2.3.20

Surface Area to Volume Ratio

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Nanoparticles - Surface Area to Volume Ratio

Nanoparticles have special properties because of their high surface area to volume ratio.

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Surface area to volume ratio

  • As particles get smaller, their surface area to volume ratio increases.
    • E.g. decreasing the length of a cube’s side by a factor of 100 increases its surface area to volume ratio by a factor of 100.
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Smaller amounts of nanoparticles are needed

  • This allows for smaller amounts of nanoparticles to be used for a desired purpose compared to using normal-sized particles.
  • This means that they are cheaper and more efficient to use.
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Changing the properties of a material

  • Using nanoparticles can also change the properties of the material completely.
    • E.g. ‘normal’ gold particles are extremely unreactive, but gold nanoparticles can be very efficient catalysts for many processes.

Jump to other topics

1Atomic Structure

2Chemical Bonding

3Quantitative Chemistry

4Chemical Changes

5Energy Changes

6The Rate & Extent of Chemical Change

7Organic Chemistry

8Chemical Analysis

9Chemistry of the Atmosphere

10Using Resources

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