Nanomaterials can be defined as materials that have an average phase or grain size of less than 100 nm. Nanomaterials exhibit novel properties which can significantly differ from those of bulk materials due to their unique physicochemical (i.e., size, shape) and surface (i.e., reactivity, conductivity) properties (Seigel, 1993). Also, nanomaterials themselves have different properties depending on how nanomaterials are synthesized and how their atoms and molecules are ordered. For example, metal oxide nanoparticles including semiconductor nanoparticles, which were synthesized using different methods and under different experimental conditions (i.e., temperature, reaction time), have different physicochemical and surface properties (Chan et al., 2002, Jung et al., 2007. Recently, numerous approaches based on the application of these properties have been developed and applied to the synthesis of nanomaterials. This implies that inherent properties pertaining to chemical reactivity or physical compaction play an essential role in nanomaterials synthesis.In this chapter, several common and unique techniques for nanoparticles and one-dimensional nanomaterials synthesis will be introduced.
NanoparticlesPrimarily, synthesis techniques for nanoparticles can be divided into "top-down" approaches and "bottom-up" approaches. Top-down approaches typically start with a suitable bulk material and then break the bulk material into smaller pieces. Ball-milling or attrition and pattern formation are common methods of a top-down approach. For