Nanoparticle

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In nanotechnology, a particle is defined as a small object that behaves as a whole unit in terms of its transport and properties. It is further classified according to size: In terms of diameter, fine particles cover a range between 100 and 2500 nanometers, while ultrafine particles, on the other hand, are sized between 1 and 100 nanometers. Similarly to ultrafine particles, nanoparticles are sized between 1 and 100 nanometers, though the size limitation can be restricted to two dimensions. Nanoparticles may or may not exhibit size-related properties that differ significantly from those observed in fine particles or bulk materials .

Nanoclusters have at least one dimension between 1 and 10 nanometers and a narrow size distribution. Nanopowders are agglomerates of ultrafine particles, nanoparticles, or nanoclusters. Nanometer sized single crystals, or single-domain ultrafine particles, are often referred to as nanocrystals. Nanoparticle research is currently an area of intense scientific research, due to a wide variety of potential applications in biomedical, optical, and electronic fields. The National Nanotechnology Initiative has led to generous public funding for nanoparticle research in the United States.

For more information about Nanoparticle, read the full article at Wikipedia.
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News tagged with nanoparticles

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Nanoparticles for gene therapy improve

Nanotechnology / Bio & Medicine

Nov 06, 2009 | 5 / 5 (5) | 3

(PhysOrg.com) -- About five years ago, Professor Janet Sawicki at the Lankenau Institute in Pennsylvania read an article about nanoparticles developed by MIT's Robert Langer for gene therapy, the insertion ...

Magnetic nanoparticles to simultaneously diagnose, monitor and treat

Nanotechnology / Bio & Medicine

Nov 06, 2009 | not rated yet | 0

(PhysOrg.com) -- Whether it's magnetic nanoparticles (mNPs) giving an army of 'therapeutically armed' white blood cells direction to invade a deadly tumour's territory, or the use of mNPs to target specific nerve channels ...

Nanoparticles may cause DNA damage across a cellular barrier

Nanotechnology / Bio & Medicine

Nov 05, 2009 | 4.3 / 5 (9) | 1

(PhysOrg.com) -- Scientists have shown in the laboratory that metal nanoparticles damaged the DNA in cells on the other side of a cellular barrier. The research, by the University of Bristol, is published ...

How Size Matters For Catalysts: Study Links Size, Activity, Electronic Properties

Nanotechnology / Nanomaterials

Nov 05, 2009 | 3.7 / 5 (3) | 0

(PhysOrg.com) -- University of Utah chemists demonstrated the first conclusive link between the size of catalyst particles on a solid surface, their electronic properties and their ability to speed chemical ...

Two-In-One Punch Knocks Out Drug Resistant Cancer Cells

Nanotechnology / Bio & Medicine

Nov 04, 2009 | 5 / 5 (4) | 0

(PhysOrg.com) -- Cancer cells, like bacteria, can develop resistance to drug therapy, leading to relapse of disease. One approach showing promise in overcoming multidrug resistance in tumors is to combine two different anticancer ...

Scientists witness nature's complexity unfold in self-assembling quasicrystals

Nanotechnology / Nanomaterials

Oct 31, 2009 | 4.9 / 5 (17) | 3

(PhysOrg.com) -- Just a few decades ago, scientists believed that all ordered matter consists of self-repeating building blocks -- atoms, ions or molecules. In this view, the ordinary solids of everyday life ...

Magnetism Turns Drug Release On and Off

Nanotechnology / Bio & Medicine

Oct 30, 2009 | 5 / 5 (1) | 0

Many medical conditions, such as cancer, diabetes and chronic pain, require medications that cannot be taken orally, but must be dosed intermittently, on an as-needed basis, over a long period of time. A few delivery techniques ...

Gold Nanoparticles Delivery Platinum Warheads to Tumors

Nanotechnology / Bio & Medicine

Oct 29, 2009 | 4.9 / 5 (7) | 2

(PhysOrg.com) -- Cisplatin is one of the most powerful and effective drugs for treating a wide variety of cancers, but serious side effects ultimately limit the drug's use and effectiveness. Now, however, researchers have ...

Knocking nanoparticles off the socks

Nanotechnology / Bio & Medicine

Oct 28, 2009 | 3 / 5 (2) | 0

Scientists in Switzerland are reporting results of one of the first studies on the release of silver nanoparticles from laundering those anti-odor, anti-bacterial socks now on the market. Their findings, scheduled ...

Researchers find new route to nano self-assembly

Nanotechnology / Nanomaterials

Oct 22, 2009 | 4.9 / 5 (9) | 0

(PhysOrg.com) -- If the promise of nanotechnology is to be fulfilled, nanoparticles will have to be able to make something of themselves. An important advance towards this goal has been achieved by researchers ...

Advance in 'nano-agriculture': Tiny stuff has huge effect on plant growth

Nanotechnology / Bio & Medicine

Oct 21, 2009 | 3.5 / 5 (4) | 2

With potential adverse health and environmental effects often in the news about nanotechnology, scientists in Arkansas are reporting that carbon nanotubes (CNTs) could have beneficial effects in agriculture.

INL, ISU team on nanoparticle production breakthrough

Nanotechnology / Nanomaterials

Oct 19, 2009 | 5 / 5 (14) | 1

Every hour, the sun floods Earth with more energy than the entire world consumes in a year. Yet solar power accounts for less than 0.002 percent of all electricity generated in the United States, primarily ...

Running electronics using light

Nanotechnology / Nanophysics

Oct 19, 2009 | 4.3 / 5 (19) | 1

(PhysOrg.com) -- "If you open up almost any electronic gadget, you will see various elements that operating using electric circuitries," Nader Engheta tells PhysOrg.com. "Many of them have different functi ...

Fuel cells get a boost

Nanotechnology / Nanomaterials

Oct 15, 2009 | 3.9 / 5 (17) | 6

Fuel cells, devices that can produce electricity from hydrogen or other fuels without burning them, are considered a promising new way of powering everything from homes and cars to portable devices like cellphones ...