(68a) Particle and Product Design Strategies through Interfacial Engineering

The creation of tailor-made products made from nanoscale building blocks is one of the grand challenges in nanotechnology. Nanoparticles as building blocks are controlled by surface and interparticle forces. Therefore, the microscopic control of the interfaces is a key requirement for the production and handling of nanoparticles as well as for the design of particulate products with high added value. This approach may create large effects, for instance in suspension rheology, by even minor system changes. We present a multi-scale view of the molecular level towards macroscopic effects and applications. Various examples are presented for nanomilling and dispersion, continuous precipitation, structure formation in thin films (e.g. for printable electronics and opto-electronics) and particle adhesion showing that the same principles are applicable to a wide variety of applications. Experimental approaches need to be complemented by strong efforts of modelling and simulation on various length and time scales. The employed methods comprise density functional theory on the level of quantum mechanics to understand the molecular nature of particle surface properties, molecular dynamics for the behaviour of nanoparticles as well as continuum approaches such as direct numerical simulation of the fluid flow coupled to population dynamics in order to design particle formation processes. The rational design of tailored interactions between nanoparticles opens new opportunities in product design and process technology, also in fields not yet so familiar in classical chemical engineering, e.g. in electronics, optics or medical science and technology.