical species
and signaling the presence, activity or concentration of that species in
solution through some chemical change.
 A sensor is a device that detects and responds to some type of input

from the physical environment.
 The specific input could be light, heat, motion, moisture, pressure, or

any one of a great number of other environmental phenomena.
 The output is generally a signal that is converted to human-readable

display at the sensor location or transmitted electronically over a
network for reading or further processing.
SENSORS
 Sensors are sophisticated devices that are frequently used to detect
and respond to electrical or optical signals.
 A Sensor converts the physical parameter (for example: temperature,
blood pressure, humidity, speed, etc.) into a signal which can be
measured electrically.
Criteria to choose a Sensor
There are certain features which have to be considered when we choose a

sensor. They are as given below:
1. Accuracy
2. Environmental condition - usually has limits for temperature/ humidity
3. Range - Measurement limit of sensor
4. Calibration - Essential for most of the measuring devices as the readings
changes with time
5. Resolution - Smallest increment detected by the sensor
6. Cost
7. Repeatability - The reading that varies is repeatedly measured under
the same environment
BIOSENSORS
 Biosensor = bioreceptor + transducer.
 A device that utilizes biological components e.g. enzymes to indicate
the amount of a biomaterial.
 A biosensor is an analytical device, used for the detection of an analyte,
that combines a biological component with a physicochemical detector.
 The bioreceptor is a biomolecule that recognizes the target analyte
whereas the transducer converts the recognition event into a
measurable signal.
 The sensitive biological element
(e.g. tissue, microorganisms, organelles, cell receptors, enzymes, antibodies,
nucleic acids, etc.)
is a biologically derived material or biomimetic component that interacts
(binds or recognizes) with the analyte under study.
BIOSENSORS
Parts of a biosensor
Every biosensor comprises:
-A biological component that acts as the sensor
-An electronic component that detects and transmits the signal
Biosensor elements
-A variety of substances may be used as the bioelement in a biosensor.
Examples of these include:
• Nucleic acids
• Proteins including enzymes and antibodies. Antibody-based biosensors
are also called immunosensors.
• Plant proteins or lectins
• Complex materials like tissue slices, microorganisms and organelles
BIOSENSORS
Learning Objectives
What is biosensors
BIOSENSORS
Enzyme is a Bioreceptor
 When we eat food such as a hamburger and French fries, they are
broken down into small molecules in our body via many reaction steps
(these breakdown reactions are called catabolism).
 These small molecules are then used to make building blocks of our
body such as proteins (these synthesis reactions are called anabolism).
 Each of these catabolism and anabolism reactions (the combination is
called metabolism) are catalyzed by a specific enzyme.
 Therefore, an enzyme is capable of recognizing a specific target
molecule.
 This bio recognition capability of the enzyme is used in biosensors.
Other bio recognizing molecules (= bio receptors) include antibodies,
nucleic acids, and receptors.
Biosensor configuration
Specificity of biosensor (TR: transducer)

BIOSENSORS
Immobilization of Bioreceptor
 One major requirement for a biosensor is that the bioreceptor molecule has
to be immobilized in the vicinity of the transducer.
 The immobilization is done either by physical entrapment or chemical
attachment.
 Note that only minute quantities of bioreceptor molecules are needed, and
they are used repeatedly for measurements.
Transducer.
 A transducer should be capable of converting the biorecognition event into
a measurable.
 Typically, this is done by measuring the change that occur in the bioreceptor
reaction.
 For example, the enzyme glucose oxidase (used as a bioreceptor in a
glucose biosensor) catalyzes the following reaction:
Glucose + O2 --------> Glucosnic acid + H2O2
BIOSENSORS
To measure the glucose concentration, three different transducers can be
used:
• An oxygen sensor that measures oxygen concentration
• A pH sensor that measures the acid (gluconic acid) production
• A peroxide sensor that measures H2O2 concentration.
 An oxygen sensor is a transducer that converts oxygen concentration into

electrical current.
 pH sensor is a transducer that converts pH change into voltage change.
 A peroxidase sensor is a transducer that converts peroxidase
concentration into an electrical current.
BIOSENSORS
Cholesterol monitoring
 1) Low incentive to use (effects are long term)
 2) Cost high
 3) What do you do with the information?
 4) Learnt nothing from the Glucose industries

development.
BIOSENSORS
Considerations in Biosensor Development
Once a target analyte has been identified, the major tasks in developing a
biosensor involves:
1. Selection of a suitable bioreceptor molecule
2. Selection of a suitable immobilization method
3. Selection of a suitable transducer
4. Designing of biosensor considering measurement range, linearity, and
minimization of interference
5. Packaging of biosensor
Nanoparticle and Biosensors
Learning Objectives
Nanoparticles and biosensors

NANOBIOSENSORS
• One of many other challenges in biosensor development is the

efficient signal capture of the biological recognition event
(transduction).
• Such transducers translate the interaction of the analyte with the
biological element into electrochemical, electrochemiluminescent,
magnetic, gravimetric, or optical signals.
NANOBIOSENSORS
• By utilizing the unique properties of a variety

of nanoparticles for biosensing functions, effective biosensors have
been developed and applied.
• As an attractive alternative to conventional dyes,
fluorescent nanoparticles have greatly increased the sensitivity in a
variety of biosensor formats.
NANOBIOSENSORS
 There are numerous nanoparticles that can be used as biosensor
components.
 These work as probes recognizing an analyte or differentiating between
analytes of interest.
 In such applications, some biological molecular species are attached to
the surface of the nanoparticles to recognize the target of interest
through a lock-and-key mechanism.
 The probes then signal the presence of the target by a change in colour,
mass or other physical change.
 Nanoparticles used as elements for biosensors include quantum dots,
metallic nanoparticles, silica nanoparticles, magnetic beads and
fullerenes, which are hollow cages of carbon atoms, shaped like
footballs.
NANOBIOSENSORS
 Carbon nanotubes and nanowires are also employed for sensing.
 The latter can be fabricated out of a semiconductor material and their

size tuned to have a specific conducting property.
 This, together with the ability to bind a specific analyte on their surface,
yields a direct, label-free electrical read-out.
 These nanowire biosensors allow the detection of a wide range of

chemical and biological species, including low concentrations of protein
and viruses, and their application ranges from the medical to the
environmental sector.
NANOBIOSENSORS
 Other biosensors use nanostructured particles as nano-sieves through
which charged molecules are transported in an electric field. In this case,
particles with engineered nanopores are used.
 Nanoscale biosensors have the potential to greatly aid in the diagnosis of

diseases and monitoring of therapies.
 A large number of approaches have been developed in recent years while

relatively few have so far been converted into clinical diagnostic tools —
their wide application in patient care is foreseen in the next 5–10 years.
Advantages of nanoparticles in biosensing
Nanomaterials are promising candidates in
• In order to increase sensitivities and to lower detection limits down to
even individual molecules.
• It is due to the possibility to immobilize an enhanced quantity of
bioreceptor units at reduced volumes and even to act itself as
transduction element.
Characteristics of Biosensors
Learning Objectives
Selectivity
Reproducibility
Sensitivity
Stability
Linearity
There are certain static and dynamic attributes that every
biosensor possesses
Basic Characteristics of a Biosensor
 1. LINEARITY: Linearity of the sensor should be high for the detection
of high substrate concentration.
 2. SENSITIVITY: Value of the electrode response per substrate

concentration.
 3. SELECTIVITY: Chemicals Interference must be minimized for

obtaining the correct result.
 4. RESPONSE TIME: Time necessary for having 95% of the response.

Selectivity
 Selectivity is perhaps the most important feature of a biosensor.
 Selectivity is the ability of a bioreceptor to detect a specific analyte in a
sample containing other admixtures and contaminants.
 The best example of selectivity is depicted by the interaction of an
antigen with the antibody.
 Classically, antibodies act as bioreceptors and are immobilised on the
surface of the transducer.
 A solution (usually a buffer containing salts) containing the antigen is
then exposed to the transducer where antibodies interact only with the
antigens.
 To construct a biosensor, selectivity is the main consideration when
choosing bioreceptors.
Reproducibility
 Reproducibility is the ability of the biosensor to generate identical
responses for a duplicated experimental set-up.
 The reproducibility is characterized by the precision and accuracy of
the transducer and electronics in a biosensor.
 Precision is the ability of the sensor to provide alike results every time a
sample is measured and accuracy indicates the sensor's capacity to
provide a mean value close to the true value when a sample is
measured more than once.
 Reproducible signals provide high reliability and robustness to the
inference made on the response of a biosensor.
Stability
 Stability is the degree of susceptibility to ambient disturbances in and
around the biosensing system.
 These disturbances can cause a drift in the output signals of a biosensor
under measurement.
 This can cause an error in the meas-ured concentration and can affect the
precision and accuracy of the biosensor.
 Stability is the most crucial feature in applications where a biosensor
requires long incubation steps or continuous monitoring.
 The response of transducers and electronics can be temperature-
sensitive, which may influence the stability of a biosensor.
Sensitivity
 Value of the electrode response per substrate concentration.
 The minimum amount of analyte that can be detected by a biosensor
defines its limit of detection (LOD) or sensitivity.
 In a number of medical and environmental monitoring applications, a
biosensor is required to detect analyte concentration of as low as
ng/ml or even fg/ml to confirm the presence of traces of analytes in a
sample.
 For instance, a prostate-specific antigen (PSA) concentration of 4 ng/ml
in blood is associated with prostate cancer for which doctors suggest
biopsy tests. Hence, sensitivity is considered to be an important
property of a biosensor.
Linearity
 Linearity is the attribute that shows the accuracy of the measured response
(for a set of measurements with different concentrations of analyte) to a
straight line, mathematically represented as y=mc, where c is the
concentration of the analyte, y is the output signal, and m is the sensitivity of
the biosensor.
 Linearity of the biosensor can be associated with the resolution of the
biosensor and range of analyte concentrations under test.
 The resolution of the biosensor is defined as the smallest change in the
concentration of an analyte that is required to bring a change in the
response of the biosensor.
 Depending on the application, a good resolution is required as most
biosensor applications require not only analyte detection but also
measurement of concentrations of analyte over a wide working range.
Biosensors: Classification based on
transducers
Learning Objectives
Optical biosensors
Electrochemical biosensors
Cantilever biosensor
Plasmonic biosensors
There are different types of Biosensors based on the sensor devices and the
biological materials and some of them are discussed in this class.
Optical sensors
 An optical sensor converts light rays into an electronic signal.
 The purpose of an optical sensor is to measure a physical quantity of light and,

depending on the type of sensor, then translates it into a form that is readable by an
integrated measuring device.
 Optical Sensors are used for contact-less detection, counting or positioning of parts.
 Optical sensors can be either internal or external. External sensors gather and
transmit a required quantity of light, while internal sensors are most often used to
measure the bends and other small changes in direction.
 The measured possible by different optical sensors are Temperature, Velocity Liquid
level, Pressure, Displacement (position), Vibrations, Chemical species, Force radiation,
pH- value, Strain, Acoustic field and Electric field.
Types of Optical Sensors
 There are different kinds of optical sensors, the most common types which
we have been using in our real world applications as given below.
o Photoconductive devices used to measure the resistance by converting a
change of incident light into a change of resistance.
o The photovoltaic cell (solar cell) converts an amount of incident light into an
output voltage.
o The Photodiodes convert an amount of incident light into an output current.
Through-Beam Sensors
 The system consists of two separate components the transmitter and
the receiver are placed opposite to each other.
 The transmitter projects a light beam onto the receiver. An interruption
of the light beam is interpreted as a switch signal by the receiver.
 It is irrelevant where the interruption occurs.
Retro-Reflective Sensors
 Transmitter and receiver are both in the same house, through a
reflector the emitted light beam is directed back to the receiver.
 An interruption of the light beam initiates a switching operation.
Where the interruption occurs is of no importance.
Diffuse Reflection Sensors
 Both transmitter and receiver are in one housing.
 The transmitted light is reflected by the object to be detected.
Electrochemical Biosensor
 Electrochemical Biosensors is a simple device.
 It measures the measurement of electronic current, ionic or by conductance changes carried by bio-
electrodes.
 These sensors employ redox reactions to quantify the amount of an analyte.
 The current flowing through the system or the potential difference between the electrodes as a
result of the oxidation and reduction reactions involving the analyte are used for its quantification
in the sample.
 The various electrochemical parametes that could be monitored are:

 Conductometric measurements, which measures changes in the conductance of the system due to
the presence of the analyte.
 Potentiometric measurements, which measures the electrical potential difference between a
working and reference electrode.
 Amperometric measurements, which involves measuring the current generated by electrochemical
oxidation or reduction of electroactive species at a constant applied potential.
Depicts the principle of a simple electrochemical sensor
The working electrode is a platinum electrode that is in contact

with a cellulose acetate and a polycarbonate layer sandwiching
an enzyme layer. enzyme catalyzes the redox reaction involving
the leading to the formation of hydrogen peroxide current
flowing through the electrode
 A cantilever biosensor is a biosensor made of numerous arms, which
are tens of micrometres long but very thin.
 The surface of the cantilever is functionalized with a nanometre-thick
layer of coating which ensures anchorage of the probe material (which
can be a DNA strand or a protein, for example).
 Each cantilever is different and can probe for a different target.
 In this type of sensor, the adsorption of the analyte to the specific
targets on a cantilever causes a surface stress and bends the cantilever.
 Microcantilevers based-biosensors are a new label-free technique that
allows the direct detection of biomolecular interactions in a label-less
way and with great accuracy by translating the biointeraction into a
nanomechanical motion.
 Over the last years, the number of applications of these sensors has shown a fast
growth in diverse fields, such as genomic or proteomic, because of the biosensor
flexibility, the low sample consumption, and the non-pretreated samples required.
 Microcantilevers are sensitive enough to detect single base-pair mismatch in DNA
hybridization.
 They are able to detect pH and temperature changes, the formation of self-assembled
monolayers, DNA hybridization, antibody-antigen interactions, or the adsorption of
bacteria.
 Label-free method
 Surface sensitive spectroscopic technique.
 Used to detect the binding of biological molecules onto

arrays of probe biomolecules covalently attached to
chemically-modified gold surfaces.
 The most common plasmonic biosensor principle is refractometric detection:
 When a molecule binds to the surface, the refractive index changes. All molecules of
interest have a refractive index which is higher than water.
 The properties of the plasmon are changed because they depend on the refractive
index close to the metal.
 By optical spectroscopy, changes in intensity of light for different wavelengths can then
be detected. The resonance shifts in the spectrum.
 The optical properties of noble metal nanoparticles have received significant research
attention in recent years for their potential as components in many applications,
including chemical/biochemical sensors.
 The optical properties of noble metal nanoparticles are dominated by an effect called
localized surface Plasmon resonance (SPR).
 One of the consequences of the LSPR effect in metal nanoparticles is that they have
very strong visible absorption due to the resonant coherent oscillation of the
plasmons.
 As a result, colloids of metal nanoparticles such as gold or silver can display colours
that are not found in their bulk form, such as red, purple or orange, depending on the
shape, size and surrounding media of the nanoparticles.
 The energy of SPR is sensitive to the dielectric function of the material and the
surroundings and to the shape and size of the nanoparticle.
 This means that if a ligand such as a protein attaches to the surface of the metal
nanoparticle, its SPR energy changes.
 Similarly, the SPR effect is sensitive to other variations such as the distance between
the nanoparticles, which can be changed by the presence of surfactants or ions.
 In a plasmonic biosensor, the nanoparticles can be dispersed in a medium (in which
case the biosensor is a colloidal plasmonic biosensor) or supported on a surface
(surface plasmonic biosensor).
A plasmon can be thought of

This Kretschmann as a ray of light bound onto a
Experimental System surface - propagating among
uses a metal film thin the surface and presenting
itself as an electromagnetic
enough to monitor the field.
plasmon
Plasmonic biosensors_Applications
SPR imaging used to obtain images of thio-oligonucleotides linked onto a gold surface
Detection of DNA hybridization using liquid phase SPR imaging techniques
Identification of binding events with label-free molecules
High speed and sensitivity with real-time reaction monitoring
High spatial resolutions
Identity specific vs. non-specific adsorption processes
In-situ capabilities
Types of Biosensors
Learning Objectives
Amperometric Biosensor
Blood Glucose Biosensor
Potentiometric Biosensor
Immuno–Biosensors
DNA biosensors
Metastatic cancer cell biosensors
Calorimetric Sensors
The Analyte (What do you want to detect)
Molecule - Protein, toxin, peptide, vitamin, sugar, metal ion
Sample handling How to deliver the analyte to the sensitive region?
(Micro) fluidics - Concentration increase/decrease), Filtration/selection
Detection/Recognition (How do you specifically recognize the analyte?)
Signal (How do you know there was a detection)
Analyte
Response
Detection Sample
Analysis
handling/
Signal
preparation
Example of biosensors
Pregnancy test
Detects the hCG protein in urine.
Glucose monitoring device (for diabetes patients)

Monitors the glucose level in the blood.
Infectous disease biosensor from RBS Old time coal miners’ biosensor
Amperometric Biosensor
 The Biosensors are based on the electrons movement, i.e.
electronic current determination as a reaction of enzyme-
catalyzed redox reaction.
 Generally a normal contact voltage passes through the
electrodes to analyze. In the enzymatic reaction which
produces the substrate or product can transfer the
electrons with the surface of electrodes to be reduced.
 As a result an alternate current flow can be measured. The
substrate concentration is directly proportional to the
magnitude of the current. The reduction of oxygen is
acquired through the oxygen electrodes and it is a simple
way to from an Amperometric biosensor. The example is
the determination of glucose by glucose.
Blood Glucose Biosensor
 The blood glucose Biosensors are used widely throughout the world for diabetic patients.
 It has a single use disposable electrodes with glucose oxide and derivatives of a mediator
(Ferrocence) and the shape of the blood glucose Biosensor looks like a watch pen.
 With the help of hydrophilic mesh electrodes are converted. The Blood glucose Biosensor is a good
example of Amperometric Biosensor.
Potentiometric Biosensor
 In this type of Biosensors changes the concentration of ionic is determined by the ion-
selective electrodes in this pH electrodes are used most commonly.
 Hence a large amount of enzymatic reactions is involved in the release of hydrogen ions.
Ammonia-selective and Corbondioxide selective electrodes are some other important
electrodes.
 The Potentiometric Biosensors is the sensitivity of enzymes to ionic concentration like H+ and NH+4.
 The example of the ISFET Biosensor is to monitor intra-myocardial for open heart surgery.
Immuno–Biosensors
 The immune Biosensors works on the principle of immunological specificity and mostly coupled
with measurement on the Potentiometric Biosensors.
 There are different configuration of probabilities for immune Biosensors some of them are given
below and the figure shows the description.
 The immobilized antibody can directly combine through the antigen
 The immobilized antigen can combine with the antibody which can twist to a second free antigen.
 The immobilized antibody combined with the free antigens and enzyme labeled antigen in
opposition.
DNA biosensors
 In the future, DNA will find use as a versatile material from which scientists can craft
biosensors.
 DNA biosensors can theoretically be used for medical diagnostics, forensic science,
agriculture, or even environmental clean-up efforts.
 No external monitoring is needed for DNA-based sensing devises.
 DNA biosensors are complicated mini-machines—consisting of sensing elements,
micro lasers, and a signal generator.
 At the heart of DNA biosensor function is the fact that two strands of DNA stick to
each other by virtue of chemical attractive forces.
 On such a sensor, only an exact fit—that is, two strands that match up at every
nucleotide position—gives rise to a fluorescent signal (a glow) that is then transmitted
to a signal generator.
Metastatic cancer cell biosensors
 Metastasis is the spread of cancer from one part of the body to another via either the
circulatory system or lymphatic system.
 Unlike radiology imaging tests (mammograms), which send forms of energy (x-rays,
magnetic fields) through the body to only take interior pictures, biosensors have the
potential to directly test the malignant power of the tumor.
 The combination of a biological and detector element allows for a small sample
requirement, a compact design, rapid signals, rapid detection, high selectivity and high
sensitivity for the analyte being studied.
 Compared to the usual radiology imaging tests biosensors have the advantage of not
only finding out how far the cancer has spread and checking if treatment is effective,
but also are cheaper, more efficient (in time, cost and productivity) ways to assess
metastaticity in early stages of cancer.
 Calorimetric sensors (Note the spelling; Colorimetric sensors will refer to optical
sensors!!), involve the measurement of heat that is generated (Calorie: unit of heat;
Calorimetric: Measurement of heat).
 These sensors typically utilize thermistors that transform heat generated or loss during
a reaction into an electrical signal.
 The entire sensing set-up is surrounded by an insulated jacket to ensure no loss of heat
generated during the reaction.
 The enzyme is immobilized in a packed bed column that is placed in the centre of the
insulated chamber.
 The sample is allowed to pass through a coiled column of aluminum that serves as a
heat exchanger to ensure uniform temperature of the sample entering the reaction
chamber.
 A thermistor is placed at the inlet of the reactor containing the immobilized enzyme
and another thermistor is placed at the exit of the reactor to measure the temperature
after the conversion of the substrate to product.
 A thermistor records temperature changes by altering its resistance. Higher
temperatures will causereduction in the resistance of the thermistor.
 The difference in resistance between thermistors located at the entry and exit points
to the reactor is recorded as a measure of the temperature change produced as a
result of the passage of the sample.
Bio receptors
Learning Objectives
Antibody/antigen interactions
Artificial binding proteins
Enzymatic interactions
Affinity binding receptors
Nucleic acid interactions
Cell
Bio receptors
 A typical biosensor is represented; it consists of the following components.
Analyte:
A substance of interest that needs detection. For instance, glucose is an ‘analyte’ in a biosensor
designed to detect glucose.
Bioreceptor:
A molecule that specifically recognizes the analyte is known as a bioreceptor.
Enzymes, cells, aptamers, deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) and antibodies are some examples of
bioreceptors.
The process of signal generation (in the form of light, heat, pH, charge or mass change, etc.) upon
interaction of the bioreceptor with the analyte is termed bio-recognition.
Transducer:
The transducer is an element that converts one form of energy into another.
In a biosensor the role of the transducer is to convert the bio-recognition event into a measurable
signal.
This process of energy conversion is known as signalization.
Most transducers produce either optical or electrical signals that are usually proportional to the
amount of analyte–bioreceptor interactions.
Bio receptors
Electronics:
This is the part of a biosensor that processes the transduced signal and prepares
it for display.
It consists of complex electronic circuitry that performs signal conditioning such
as amplification and conversion of signals from analogue into the digital form.
The processed signals are then quantified by the display unit of the biosensor.
Display:
The display consists of a user interpretation system such as the liquid crystal
display of a computer or a direct printer that generates numbers or curves
understandable by the user.
This part often consists of a combination of hardware and software that
generates results of the biosensor in a user-friendly manner.
The output signal on the display can be numeric, graphic, tabular or an image,
depending on the requirements of the end user.
Bio Receptors
 In a biosensor, the bioreceptor is designed to interact with the specific analyte of
interest to produce an effect measurable by the transducer.
Antibody/antigen interactions
 An immunosensor utilizes the very specific binding affinity of antibodies for a specific compound
or antigen.
 The specific nature of the antibody-antigen interaction is analogous to a lock and key fit in that the
antigen will only bind to the antibody if it has the correct conformation.
 Binding events result in a physicochemical change that in combination with a tracer, such as a
fluorescent molecules, enzymes, or radioisotopes, can generate a signal.
 There are limitations with using antibodies in sensors:
1. The antibody binding capacity is strongly dependent on assay conditions (e.g. pH and temperature)
and
2. The antibody-antigen interaction is generally irreversible. However, it has been shown that binding
can be disrupted by chaotropic reagents, organic solvents, or even ultrasonic radiation.
Bio Receptors
Artificial binding proteins
 The use of antibodies as the bio-recognition component of biosensors has several drawbacks.
 They have high molecular weights and limited stability, contain essential disulfide bonds and are
expensive to produce.
 Recombinant binding fragments (Fab, Fv or scFv) or domains (VH, VHH) of antibodies have been
engineered.
 Small protein scaffolds with favorable biophysical properties have been engineered to generate artificial
families of Antigen Binding Proteins (AgBP), capable of specific binding to different target proteins while
retaining the favorable properties of the parent molecule.
 The elements of the family that specifically bind to a given target antigen, are often selected in vitro by
display techniques: phage display, ribosome display, yeast display or mRNA display.
 The artificial binding proteins are much smaller than antibodies (usually less than 100 amino-acid
residues), have a strong stability, lack disulfide bonds and can be expressed in high yield in reducing
cellular environments like the bacterial cytoplasm, contrary to antibodies and their derivatives
 They are thus especially suitable to create biosensors.
Bio Receptors
Enzymatic interactions
 The specific binding capabilities and catalytic activity of enzymes make them popular bioreceptors.
 Analyte recognition is enabled through several possible mechanisms:
1) the enzyme converting the analyte into a product that is sensor-detectable,
2) detecting enzyme inhibition or activation by the analyte,
3) monitoring modification of enzyme properties resulting from interaction with the analyte.
 The main reasons for the common use of enzymes in biosensors are:
1) ability to catalyze a large number of reactions
2) potential to detect a group of analytes (substrates, products, inhibitors, and modulators of the catalytic
activity)
3) suitability with several different transduction methods for detecting the analyte.
The catalytic activity of enzymes also allows lower limits of detection compared to common binding
techniques. However, the sensor's lifetime is limited by the stability of the enzyme.
Bio Receptors
Affinity binding receptors
 Antibodies have a high binding constant in excess of 10^8 L/mol, which stands for a
nearly irreversible association once the antigen-antibody couple has formed.
 For certain analyte molecules like glucose affinity binding proteins exist that bind their
ligand with a high specificity like an antibody, but with a much smaller binding
constant on the order of 10^2 to 10^4 L/mol.
 The association between analyte and receptor then is of reversible nature and next to
the couple between both also their free molecules occur in a measurable
concentration.
 In case of glucose, for instance, concanavalin A may function as affinity receptor
exhibiting a binding constant of 4x10^2 L/mol
 The use of affinity binding receptors for purposes of biosensing has been proposed by
Schultz and Sims in 1979 and was subsequently configured into a fluorescent assay for
measuring glucose in the relevant physiological range between 4.4 and 6.1 mmol/L.
Bio Receptors
Nucleic acid interactions
 Biosensors that employ nucleic acid interactions can be referred to as genosensors.
 The recognition process is based on the principle of complementary base pairing,
adenine:thymine and cytosine:guanine in DNA.
 If the target nucleic acid sequence is known, complementary sequences can be
synthesized, labeled, and then immobilized on the sensor.
 The hybridization probes can then base pair with the target sequences, generating an
optical signal.
 The favored transduction principle employed in this type of sensor has been optical
detection.
Bio Receptors
Cells
 Cells are often used in bioreceptors because they are sensitive to surrounding
environment and they can respond to all kinds of stimulants.
 Cells tend to attach to the surface so they can be easily immobilized.
 Compared to organelles they remain active for longer period and the reproducibility
makes them reusable.
 They are commonly used to detect global parameter like stress condition, toxicity and
organic derivatives.
 They can also be used to monitor the treatment effect of drugs.
 One application is to use cells to determine herbicides which are main aquatic
contaminant. Microalgae are entrapped on a quartz microfiber and the chlorophyll
fluorescence modified by herbicides is collected at the tip of an optical fiber bundle
and transmitted to a fluorimeter.
Applications of Biosensors
Learning Objectives
Common applications
 Biosensors are devices comprising a biological element and a
physiochemical detector that are used to detect analytes.
 These instruments have a wide range of applications ranging from
clinical through to environmental and agricultural.
 The devices are also used in the food industry.
 Some examples of the fields that use biosensor technology include:

 General healthcare monitoring
 Screening for disease
 Clinical analysis and diagnosis of disease
 Veterinary and agricultural applications
 Industrial processing and monitoring
 Environmental pollution control
Potential Applications of Biosensors
In food processing, monitoring, food authenticity, quality and safety
 Quality and safety, maintenance of food products and processing
 Food authentication and monitoring with objective and consistent
measurement of food products, in a cost effective manner, are
desirable for the food industry.
 Thus development of biosensors in response to the demand for
simple, real-time, selective and inexpensive techniques is
seemingly propitious.
 Monitoring of ageing of beer using enzymatic biosensors, based on
cobalt phthalocyanine – during storage
 Biosensors are used for the detection of pathogens in food.
 Presence of Escherichia coli in vegetables, is a bioindicator

of faecal contamination in food.
 E. coli has been measured by detecting variation in pH

caused by ammonia (produced by urease–E. coli antibody
conjugate) using potentiometric alternating biosensing
systems.
In fermentation processes
 In fermentation industries, process safety and product quality are
crucial.
 Thus effective monitoring of the fermentation process is
imperative to develop, optimize and maintain biological reactors at
maximum efficacy.
 Biosensors can be utilized to monitor the presence of products,
biomass, enzyme, antibody or by-products of the process to
indirectly measure the process conditions.
 Biosensors precisely control the fermentation industry and
produce reproducible results due to their simple instrumentation,
formidable selectivity, low prices and easy automation.
Biosensing technology for sustainable food safety
 The term food quality refers to the appearance, taste, smell, nutritional
value, freshness, flavour, texture and chemicals.
 Smart monitoring of nutrients and fast screening of biological and chemical
contaminants are of paramount importance, when it comes to food quality
and safety.
 Glutamine is the nitty-gritty of crucial functions such as (signalling,
transport and precursor in biosynthesis of nucleic acids, amino sugars and
proteins).
 Patients deficient in glutamine suffer from pathologies such as
malabsorptive disorders and have to be supplemented, to improve immune
functions.
 Glutaminase-based microfluidic biosensor chip with a flow-injection
analysis for electrochemical detection has been used for detection in
fermentation process.
In medical field
 In the discipline of medical science, the applications of
biosensors are growing rapidly.
 Glucose biosensors are widely used in clinical applications for

diagnosis of diabetes mellitus, which requires precise control
over blood-glucose levels.
 Blood-glucose biosensors usage at home accounts for 85% of

the gigantic world market.
 Biosensors are being used pervasively in the medical field to
diagnose infectious diseases.
 A promising biosensor technology for urinary tract infection

(UTI) diagnosis along with pathogen identification and anti-
microbial susceptibility is under study.
 A novel biosensor, based on hafnium oxide (HfO2), has been

used for early stage detection of human interleukin (IL)-10.
Biosensor Applications in Medical
Learning Objectives
Biosensors for diabetes applications

Types of Glucose Biosensors
Blood Glucose Monitoring
 What is it?
 Blood Glucose Monitoring is a way of checking the concentration
of glucose in the blood using a glucometer.
 What is the purpose?

 Provides quick response to tell if the sugar is high or low indicating
a change in diet, exercise or insulin.
 Over time, it reveals individual of blood glucose changes.
Biosensors for diabetes applications
Glucose as diabetes biomarker
 About 3% of the population worldwide suffers from diabetes, a leading cause of
death, and its incidence is growing fast.
 Diabetes is a syndrome of disordered metabolism resulting in abnormally high
blood sugar levels.
 Optimal management of diabetes involves patients measuring and recording
their own blood glucose levels.
 Under normal physiological condition, the concentration of fasting plasma
glucose is in the range 6.1–6.9 mmolL−1, so the variation of the blood glucose
level can indicate diabetes mellitus, besides other conditions.
 Association recommends that insulin-dependent type 1 diabetics self monitor
blood glucose 3–4 times daily, while insulin-dependent type 2 diabetics monitor
once-daily.
 Therefore it is necessary to develop a simple, sensitive, accurate, micro-volume
and
 low-cost approach for glucose analysis which is appropriate for rapid field tests
and is also effective as an alternative to the existing methods.
Types of Glucose Biosensors
First generation glucose biosensor

Second generation glucose biosensor
Third generation glucose biosensor
First-generation of glucose biosensors (Clark enzyme electrode)
 First proposed in 1962 by Clark and Lyons
 These sensors were initially based on an electrochemical approach, which
used the enzyme glucose oxidase (GOx).
 Electrochemical sensors were chosen for blood-glucose measurements due
to their high sensitivity, on the order of µM to mM, good reproducibility and
ease of fabrication at relatively low cost.
 GOx catalyses the oxidation of glucose to gluconolactone in the presence of
oxygen, while producing hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) and water as by-
products.
 Measurements of peroxide formation have the advantage of being simpler,
especially when miniature devices are being considered.
 The first commercially successful glucose biosensor using Clark’s technology
was the Yellow Springs Instrument Company analyzer (Model 23A YSI
analyzer) for the direct measurement of glucose in 1975, which was based
on the amperometric detection of hydrogen peroxide.
 This analyzer was almost exclusively used in clinical laboratories because of
its high cost due to the expensive platinum electrode.
 In the sensor design presented by Clark and Lyons, indirect
quantification of glucose concentrations was achieved by placing a
thin layer of the GOx enzyme on a platinum electrode via a
semipermeable dialysis membrane.
 This sensor measured the decrease in oxygen concentration and
the liberation of hydrogen peroxide, which was proportional to
the glucose concentration.
Second-generation of Glucose Biosensors (Mediated Biosensors)
 Limitations of the first generation glucose biosensors were over come by
using mediated glucose biosensors, second generation glucose sensors.
 The improvements were achieved by replacing oxygen with non-
physiological electron acceptors, called redox mediators that were able
to carry electrons from the enzyme to the surface of the working
electrode.
 A reduced mediator is formed instead of hydrogen peroxide and then
reoxidized at the electrode, providing an amperometric signal and
regenerating the oxidized form of the mediator.
 A variety of electron mediators, such as ferrocene, ferricyanide,
quinines, tetrathialfulvalene (TTF), tetracyanoquinodimethane (TCNQ),
thionine, methylene blue, and methyl viologen were used to improve
sensor performance.
 During the 1980s, mediator-based second-generation glucose
biosensors, the introduction of commercial screen-printed strips for
SMBG (Self-monitoring of blood glucose), were developed and
implemented.
 The first electrochemical blood glucose monitor for self-monitoring
of diabetic patients was pen-sized and was launched in 1987 as
ExacTech by Medisense Inc.
 Various self-monitoring glucose biosensors are based on the use of
ferrocene or ferricyanide mediators.
Third-generation of Glucose Biosensors
 This feature allows a 3rd generation glucose sensing mechanism, which is
independent of mediators or oxygen.
 The third-generation glucose biosensors are reagentless and based on direct
transfer between the enzyme and the electrode without mediators.
 Instead of mediators with high toxicity, the electrode can perform direct
electron transfers using organic conducting materials based on charge-transfer
complexes.
 The absence of mediators is the main advantage of third generation biosensors,
leading to a very high selectivity.
In first-generation Second-generation In third-generation
biosensors, the electrons biosensors use artificial, biosensors, the electrons
are transferred to partially toxic mediators or are transferred directly
molecular oxygen and nanomaterials to transport from the enzyme to the
the resulting decrease in the electrons to the electrode without any
the oxygen concentration electrode. intermediate stages or
and/or the produced use of nanoparticles.
hydrogen peroxide
is measured.
Continuous Glucose Monitoring Systems (CGMS)
 A CGM is an FDA-approved device that provides continuous insight

into glucose levels throughout the day and night.
 A device that provides “real-time” glucose readings and data

about trends in glucose levels
 Reads the glucose levels under the skin every 1-5 minutes (10-15
minute delay)
 Provides alarms for high and low glucose levels and trend
information
 The 3rd era in diabetes management

 Continuous Glucose Monitoring systems use a tiny sensor inserted
under the skin to check glucose levels in tissue fluid.
 The sensor stays in place for several days to a week and then must
be replaced.
 A transmitter sends information about glucose levels via radio

waves from the sensor to a wireless device.
How It Works
• A: Insulin Pump that is set up to
receive radio transmissions, from
label D, and controls the
administration of insulin.
• B: Insulin Transfusion Set that is
attached to the body and remains
in use for up to three days before
requiring replacement.
• C: A tiny glucose sensor that is
inserted into subcutaneous tissue,
also requires replacement after
three days of use.
• D: Small light weight device
attached to the glucose sensor and
is used to transmit the collected
data to a digital read out, in this
case the insulin pump.
Applications of Biosensors in Environment
Learning Objectives
Detection of heavy metals

Biochemical oxygen demand (BOD)
Nitrogen compounds
Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs)
Phenolic compounds
 A biosensor is defined by IUPAC as a self-contained integrated device that is

capable of providing specific quantitative or semi-quantitative analytical
information using a biological recognition element (biochemical receptor),
which is retained in direct spatial contact with a transduction element.
 Protection of human health and the environment requires the rapid,
sensitive detection of pollutants and pathogens with molecular precision.
 Accurate sensors are needed for in situ detection, both as miniaturised
portable devices and as remote sensors, for real-time monitoring of large
areas in the field.
 Generally speaking, a sensor is a device built to detect a specific biological or
chemical compound, usually producing a digital electronic signal on
detection.
 Sensors are now being used for the identification of toxic chemical
compounds at ultra-low levels (ppm and ppb) in industrial products,
chemical substances, water, air and soil samples, or in biological systems.
 With high specificity and sensitivity, biosensors provide an exceptional
analytical system for the monitoring of environmental pollutants.
 They are inexpensive and attractive alternative to the conventional
analytical techniques, which are capable of providing real-time online
monitoring.
 With the diverse effect of these pollutants on the biological system, a
number of biosensors have been developed and are still in progress.
 Among toxic compounds, determination of heavy metals, phenolic
compounds, mercury, organophosphorus, and carbamate pesticides is
the major concern, considering their extensive contribution in
increased pollutant level.
Biosensors for determination of organic and inorganic compounds and relevant parameters in the environment
Environmently relevant Transducing element Biorecognition element Features
compounds or parameters
Toxicity Optical (bioluminescence) Recombinant Cell array to classify toxicity
bioluminescent bacteria
Biochemical oxygen demand Electrochemical Multispecies culture Minimum measurable
(amperometric) BOD=0.088 mg/L O2;
(biosensor BOD/BOD5)
ratio=0.80
Chlamydia trachomatis (DNA) Electrochemical DNA (hybridisation) Previous PCR amplification
LOD: 0.2 mg/L
Salmonella enteriditis, Lysteria Optical (SPR) Antibodies 106 cell/mL
monocytogene
Organic compounds Optical (fluorescence) Chlorella vulgaris (Algae 0.025 μg/L
Isoproturon, diuron simazine cells)
Bisphenol A Optical (fluorescence) Antibodies Monitoring in a waterworks
Surfactants Electrochemical Pseudomonas and LOD: 0.25 mg/L (SDS)
Achromobacter
 Biosensor or biodevices can used as environmental quality monitoring tools in the
assessment of physical, chemical and biological monitoring of pollutants.
 The major applications of biosensors are monitoring of various pollutants including
heavy metals, organic and inorganic pollutants, toxins, antibiotics and
contaminating microorganisms.
Heavy metals
 Heavy metals, i.e. copper (Cu), cadmium (Cd), mercury (Hg), lead (Pb), zinc (Zn), etc.,
are recently the major cause of serious environmental pollution problems.
 These are known for their high toxicity and bioaccumulation attribute in the food
chain.
 A number of bacterial biosensors have been developed for the determination of heavy
metals in different environmental samples using enzyme and DNA as biorecptor and
optical and electrochemical as transduction system.
Biochemical oxygen demand (BOD)
 Biochemical oxygen demand is one of the significant parameters used in the
estimation of the concentration of biodegradable organic pollutants present in
a water sample.
 In routine practice, BOD determination of any sample is a time consuming
process, i.e. 5 days, therefore it is not suitable for online process monitoring.
 Its rapid determination of could be possible only by using BOD biosensors.
 Cells of recombinant Escherichia coli with Vibrio fisheri gene lux AE based
biosensor was developed for measuring BOD.
 Recently, a BOD biosensor has been developed using yeast with oxygen probe
and able to detect organic pollutants within 15 minutes.
Nitrogen compounds
 Nitrogen compounds, i.e. nitrates, are widely used by food
manufacturing industries as preservatives (increase shelf-life) and
chemical fertilizer industries as fertilizer (increase the fertility of the
soil).
 The excess uses of these compounds can cause adverse effects on
human health and also contaminating the surface and groundwater,
later which can be toxic for aquatic environment.
 Nitrogen compounds can react irreversibly with hemoglobin hence,
decreasing oxygen carrying capacity.
 To determine the concentration of nitrogen compounds in water
samples, several biosensors have been developed by researchers.
 Amperometric based biosensor has been developed, using an enzyme (cytochrome c
nitrate reductase) obtained from Desulfovibrio desulfuricans for determination of
nitrate.
 Another rapid, highly sensitive and stable conductimetric enzymatic based biosensor has
been described for the estimation of nitrate in water.
 PCBs are toxic organic compounds, universal environment pollutants; hence several
countries banned their production long time ago.
 Such compounds are highly lypophilic nature, therefore abundant chances of
accumulating in the food chain.
 Numerous biosensors have been developed to detect PCBs in the environment
including:
i. Nucleic acid (DNA) based biosensor with chronopotentiometric detection
ii. Immunosensors with fluorescence
iii. Electrochemical sensors
Phenolic compounds
 Phenols and their derivatives, i.e. chlorophenol are distributed commonly in the
environment.
 Such compounds are mainly used in the production of dyes, drugs, plastics,
pesticides, detergents, etc. Since, phenolics having high toxicity and possible
accumulation in the environment and therefore, their detection and monitoring is
essential to protect the environment.
 Most commonly used biosensors for detection and monitoring of phenolics are:
 i. Amperometric biosensor with enzyme (tyrosinase) as bioreceptor for selective
detection of phenol in effluent.
 ii. A flow-injection chemiluninnescence fiberoptic biosensor detection of
chlorophenols.
Organophosphrous (OP)
 Organophosphrous (OP) compounds Organophosphorous compounds are a group of
organic chemicals that are commonly used as insecticides, herbicides and pesticides in
modern agriculture for controlling pests, weeds and vectors.
 Pesticides are the substances meant for preventing, destroying or repelling of pest.
 Pesticides are most widely distributed in water, soil and food.
 Toxicity and persistence of pesticides in the environment are a matter of concern.
 Enzyme based sensors are most extensively used for detection of these compounds.
 Immunological based amperometric biosensors have also been developed for detection
pesticides in water.
 For detection of herbicides like phenylureas and triazines (inhibit photosynthesis),
amperometric and optical transducers have been developed and employed.
 Dioxins are polychlorinated compounds discharged as byproducts during several chemical
processes involving chlorine.
Applications of Biosensors in Food
Industry
Learning Objectives
Detection of contamination in food

Applications of Biosensors in Food Industry
 Food processing industry faces various challenges; one of the foremost

challenges is the need for quick and cost effective methods to detect
the presence of allergenic components and pathogens in the food.
 Biosensors pave way for the rapid detection of pathogens, allergens as
well as pesticide residues in food.
 Detection of contaminants, verification of product contents, product
freshness and monitoring of raw materials conversion are the areas of
potential biosensor applications.
 Biosensors have the potential to produce an analytical revolution to
resolve the challenges in the agricultural and the food industries.
 The determination of chemical and biological contaminants in foods is of
paramount importance to the health of food because, unlike the
contamination of a physical nature, they cannot be displayed.
 Development of biosensors to the analysis of the quality of food, since
they have proven to be an extremely viable alternative to traditional
analytical techniques such as chromatography.
 In the area of food the interest in the development of biosensors mainly
focuses on analysis of food security (detection of compound
contaminants, allergens, toxins, pathogens, and additives etc.) Food
composition and online process control.
Main areas applying biosensors technologies in food industry
 The concept of food safety involves ensuring the production and marketing of
harmless food, and by that way ensure the health of the consumer.
 On the other hand, foods can naturally present anti-nutritional compounds that
can generate disorders in the consumer, given that they hinder absorption and
metabolize distinct nutrients causing them to have a deficiency.
 Antinutritional components (oxalate and glycoalkaloids) or allergen (gluten) can be
contained naturally in foods.
 First mentioned are mostly detected by enzymatic amperometric biosensors, while
for allergens are described imunosensors.
 Oxalic acid is of great importance in food industries and clinical analysis. An
increase in oxalate excretion through urine indicates hyperoxaluria, renal failure,
kidney lesions and pancreatic insufficiency.
 The ingestion of a large quantity of food rich in oxalic acid can cause loss of calcium
in the blood as well as injury to the kidneys.
Biosensors used in anti-nutrients detection
Commercially available biosensors for food industry
 Despite the large number of publications on biosensors used in food
analysis, only a few systems are commercially available.
Biosensors for benzoic acid detection
 The concept of food security implies the production and marketing of
food products that offer no risk to consumer health.
 The use of additives has become an increasingly common practice in
the food industry seeking greater lifetime favoring storage and long
distance transport.
 Due to the growing demand for processed food, the use of
preservatives has been gaining importance in modern food technology.
 Benzoic acid as well as salts, benzoates Na and K, are among the most
widely used preservatives to inhibit microbial growth, depending on
the cost benefit.
Commercially available biosensors for food industry
Applications of Biosensors in food industry
 Given the wide use of benzoic acid and its salts (benzoates) as preservatives in the food
industry, detection and quantification of these are of great importance in controlling
product quality
- In order to prevent fraud and improper manufacturing practices,

- Considering the possible adverse effects those including preservatives,
- Exacerbation of symptoms of chronic rhinitis,
- Asthmatic reactions,
- Hyperactivity in children,
- Genotocixidade,
- Clastogenicity and mutagenicity (in human lymphocytes)
Biosensors for detection benzoate/benzoic acid in food samples
Biosensors for heavy metals
 Heavy metals are the most dangerous environmental contaminants, which
present a serious threat to human health, even in trace quantities.
 Contamination of soils due to discharge of industrial effluents is one of the
most significant problems faced by man.
 Heavy metals are widely existent in these contaminated environments.
 Moreover, fertilizer has become one of the polluting sources of heavy metals.
So repetitive applications of commercial fertilizers and pesticides continually
for agriculture have contributed to a continuous accumulation of heavy metals
in soils.
 The majority of existing techniques used for trace analysis of heavy metals
includes spectroscopic, voltammetric and chromatographic methods, which
can detect species at low concentrations or even in single elements.
Biosensors for heavy metals
 biosensor composter a differential pair of planar thin-film interdigitated electrodes,
deposited on a ceramic pad, (used as a conductometric transducer) together with
the three-enzyme system (invertase, mutarotase, glucose oxidase), immobilized on
the transducer surface, (used as a bioselective element).
 The developed biosensor demonstrated the best sensitivity toward ions Hg2+ and
Ag+.
 The modern environmental and food analysis requires sensitive, accurate, and
express methods.
 The growing field of the biosensors represents an answer to this demand.
 Biosensors for potential environmental and food applications continue to show
advances in areas such as genetic modification of enzymes and microorganisms,
improvement of recognition element immobilization and sensor interfaces.
Gene chip
Learning Objectives
What is Gene chip

Microarray
Gene chip
 There are different names for the microarrays, like DNA/RNA Chips,
BioChips or GeneChips.
 The array can be defined as an ordered collection of microspots, each
spot containing a single defined species of a nucleic acid.
 The microarray technique is based on hybridisation of nucleic acids.
 There exist two variants of the chips:
cDNA microarrays
oligonucleotide arrays
 Although both the DNA and oligonucleotide chips can be used to
analyse patterns of gene expression, fundamental differences exist
between these methods.
 Two commonly used types of chips differ in the size of the arrayed
nucleic acids.
Gene Chip
 The Gene Chip System consists of arrays, hybridization ovens, fluidics
stations, scanners, and software for data analysis.
 All of these pieces of equipment are used in a full experiment with a
microarray and how the results are analyzed.
 These GeneChip microarrays are a fusion of the technology of
the semiconductor industry with life sciences – this is why these
arrays are called “chips”.
 The chips are manufactured on wafers. These wafers are 5-inch-by-5-inch
pieces of glass.
 You can get anywhere from 49 to 900 individual chips out of each wafer,
depending on the overall size of the final chip to be made
 A standard chip is 1.28 cm X 1.28 cm, the size of a thumbnail
 On each one of those chips there are now over 6.5 million sections (squares) known as features
 In each feature there are millions of identical DNA probes on them
 In the diagram above, the probes are represented by the blue spiral connected to the feature
 A probes is a 25 base pair (25-mer) length piece of DNA that is attached to the chip
 Each feature has millions of identical probes attached to them
 The probes are used to probe the sample for certain DNA or RNA segments
 The orange spirals with the stars at the end are RNA from a sample applied to the chip
 Probes are the essential part of how the GeneChip functions
Hybridization
 Hybridization is the basis for the function of microarrays
 Hybridization: The process of joining two complementary strands of
DNA to form a double -stranded molecule. The two strands are known
as complimentary.
 This hybridization occurs because of complimentary base pairing rules
(A – T, and C – G).
 The hybridization of the probes on the features to RNA in sample from
a cell being studied is the key to the function of the genechip
Microarrays
 A snapshot that captures the activity pattern of thousands of genes at once.
 These devices are used for diagnostic purposes such as DNA analysis (DNA
microarray), protein detection (protein microarrays) as well as whole cell analysis.
 Microarrays are platforms made of hundreds of detection sites that have micron-
sized dimensions and allow the specific detection of a (bio)chemical within a
mixture or the simultaneous detection of many (bio)chemicals.
 The detection is related to the chemical functionality on the micron-sized spots in
the array and it leads to a single chemical ‘yes/no’ reaction per spot.
 Microarrays are used as screening tools, not only for diagnostic purposes but also
for screening new drugs.
 Nanotechnology can impact microarray technology by creating densely packed,
smaller, nano-sized arrays (nanoarrays) that could allow faster screening of a larger
number of (bio) chemicals.
Microarrays
 This technique uses fluorescent probes made of organic molecules attached to the
species to be detected (e.g. a protein or a fragment of DNA)
 When reaction occurs, this is attached to the detection spot, which becomes
fluorescent in a ‘colour’ corresponding to the emission of the fluorescent probe.
 Nanoparticles in the form of quantum dots (QD) can be used as an alternative to
conventional organic dyes, being more stable, sensitive and monochromatic.
 A substantial (tenfold) enhancement in sensitivity compared to common fluorescent
markers has been accomplished through the use of gold and silver particles of
uniform dimensions in the range 40 to 120 nm.
 Signal amplification is also obtained using metal nanoparticle labels, such as DNA-
modified gold nanoparticles.
 These nano-sized probes have molecules attached to their surface that ensure the
selectivity of the detection, while the nano-properties of the probe are responsible
for enhancing the signal.
Therapy
Learning Objectives
Drug development and targeted drug delivery

siRNA drug delivery
Stimuli-activated drug delivery
Gene chip
 A therapy normally involves a pharmaceutical route (drugs) to treat the
disease from the inside of the body.
 Nanotechnologies are making a tremendous impact in this field, with
new drugs and new types of treatments under development, some of
which have already proven clinically effective and have entered the
market.
Drug development and targeted drug delivery
 Advances in the field of pharmacology stem from two main concepts:
• the development of new biologically active drugs
• the development of new drug delivery systems able to reach the
specific site of the disease.
 Drug delivery systems (DDS) are not a new concept: research in this
field started in the mid 1960s and resulted in the type of drugs used
today
 Drug delivery systems are in the same form as the pills that are
frequently taken and that release their active component gradually in
time or that dissolve based on some physiological conditions
 Drug delivery systems also exist in the form of implants, inserts or other
drug-releasing systems.
Drug design and screening
 The structure of biological macromolecules defines a three-dimensional nano-environment that
mediates specific functions in the cell.
 The design of new drugs requires a very detailed understanding of this nano-environment.
 Gaining insight into the structure of macromolecules on the nanoscale through electron microscopy,
nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (NMR) and X-ray crystallography is of fundamental
importance tounderstanding biological processes and for the development of new medicines.
Targeted drug delivery
 Pharmaceutical drugs developed using conventional synthesis routes are limited by problems such as
low efficacy, low solubility in water and lack of selectivity.
 Physiological barriers often prevent the drug from reaching and acting at the target site — a
phenomenon called drug resistance.
 The efficacy of drugs is also dependent on the dose used, but dose-dependent side effects often limit
their acceptable usage.
 Delivery systems need to be miniaturized to much smaller than the target, and specific in composition
to elicit a certain response.
 With the use of nanotechnologies, targeted drugs are becoming a reality.
 The aim is to design and deliver drugs in such a way that they can recognise
the bad cells at a molecular level, pene trate the cell membrane, and act
inside the infected cell.
 This is often crucial for the efficacy of a drug, since most virus replication
and other disease conditions take place across the cell membrane and
inside the cell.
 This way, the treatment will be delivered where it is needed and will be
specific, eliminating the problem of the drug killing healthy cells.
 An example of this approach is siRNA drug delivery.
siRNA drug delivery
 RNA interference is a natural, fundamental mechanism in gene regulation that
occurs in both plants and animals, humans included.
 DNA in the nucleus of a cell, when genes are express, the genetic information is
copied from DNA messenger RNA (mRNA), which then orchestrate the formation of
proteins.
 In 1998, Andrew Fire and Craig Mello discovered that double stranded RNA (dsRNA)
can interfere with and break down the mRNA for a specific gene, thus stopping the
production of a specific protein.
 The gene is, therefore, ‘silenced’ and the production of the protein is turned off.
 RNA interference plays an important role in switching off genes during an
organism’s development and controlling cellular functions.
siRNA drug delivery
 Developing nanocarriers for the targeted delivery of siRNA.
 They are studying a novel chitosan-based siRNA nanoparticle delivery system
for RNA interference in vitro and in vivo.
 Chitosan is a naturally occurring that has been widely used in drug delivery
systems. cationic polysaccharide.
 It contains positively charged amine groups that can interact with the
negatively charged backbone of siRNA and form polyplexes in the form of
nanoparticles about 200 nm in size.
 The protonated amine groups allow transport across cellular membranes and
subsequent endocytosis into cells.
 It has been shown that a chitosan/siRNA nanoparticle delivery system silences
genes both in vivo and in vitro.
 Moreover, this delivery system has been shown to be biocompatible, non-toxic
and biodegradable.
Stimuli-activated drug delivery
 Activated on reaching the target and the active component released at a
controlled rate, this is called stimuli-activated drug delivery.
 In gene therapy, one of the biggest challenges is the targeted delivery of the
nuclei acid load to the target (e.g. plasmid-DNA or siRNA) either to silence
(RNA silencing) or to activate the expression of a protein as a way to treat a
number of diseases.
 The idea is to utilize a nanocarrier that passively accumulates in the diseased
tissues (e.g. tumours), followed by stimuli-induced activation at the required
site.
 In the case of thermoresponsive systems, the application of heat in precise
locations of the tissue can induce the deposition of the nanocarrier in the
extracellular target region.
Current and future nano-drug carriers
 Nano-sized drug carriers currently under development include either materials
that self-assemble, or conjugated multicomponent systems, for instance a
drug linked to a protein and a polymer (called a polymer-drug conjugate.
 Numerous nanosystems are now being investigated and include micelles,
nanoemulsions, nanotubes, nanofibres, liposomes, dendrimers, polymer
therapeutics, nanoparticles, nanocapsules, nanospheres and hydrogels.
 Some of these nano-sized drug carriers are established in the field of drug
delivery, such as liposomes.
 Many are now used for treating some forms of cancer, hepatitis, and
leukaemia. An example is an anticancer drug called DOXIL.
Regenerative Medicine
Learning Objectives
Regenerative Disease
Tissue and biomaterial engineering
Biomaterials for Tissue Engineering
 At times, the only way to treat a disease is the removal of the infected
organ or tissue.
 Such loss can also derive from an injury or a congenital condition (e.g.
vision or hearing impairment).
 To compensate for the lost or impaired body function, an artificial
construct is implanted in the body.
 Depending on the type, site and extent of the loss, this construct can be
in the form of an engineered tissue or an implant.
Regenerative Disease
 A degenerative disease is a type of a medical condition that causes a tissue or organ
to deteriorate over time.
 There are quite a number of degenerative diseases and many of them are associated
with aging, or gets worse during the aging process.
 Degenerative diseases refer to medical problems that worsen over time. These
degenerative diseases may affect the central nervous system (brain and spinal cord),
bones, blood vessels or heart.
 Sometimes, certain medications and therapies can treat these degenerative diseases.
 Unfortunately, some degenerative diseases have no cure.
 Degenerative diseases are classified into three main groups: cardiovascular,
neoplastic, and nervous system.
 The most common cardiovascular diseases are hypertension, coronary disease, and
myocardial infarction.
 Neoplastic diseases include tumors and cancer.
 Diseases that affect the nervous system include Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s.
 Tissue engineering deals with the fabrication of artificial scaffolds to support
the growth of donor cells, which differentiate and grow into a tissue that
mimics the lost natural one.
 This tissue engineered construct is then implanted in the patient and, in
time, resorbed by the body and fully integrated by the host tissue.
 The scaffold that supports cell growth is the core of this technique.
 In the body, cells are supported in their growth and function by a natural
scaffold, called the extracellular matrix (ECM).
 This is a very complex and intricate web of nanofibres that provide the
mechanical architecture for cellular growth.
 Moreover, the ECM is filled with small molecules (e.g. growth factors) and
proteins that direct many cell processes, such as adhesion, migration, growth,
differentiation, secretion and gene expression.
 The biggest challenge in regenerative medicine is the artificial replication of
this perfect nano-scaffold.
 Close to the field of tissue engineering, and in many cases an integral part of it,
is biomaterial engineering.
 Materials used in regenerative medicine are called biomaterials in the sense of
being able to trigger and support a biological response.
 One of the distinguishing features of nanotechnologies is their ability to create
new functional materials.
Biomaterials for Tissue Engineering
 Biomaterials serve as an integral component of tissue engineering.
 They are designed to provide architectural framework reminiscent of
native extracellular matrix in order to encourage cell growth and
eventual tissue regeneration.
 Bone and cartilage represent two distinct tissues with varying
compositional and mechanical properties.
 Typically, three individual groups of biomaterials, ceramics, synthetic
polymers and natural polymers, are used in the fabrication of scaffolds
for tissue engineering.
 widespread use of ceramic scaffolds, such as hydroxyapatite (HA) and tri-
calcium phosphate (TCP), for bone regeneration applications.
 Ceramic scaffolds are typically characterized by high mechanical stiffness
(Young's modulus), very low elasticity, and a hard brittle surface.
Nanotechnologies
 Nanotechnologies are also employed in the fabrication of biomaterials that
are responsive to the environment, for this reason, are called smart
biomaterials.
 Finally, nano-sized sensors could be inserted inside a biomaterial (e.g.
nanowire biosensors) functionalised with receptors that can monitor the
presence of small organic molecules, proteins, cells (e.g. cancer cells) and
viruses.
 This could be used to collect information on the implant status and activity.
 Tissue and biomaterial engineering have applications in basically all aspects of
regenerative medicine (i.e. neuroprosthetics and neuron regeneration (e.g.
spinal cord repair), bone restoration, hearing and vision restoration, motor
restoration, etc.).
Diagnostic Imaging
Learning Objectives
Diagnostic Imaging
Nanoparticles and Diagnostic Imaging
Diagnostic Imaging
 Techniques such as X-ray, computer tomography (CT), ultrasound (US), magnetic
resonance imaging (MRI) and nuclear medicine (NM) are well established imaging
techniques, widely used in both medicine and biochemical research.
 Imaging techniques could only detect changes in the appearance of a tissue when
the symptoms of the disease were relatively advanced.
 It is in this specific area that nanotechnologies are making their greatest contribution
by developing better contrast agents for nearly all imaging techniques.
 The physiochemical characteristics of the nanoparticles (particle size, surface charge,
surface coating and stability) allow the redirection and concentration of the marker
at the site of interest.
 An example of nanoparticles used in research for imaging is perfluorocarbon
nanoparticles employed as contrast agents for nuclear imaging, magnetic resonance
imaging and ultrasound, with applications in the imaging of blood clots,
angiogenesis, cancer metastases and other pathogenic changes in blood vessels.
Diagnostic Imaging
 Diagnostic imaging refers to a variety of non-invasive methods for identifying and
monitoring diseases or injuries via the generation of images representing internal
anatomic structures and organs of the patient's body.
 In X-ray imaging, to enhance the signal, an agent must deliver a detectable number of
heavy atoms into targeted tissue without toxic effects.
 Nanoparticles of heavy metals have the highest density of surface atoms but they must
be inert and stable.
 Nanoparticles of inert metals like silver and gold are too expensive and would render
the technique not cost-effective.
 A solution has been proposed by General Electric in the form of nanoparticles made of
heavy metal compounds encapsulated in gold shells.
 By targeting receptors unique to a certain type of cancer cell, gold nanoparticles can
enhance an X-ray image of a suspected cancer tissue by many orders of magnitude.
Diagnostic Imaging
 Gold nanoshells are a promising material for the optical imaging of cancer.
Optical technologies could provide high resolution, non-invasive functional
imaging of tissue at competitive costs.
 Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) uses a large magnet and radio waves to
look at organs and structures inside your body.
 Health care professionals use MRI scans to diagnose a variety of conditions,
from torn ligaments to tumors.
 MRIs are very useful for examining the brain and spinal cord.
 Nuclear scans use radioactive substances to see structures and functions
inside your body. They use a special camera that detects radioactivity.
 X-rays are a type of radiation called electromagnetic waves. X-ray imaging
creates pictures of the inside of your body.
Remediation and Mitigation
Learning Objectives

Remediation using metal nanoparticles
 Simply stated, remediation is the process of clean up and disinfection.
 Mitigation is structural and non-structural measures undertaken to limit the
adverse impact of natural hazards, environmental degradation and
technological hazards. In other words, help in reducing the cause of
problem to prevent further damage.
 Soil and groundwater contamination arising from manufacturing processes
are a matter of great complexity and concern.
 Affected sites include contaminated industrial sites (including lakes and
rivers in their vicinity), underground storage tank leakages, landfills and
abandoned mines.
 Pollutants in these areas include heavy metals (e.g. mercury, lead,
cadmium) and organic compounds (e.g. benzene, chlorinated solvents,
creosote).
 Nanotechnology can develop techniques that will allow for more specific and cost-
effective remediation tools.
 Currently, many of the methods employed to remove toxic contaminants involve laborious,
time-consuming and expensive techniques.
 Nanotechnology facilitates developing technologies that can perform in situ remediation
and reach inaccessible areas such as crevices and aquifers, thus eliminating the necessity
for costly ‘pump-andtreat’ operations.
 In addition, as a result of its ability to manipulate matter at a molecular level, nanoscience
can be used to develop remediation tools that are specific to a certain pollutant (e.g.
metal), therefore increasing affinity and selectivity, as well as improving the sensitivity of
the technique.
 Drinking water quality and its contamination from pollutants is another matter of concern.
 Mercury and arsenic are, in particular, two extremely toxic metals that pose very high
health risks. Remediation methods that allow the fast, economic and effective treatment
of water polluted with such contaminants is urgently needed.
 The use of zero-valent (Fe0) iron nanoparticles for the remediation of
contaminated groundwater and soil is a good example of how
environmental remediation can be improved with nanotechnology.
 When exposed to air, iron oxidises easily to rust; however, when it oxidises
around contaminants such as trichloroethylene (TCE), carbon tetrachloride,
dioxins, or PCBs, these organic molecules are broken down into simple, far
less toxic carbon compounds.
 Since iron is non-toxic and is abundant in the natural envir onment (rocks,
soil, water, etc.).
 Some industries have started using an ‘iron powder’ to clean up their new
industrial wastes.
 Nanotechnology has offered a solution to this remediation technology in the
form of iron nanoparticles.
 These nanoparticles are 10 to 1 000 times more reactive than commonly
used iron powders.
 They have a larger surface area available for reacting with the organic
contaminant and their small size (1–100 nm) allows them to be much more
mobile, so they can be transported effectively by the flow of groundwater.
 When nano-sized iron powders are used, no toxic by-products are formed, a
result of the increased reactivity and stability of the nanoparticles compared
to the granular iron powder.
 Bimetallic iron nanoparticles, such as iron/palladium, have been shown to
be even more active and stable than zero-valent iron nanoparticles, thus
further improving this remediation technology.

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*Efforts :Laiba Mahi*

Regards : Zarva Chaudhary

Ø Nanotechnology literally means any technology on a nanoscale that

Ø Succinct definition of nanotechnology is engineering with atomic

Ø US National nanotechnology _ the essence of nanotechnology is the

Ø Nanotechnology is group of emerging technology in which the

Ø Nanotechnology is the art and science of manipulating matter at the

Ø 1 nanometer (nm) = 1 billionth of a meter

Ø Nanotechnology is likely to have a profound impact on our

Ø Science and technology research in nanotechnology promises

Towards a Concept System for Nanotechnology

Ø The properties of an object are abstracted into characteristics.

q Concepts are organized into a concept system

A concept system (Ontology) for Nanotechnology

Information Mechanical Biotechnology

q is already making today’s products:

v It offers the possibility of creating materials with novel

10 ways nanotechnology impacts

2. Faster, more functional, and more accurate medical diagnostic

3. Nanoparticles in pharmaceutical products improve their

5. Nanoparticles or nanofibers in fabrics can enhance stain resistance,

8. Most sunscreens today are made from nanoparticles that effectively

9. Many drink bottles are made from plastics containing nanoclays,

Short history of Nanotechnology

Professor Taniguchi of Tokyo Science University used the word

A nanometer is a unit of length in the metric system, equal to

q Dr. Richard Feynman, one of America’s most notable physicists, 1918

Ø It expounds his vision of machines making the components of smaller

Ø Dr. Feynman, Continued

The Coming Era

Cell Repair Machines By K. Eric Drexler

“By working along molecule by molecule and structure by

What Is Biotechnology and What

Biotechnology has been defined as the application of scientific and

q Example of "modern" biotechnology

By far, cancer has the most drug

– Transgenic animal: way to achieve large scale production

Ø Bionanotechnology and Nanobiotechnology are terms that refer to

Ø These two terms are often used interchangeably.

Ø Bionanotechnology generally refers to the study of how the goals of

It is hoped that nanotechnology can deliver a valuable set of research

The Nanotechnology Initiative expects new commercial applications to be

Neuro‐electronic interfaces and other nanoelectronics‐based sensors are

In the speculative field of molecular nanotechnology it is thought that cell

Nanoscale devices can interact with large biological molecules on

Since biological processes, including events that lead to the

q Imagine instead if cancerous or even precancerous cells could

Nanotechnology imaging in cancer

Ø As therapeutics advance, it may require the simultaneous detection of several

Ø Nanoparticles such as quantum dots, which

What are the applications of Nanotechnology

Ø Two principal parts to defining what is to be considered

Ø Nanotechnology is the understanding and control of matte

Ø The continuous revolution in nanotechnology will result in the

Ø In the energy generation challenge where the conventional fuel

Ø The advances in nanomaterials necessitate parallel progress of

Ø Revolutionary new approaches in nanometrology will be

Role of Nanotechnology in Medcine

Efforts :Laiba Mahi