Nanoparticles
Nanometres (nm)
There are 1 BILLION nanometres in a metre.
You can convert nm into m by MULTIPLYING by 1x10-9 and convert m into nm by DIVIDING by 1x10-9.
Particle Types
There are THREE types of particles that exist:
COARSE PARTICLES (PM10)
- Also known as DUST
- Have diametres between 2.5x10-6 (2500nm) and 1x10-5 (10,000nm).
FINE PARTICLES (PM2.5)
- Have diametres between 1x10-7(100nm) and 2.5x10-6 (2500nm).
NANOPARTICLES
- Have diametres between 1x10-9 (1nm) and 1x10-7(100nm).
- These particles only contain a FEW HUNDRED atoms.
Properties of Nanoparticles
Nanoparticles have a HIGH SURFACE AREA TO VOLUME RATIO, which greatly affects their behaviour and properties.
This can be shown using cubes with lengths of 10nm and 100nm:
As the side of cube DECREASES by a factor of 10, the surface area to volume ratio INCREASES by a factor of 10.
The HIGH SURFACE AREA TO VOLUME RATIO of nanoparticles makes their properties DIFFERENT when compared to the same material in bulk. This also means a SMALLER MASS of nanoparticles is needed to be effective.