nanoparticle

English

Etymology

From nano- +‎ particle.

Noun

nanoparticle (plural nanoparticles)

1. Any microscopic particle less than about 100 nanometers (nm) in diameter.
   • 2005 February 22, Kenneth Chang, “Tiny Is Beautiful: Translating 'Nano' Into Practical”, in The New York Times‎, →ISSN, archived from the original on 3 February 2021:

     Nanoparticles of various sorts are already found in products like sunscreen, paint and inkjet paper. More exotic varieties offer promise in medicine for sensitive diagnostic tests and novel treatments: the detection of Alzheimer's disease by finding a protein in spinal fluid, for instance, or nanoparticles that heat up and kill cancer cells.

   • 2012 May 22, Jacy Meyer, “To Czech Industry, Everything Is Nano”, in The International Herald Tribune‎, →ISSN, archived from the original on 10 December 2020:

     The high surface area of a nanoparticle relative to its weight and volume makes it behave differently from larger masses of the same material.

Usage notes

In aerosol science, the term is often reserved for particles less than 50 nm in diameter; ultrafine particle is used for particles less than 100 nm in diameter.

Derived terms

• bionanoparticle
• glyconanoparticle
• immunonanoparticle

Translations

microscopic particle

Armenian: նանոմասնիկ (nanomasnik) French: nanoparticule (fr) f Galician: nanopartícula f German: Nanoteilchen n, Nanopartikel (de) n Greek: νανοσωματίδιο (el) n (nanosomatídio) Italian: nanoparticella (it) f Polish: nanocząstka f Portuguese: nanopartícula f Romanian: nanoparticulă f Russian: наночасти́ца (ru) (nanočastíca) Spanish: nanopartícula f

See also

• nanotechnology
• quantum dot
• ultrafine particle

Further reading

• nanoparticle on Wikipedia.Wikipedia