TABLE OF CONTENTS M.P.Pileni
Laboratoire LM2N, Universit P. et M.Curie (Paris VI), B.P. 52. 4 Place Jussieu, F 752 31 Paris Cedex 05, France.
In this paper, various ways to make nanocrystals are presented. It is possible, by using colloidal self-assemblies as nanoreactors, to produce a large variety of nanoparticles, semiconductors, metals, oxides and alloys The limitations in using these colloidal solutions to produce nanomaterials are pointed out.
During the last decade, due to the emergence of a new generation of high technology materials, the number of groups involved in nanomaterials has increased exponentially1 ,2. Nanomaterials are implicated in several domains such as chemistry, electronics, high density magnetic recording media, sensors and biotechnology. This is, in part, due to their novel material properties, that differ from both the isolated atoms and the bulk phase. An ultimate challenge in materials research is now the creation of perfect nanometer-scale crystallites (in size and shape) identically replicated in unlimited quantities in a state than can be manipulated and that behave as pure macromolecular substances.
The essential first step in the study of their physical properties and the use of nanomaterials in various technologies is their production. Physical and chemical methods were developed: ball milling3 ,4, a flame by vapor phase reaction and condensation5, chemical reduction1 and coprecipitation1 ,6 10 have been employed to control the...
