An Interdisciplinary Approach to the Nanomanipulation of SiO2 Nanoparticles: Design, Fabrication and Feasibility

Abstract

Although some recent developments in nanotechnology made the prospects of a direct mechanical manipulation of micro-or nano-objects quite realistic, there are still several concerns and difficulties that affect such an endeavor. This is probably due to the large base of knowledge that is necessary to approach the problem of handling a nano-object by means of a nano-or micro-device. Therefore, any progress in this field is possible only by means of an integrated and interdisciplinary approach, which takes into account different aspects of the phenomenon. During the actual pioneering phase, there is a certain convenience in handling nano-objects that: (a) have peculiar known characteristics; (b) are easily recognizable, and (c) are interesting to the scientific community. This paper presents the interdisciplinary activities that were necessary to set up an experiment where specifically synthesized SiO 2 particles came in contact with the tips of specifically-designed and -fabricated nanomanipulators. SiO 2 mesoporous nanoparticles (KCC-1), having a peculiar dendritic structure, have been selected as a suitable nano-object because of the possibility to easily modulate their morphology. The expected contact force has been also calculated by means of Finite Element Analysis (FEA) electro-mechanical simulations.However, further miniaturization to the nano-scale is still possible, although there are still several severe concerns [23,24], and therefore, the study of the action of grasping a nanoparticle by means of a nano-gripper remains difficult under many points of view.Since, at the nanometric scale, materials behave quite differently from the bulk, understanding the size and shape dependence of physical properties in nanoparticles is a fundamental step towards the design, fabrication, and assembly of materials and devices with predictable behavior. In particular, the mechanical properties of nanoparticles may be of fundamental importance in controlling their performances in specific applications. Mechanical characterization of nanoparticles presents several challenges, it being difficult to prepare isolated nanoparticles on a substrate and to locate one individual nanoparticle. It is even more challenging to apply the required low loads on the nanoparticles, to measure the small deformations produced and to interpret the experimental data. Nano-indentation and Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) are two common tools used for the mechanical characterization at the nanoscale level [25][26][27][28].Actually, the contacts between nano-gripper jaws and nanoparticles, with possible mechanical characterization of the nanoparticles, is still a rather unexplored field. Some techniques have been applied by means of AFM [29][30][31] or nano-indenters [32].This investigation presents the feasibility study of a nano-gripper to be used for the mechanical characterization of isolated nanoparticles. Firstly, the synthesis procedure and the morphological characterization by Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) and Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BE...

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