Metallic Nanomaterials

Nanomaterials: Carbon Nanotubes | Ceramics | Quantum Dots | Metals

Metal nanoparticles, nanowires, nanotubes, and nanoflakes are being considered for use in a large number of applications from electronics to optics to sensors to catalysts to antimicrobial agents to diagnostic/therapeutic agents in medicine among others. With all of these applications, particle size, shape, surface functionality, and charge play an important role in determining their performance.

Smart Grids can provide numerous advantages over other sample platforms for the visualization of metallic nanomaterials.

  • Complimentary surface chemistry can be selected to enable the self-adsorption of the nanomaterials from suspensions or solutions which will promote a more realistic view of the state of these nanomaterials in solution. Often, when preparing TEM specimen, drying effects induce aggregation of materials that is not representative of the particles in the solution. Interpretation of the structure of the particles is challenging under these circumstances, and Smart Grids solve this problem.
  • Smart Grids provide a simple approach to quality control for metallic nanomaterials at both the producer and user levels.
  • Smart Grids can visualize structural changes in the particles deposited on them to determine how they behave in their respective application environment.
For Example:
- What is the structural evolution of metal nanoparticle catalysts that are operated at elevated temperatures?
- Nanorods modified with specific antibodies are being considered for use as cancer therapeutics agents, but these materials are exposed to complex biological fluids during their transport to the target cells. How do these fluids affect their behavior?
  • Smart Grids can be used to capture particles that have soaked in biological fluids by attaching a complimentary antigen to the Smart Grid surface.


The specific selection of Smart Grids that should be used for your metallic nanomaterials application depends on a number of factors including particle chemistry, surface chemistry/charge, and form (or medium in which they are produced/stored). In fact, all of our grids would be appropriate for different applications related to the characterization of nanomaterials. Our hydrophobic grids are useful with particles that hydrophobic coatings; our metal oxide-coated grids can be useful for evaluation of catalyst support interactions. Our amine-coated grids are useful to particles with negative surface charge such as gold citrate particles.