Nanorians Explain the Potentials and Applications of Nanoparticles

Nanorians? You haven't heard of them yet? That is not astonishing as these guys only can be imagined. They live in the nanoworld Nanoria and there they basically act like you and I do in our world. Before you get to know who the Nanorians are, "nano" has to be clarified. What does it mean?

One nanometer (abbreviated: nm) is a billionth of a meter or, seen from the other side, 5 atoms in a row. So, it is very small. Imagine: If the planet earth was an apple, an apple would have the size of a single atom. Around 3,500 of these apples in a cube of 1 m3 would have the size of a 5 nm nanoparticle compared to the apple-planet. 12,000 of these cubes in a row make a line of 12 km or, in the nanoworld, the width of a hair, which is about 60,000 nm. Have a look at a hair on your arm! It's thin, isn't it? Simplified: "nano" is very small.

Nanoparticles, the basic module these mysterious Nanorians are made of, are based on materials we use every day: gold, silver, glass, phosphors or even rust or styrofoam. In the nanoworld, the materials often have the same characteristics as in our world. They emit light, are magnetic or lightweight with lots of pores, such as styrofoam. Imagine now, you cut a piece of silver in half. If you repeat this process again and again you will end up with nanoparticles. Beside this cutting method from large to nano (top-down approach), we can also go from atoms to nanoparticles by synthesis (bottom-up approach). In some cases, the small size of nanoparticles (in the range of 2 to 200 nm) can change the properties of rather common materials. For example: nano-sized silver becomes toxic whereas a silver ring is far from being toxic for humans.

But still these nanoparticles are not Nanorians. Why? Because we have to revive them first. Some need to swim in water or blood, and therefore they need arms, legs and eyes. Rarely, the synthesis automatically adds these body parts to the nanoparticle body. Therefore, researchers equip the nanoparticles with the missing features. As soon as the Nanorians were brought to life they are able to become doctors, cleaners, lighthouse keepers or postmen in their nanoworld.