7. Appendice

7.1 Nanoparticle morphology and texture

When describing a nanomaterial, the following parameters need to be considered: particle size, size distribution, shape, form factor and specific surface area.

The size of a spherical nanoparticle can easily be determined by its diameter, from which the particle's other geometric characteristics (volume, specific surface area, etc.) are derived. But how can we define the size of a nanoparticle as its shape becomes more complex? The solution is to use the particle's equivalent diameter, corresponding to the diameter of an equivalent sphere with the same characteristics as the particle in question. But measuring the size of a grain extracted from the sample often yields very little information, and is therefore of little...