Nanoparticles

• Particles are put into categories depending on their diameter. Nano particles have a diameter between 1nm and 100nm. These are particles that contain only a few hundred atoms
• Nano particles have a large surface area to volume ratio. The surface area to volume ration is an important factor as it can affect the way that a particle behaves
• Surface area to volume ratio = Surface area / volume
• As particles decrease in size, the size of their surface area increases in relation to their volume. This causes the surface area to volume ration to increase.
• Nano particles have a very high surface area to volume ratio. This means that the surface area us very large compared to the volume
• This can cause the properties of a material to be different depending on whether it's a nano particle or whether it's in bulk. You will often need less of a material that is made up of nano particles to work as an effective catalyst compared to a material made up of normal sized particles.