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Why is comminution inefficient for producing very small nanoparticles?
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nanoparticle
Image showing nanoparticles of an alloy of gold (yellow) and palladium (blue) on an acid-treated carbon support (gray). These particles were employed as catalysts for the formation of hydrogen peroxide from hydrogen (white) and oxygen (red).
Comminution is a top-down approach to manufacturing nanoparticles that involves the physical pulverization of materials, such as through industrial milling. While this method is effective for certain applications, it is considered a very inefficient process for the generation of very small nanoparticles.12
This inefficiency arises because top-down strategies, which focus on miniaturizing existing materials, are generally better suited for producing structures with long-range order or making macroscopic connections. In contrast, bottom-up approaches—such as sol-gel synthesis—are more effective for assembly and establishing the specific short-range order required at nanoscale dimensions.31