What is a nano material?

What is a nano material?

• A. A material on a macro scale with standard properties.
• B. A material on a molecular level such as Graphene or Buckminsterfullerene.
• C. A material that cannot be synthesized.
• D. A regular bulk material with no nanoscale features.

Answer: (B)

Nanomaterials are materials engineered with features at the nanoscale (about 1–100 nanometers). At this tiny scale, a high surface area to volume and quantum effects can change properties, so they behave differently from bulk materials. Graphene, a single-atom-thick sheet of carbon, and Buckminsterfullerene, a nanosized carbon molecule, are classic examples of nanoscale structures with unique electrical, mechanical, and optical properties. So describing a nano material as a substance that exists or is built at that nanoscale, like graphene or Buckminsterfullerene, best fits. The other options describe bulk materials or impossible-to-synthesize ideas and don’t capture the nanoscale nature.

Nanomaterials are materials engineered with features at the nanoscale (about 1–100 nanometers). At this tiny scale, a high surface area to volume and quantum effects can change properties, so they behave differently from bulk materials. Graphene, a single-atom-thick sheet of carbon, and Buckminsterfullerene, a nanosized carbon molecule, are classic examples of nanoscale structures with unique electrical, mechanical, and optical properties. So describing a nano material as a substance that exists or is built at that nanoscale, like graphene or Buckminsterfullerene, best fits. The other options describe bulk materials or impossible-to-synthesize ideas and don’t capture the nanoscale nature.