Two important properties of nanomaterials are high-concentration grain boundaries (the cause of grain boundary effect) and nano-crystal grains (the cause of small-size quantum effect). These two effects have greatly changed the mechanical, superconductivity, magnetic, dielectric, optical, and thermodynamic properties of nanomaterials. Materials scientists mainly focus on the plasticity of nano-ceramics, the electrical conductivity of nano-crystals and the large elasticity, high strength and diffusivity of nano-metals.
Nano-catalyst: Nanometer catalyst has high activity, good stability, large surface area, etc. Compared with ordinary catalysts, nano-catalysts can greatly improve the reaction efficiency, control the reaction speed, and even allow the reactions that were not possible to proceed. Compared with ordinary catalyst, nanometer catalyst improves the response speed of 10 – 15 times.
Nano-magnetic material: Because the characteristic physical length of nanometer magnetic material is at the nanometer scale, compared with the traditional magnetic material, the property has changed. Due to its small size, single magnetic domain structure and high coercivity, the magnetic recording material made of it has good sound quality, image and signal-to-noise ratio. Therefore, nano-magnetic materials can be widely used in information recording, magnetic induction, biomedicine and other fields. Especially, superparamagnetic ferromagnetic nanoparticles can also be made into magnetic fluids, which are widely used in fields such as electroacoustic devices and damping devices.
Nano-ceramic material: Compared with traditional ceramic materials, the atoms of nano-ceramic materials are easy to migrate under the condition of external force deformation, so they have good toughness and certain ductility. Nano-ceramic material is a new super-structural ceramic material developed in the past 20 years. It is widely used in protective materials, high temperature materials, artificial organ manufacture, clinical application and electrical properties, etc.
Carbon nanotube: Carbon nanotubes, also known as bucky tubes, are one-dimensional quantum materials with special structures. Carbon nanotubes have light weight and hollow structure, and can be used as excellent containers for storing hydrogen. In addition, carbon nanotubes can also be used as molds, and their centers can be filled with metals, oxides and other substances to prepare nanoscale wires.
Others: In addition to the above important applications, in terms of detection technology, nanomaterials can be used as semiconductors and sensors; in biomedicine, they can be used as diagnostic chips for cell chips and gene chips; in optical, they can make excellent luminous substances.
