Student or educator? Sign up with your school email and get 6 months of Pro free.
CoChat
Sign Up
Cited by 255

The DOI matches its Crossref record; 152 of the 152 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.

In quest of a systematic framework for unifying and defining nanoscience

Open access
Tomalia, Donald A.·2009·Journal of Nanoparticle Research
DOI 10.1007/s11051-009-9632-z
Open this paper in CoChat — free account

Abstract

This article proposes a systematic framework for unifying and defining nanoscience based on historic first principles and step logic that led to a "central paradigm" (i.e., unifying framework) for traditional elemental/small-molecule chemistry. As such, a Nanomaterials classification roadmap is proposed, which divides all nanomatter into Category I: discrete, well-defined and Category II: statistical, undefined nanoparticles. We consider only Category I, well-defined nanoparticles which are >90% monodisperse as a function of Critical Nanoscale Design Parameters (CNDPs) defined according to: (a) size, (b) shape, (c) surface chemistry, (d) flexibility, and (e) elemental composition. Classified as either hard (H) (i.e., inorganic-based) or soft (S) (i.e., organic-based) categories, these nanoparticles were found to manifest pervasive atom mimicry features that included: (1) a dominance of zero-dimensional (0D) core-shell nanoarchitectures, (2) the ability to self-assemble or chemically bond as discrete, quantized nanounits, and (3) exhibited well-defined nanoscale valencies and stoichiometries reminiscent of atom-based elements. These discrete nanoparticle categories are referred to as hard or soft particle nanoelements. Many examples describing chemical bonding/assembly of these nanoelements have been reported in the literature. We refer to these hard:hard (H-n:H-n), soft:soft (S-n:S-n), or hard:soft (H-n:S-n) nanoelement combinations as nanocompounds. Due to their quantized features, many nanoelement and nanocompound categories are reported to exhibit well-defined nanoperiodic property patterns. These periodic property patterns are dependent on their quantized nanofeatures (CNDPs) and dramatically influence intrinsic physicochemical properties (i.e., melting points, reactivity/self-assembly, sterics, and nanoencapsulation), as well as important functional/performance properties (i.e., magnetic, photonic, electronic, and toxicologic properties). We propose this perspective as a modest first step toward more clearly defining synthetic nanochemistry as well as providing a systematic framework for unifying nanoscience. With further progress, one should anticipate the evolution of future nanoperiodic table(s) suitable for predicting important risk/benefit boundaries in the field of nanoscience. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s11051-009-9632-z) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Overview

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.1007/s11051-009-9632-z

Cites

152 of 152 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Verification

Claims the paper makes

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Self-check

Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.

The self-check needs the paper’s full text.

Citations

Cites

Show all 152 references

Research works printed but not linked: 82

  1. Andres R, de Jesus E et al (2007) Catalysts based on palladium dendrimers. New J Chem 31:1161–1191 · doi:10.1039/b615761k
  2. Banerjee S, Hemraj-Benny T et al (2005) Routes towards separating metallic and semiconducting nanotubes. J Nanosci Nanotechnol 5:841–855 · doi:10.1166/jnn.2005.173
  3. Betley TA, Hessler JA et al (2002) Tapping mode atomic force microscopy investigation of poly(amidoamine) core-shell tecto(dendrimers) using carbon nanoprobes. Langmuir 18:3127–3133 · doi:10.1021/la025538s
  4. Boas U, Christensen JB et al (2006) Dendrimers in medicine and biotechnology. The Royal Society of Chemistry, Cambridge, UK
  5. Cannizzo C, Mayer CR et al (2005) Covalent hybrid materials based on nanolatex particles and Dawson polyoxometalates. Adv Mater 17:2888–2892 · doi:10.1002/adma.200500685
  6. Chen C, Daniel M-C et al (2006) Nanoparticle-templated assembly of viral protein cages. Nano Lett 6(4):611–615 · doi:10.1021/nl0600878
  7. Chidley C, Mosiewicz K et al (2008) A designed protein for the specific and covalent heteroconjugation of biomolecules. Bioconjug Chem 19:1753–1756 · doi:10.1021/bc800268j
  8. Damha MJ, Oglivie KK (1988) Synthesis and spectroscopic analysis of branched RNA fragments: messenger RNA splicing intermediates. J Org Chem 53:3710–3722 · doi:10.1021/jo00251a010
  9. Damha MJ, Zabarylo SV (1989) Automated solid-phase synthesis of branched oligonucleotides. Tetrahedron Lett 30:6295–6298 · doi:10.1016/s0040-4039(01)93876-6
  10. Deschenaux R, Donnio B et al (2007) Liquid-crystalline fullerodendrimers. New J Chem 31:1064–1073 · doi:10.1039/b617671m
  11. DeVries GA, Talley FR et al (2008) Thermodynamic study of the reactivity of the two topological point defects present in mixed self-assembled monolayers on gold nanoparticles. Adv Mater 9999:1–5
  12. Dvornic PR, Tomalia DA (1999) Poly(amidoamine) dendrimers. In: Mark JE (ed) Polymer data handbook. Oxford University Press, New York, pp 266–270
  13. El-Sayed M, Rhodes CA et al (2003) Transport mechanism(s) of poly(amidoamine) dendrimers across Caco-2-cell monolayers. Int J Pharm 265:151–157 · doi:10.1016/s0378-5173(03)00391-0
  14. Feng M, Zhao J et al (2008) Atomlike, hollow-core-bound molecular orbitals of C60. Science 320:359–362 · doi:10.1126/science.1155866
  15. Frankamp BL, Boal AK et al (2002) Controlled interparticle spacing through self-assembly of Au nanoparticles and poly(amidoamine) dendrimers. J Am Chem Soc 124:15146–15147 · doi:10.1021/ja0280426
  16. Fritsche H-G, Muller H et al (1997) Formation of superclusters from metallic clusters. Zeitschrift Fur Physikalische Chemie—Int J Res Phys Chem Chem Phys 199:87–98
  17. Gentleman DJ, Chan WCW (2009) A systematic nomenclature for codifying engineered nanostructures. Small 5:426–431. doi:10.1002/smll.c00800490 · doi:10.1002/smll.200800490
  18. Gomez-Romero P, Sanchez C (eds) (2004) Functional hybrid materials. Wiley-VCH, Weinheim
  19. Gopidas KR, Leheny AR et al (1991) Photophysical investigation of similarities between Starburst dendrimer and anionic micelles. J Am Chem Soc 113:7335–7342 · doi:10.1021/ja00019a034
  20. Gopidas KR, Whitesell JK et al (2003a) Metal-core-organic shell dendrimers as unimolecular micelles. J Am Chem Soc 125:14168–14180 · doi:10.1021/ja036626h
  21. Gopidas KR, Whitesell JK et al (2003b) Nanoparticle-cored dendrimers: synthesis and characterization. J Am Chem Soc 125:6491–6502 · doi:10.1021/ja029544m
  22. Hawker CJ, Wooley KL et al (1994) Dendritic fullerenes—a new approach to polymer modification of C-60. J Chem Soc-Chem Commun (8):925–926 · doi:10.1039/c39940000925
  23. Hecht S, Fréchet JMJ (2001) Dendritic encapsulation of function: applying nature’s site isolation principle from biomimetics to materials science. Angew Chem Int Ed 40(1):74–91 · doi:10.1002/1521-3773(20010105)40:1<74::aid-anie74>3.0.co;2-c
  24. Huang B, Tomalia DA (2006) Poly(ether) dendrons possessing phosphine focal points for stabilization and reduced quenching of luminescent quantum dots. Inorg Acta 359:1961–1966 · doi:10.1016/j.ica.2005.11.040
  25. Islam MT, Shi X et al (2005b) HPLC separation of different generations of poly(amidoamine) dendrimers modified with various terminal groups. Anal Chem 77:2063–2070 · doi:10.1021/ac048383x
  26. Jensen AW, Maru BS et al (2005) Preparation of fullerene-shell dendrimer-core nanoconjugates. Nano Lett 5(6):1171–1173 · doi:10.1021/nl0502975
  27. Jockusch J, Ramirez J et al (1999) Comparison of nitrogen core and ethylenediamine core Starburst dendrimers through photochemical and spectroscopic probes. Macromolecules 32:4419–4423 · doi:10.1021/ma990044w
  28. Juttukonda V, Paddock RL et al (2006) Facile synthesis of tin oxide nanoparticles stabilized by dendritic polymers. J Am Chem Soc 128:420–421 · doi:10.1021/ja056902n
  29. Kanungo M, Lu H et al (2009) Suppression of metallic conductivity of single-walled carbon nanotubes by cycloaddition reactions. Science 323:234–237 · doi:10.1126/science.1166087
  30. Klajnert B, Bryszewska M (2007) Dendrimers in medicine. Nova Science Publishers, Inc, New York
  31. Knecht MR, Crooks RM (2007) Magnetic properties of dendrimer-encapsulated iron nanoparticles containing an average of 55 and 147 atoms. New J Chem 31:1349–1353 · doi:10.1039/b616471b
  32. Kobayashi H, Kawamoto S et al (2003) Comparison of dendrimer-based macromolecular contrast agents for dynamic micro-magnetic resonance lymphangiography. Magn Reson Med 50:758–766 · doi:10.1002/mrm.10583
  33. Kruger C, Agarwal S et al (2008) Stoichiometric functionalization of gold nanoparticles in solution through a free radical polymerization approach. J Am Chem Soc 130:2710–2711 · doi:10.1021/ja0763495
  34. Krupke R, Hennrich F (2005) Separation techniques or carbon nanotubes. Adv Eng Mater 7:111–116 · doi:10.1002/adem.200400170
  35. Langereis S, Dirksen A et al (2007) Dendrimers and magnetic resonance imaging. New J Chem 31:1152–1160 · doi:10.1039/b616960k
  36. Levine AJ (1992) Viruses. Scientific American Library, New York
  37. Love CS, Chechik V et al (2004) Dendron-stabilized gold nanoparticles: generation dependence of core size and thermal stability. J Mater Chem 14:919–923 · doi:10.1039/b312727c
  38. Mirkin CA (2005) The beginning of a small revolution. Small 1(1):14–16 · doi:10.1002/smll.200400092
  39. Myc A, Patri A et al (2007) Dendrimer-based BH3 conjugate that targets human carcinoma cells. Biomacromolecules 8:2986–2989 · doi:10.1021/bm700727g
  40. Nilsen TW, Grayzel J et al (1997) Dendritic nucleic acid structures. J Theor Biol 187:273–284 · doi:10.1006/jtbi.1997.0446
  41. Ottaviani MF, Turro NJ et al (1996) Characterization of Starburst dendrimers by EPR. 3. Aggregational processes of a positively charged nitroxide surfactant. J Phys Chem 100:13675–13686 · doi:10.1021/jp960291r
  42. Ottaviani MF, Sacchi B et al (1999) An EPR study of the interactions between Starburst dendrimers and polynucleotides. Macromolecules 32:2275–2282 · doi:10.1021/ma9815859
  43. Percec V, Chu P et al (1995) Rational design of the first nonspherical dendrimer which displays calamitic nematic and smectic thermotropic liquid crystalline phases. J Am Chem Soc 117:11441–11454 · doi:10.1021/ja00151a008
  44. Percec V, Rudick JG et al (2008a) Supramolecular structural diversity among first-generation hybrid dendrimers and twin dendrons. Chem Eur J 14:3355–3362 · doi:10.1002/chem.200701658
  45. Percec V, Won BC et al (2008b) Expanding the structural diversity of self-assembling dendrons and supramolecular dendrimers via complex building blocks. J Am Chem Soc 129:11265–11278 · DOI
  46. Perepichka DF, Rosei F (2007) Metal nanoparticles: From “artificial atoms” to “artificial molecules”. Angew Chem Int Ed 46:6006–6008 · doi:10.1002/anie.200701554
  47. Petkov V, Bedford N et al (2008) Periodicity and atomic ordering in nanosized particles of crystals. J Phys Chem C 112:8907–8911 · doi:10.1021/jp801195c
  48. Rao CNR (1994) Chemical approaches to the synthesis of inorganic materials. Wiley Eastern, New Delhi
  49. Rio Y, Accorsi G et al (2003) A fullerene core to probe dendritic shielding effects. Tetrahedron 59:3833–3844 · doi:10.1016/s0040-4020(03)00433-2
  50. Roberts JC, Adams YE et al (1990) Using Starburst dendrimers as linker molecules to radiolabel antibodies. Bioconjug Chem 2:305–308 · doi:10.1021/bc00005a001
  51. Roco MC (2008) Possibilities for global governance of converging technologies. J Nanopart Res 10:11–29 · doi:10.1007/s11051-007-9269-8
  52. Rudick JG, Percec V (2008) Induced helical backbone conformations of self-organizable dendronized polymers. Acc Chem Res. doi:10.1021/ar800066w · doi:10.1021/ar800066w
  53. Sander JV, Murray MJ (1978) Ordered arrangements of spheres of two different sizes in opal. Nature 275:201–203 · doi:10.1038/275201a0
  54. Scerri ER (2007) The periodic table. Oxford University Press, New York
  55. Schmid G (1988) Metal clusters and cluster metals. Polyhedron 7:2321–2329 · doi:10.1016/s0277-5387(00)86349-4
  56. Schmid G (1990) Clusters and colloids: bridges between molecular and condensed material. Endeavour 14(4):172 · doi:10.1016/0160-9327(90)90040-x
  57. Schmid G (ed) (2004) Nanoparticles. Wiley-VCH, Weinheim
  58. Schmid G, Klein N (1986) Novel modifications of gold, rhodium, ruthenium–M13 clusters as building blocks for superclusters. Angew Chem Int Ed Engl 25:922–923 · doi:10.1002/anie.198609221
  59. Schmid G, Meyer-Zaika W et al (2000) Naked Au55 clusters: dramatic effect of a thiol-terminated dendrimer. Chem Eur J 6(9):1693–1697 · doi:10.1002/(sici)1521-3765(20000502)6:9<1693::aid-chem1693>3.3.co;2-b
  60. Seeman NC (2007) Nanotechnology and the double helix. Sci Am Rep Spec Ed Nanotechnol 17(3):30–39
  61. Shevchenko E, Kortright JB et al (2007) Quasi-ternary nanoparticle superlattices through nanoparticle design. Adv Mater 19:4183–4188 · doi:10.1002/adma.200701470
  62. Singh P (1998) Terminal groups in Starburst dendrimers: activation and reactions with proteins. Bioconjug Chem 9:54–63 · doi:10.1021/bc970048a
  63. Srivastava S, Frankamp BL et al (2005) Controlled plasmon resonance of gold nanoparticles self-assembled with PAMAM dendrimers. Chem Mater 17:487–490 · doi:10.1021/cm048579d
  64. Strable E, Johnson JE et al (2004) Natural nanochemical building blocks: icosahedral virus particles organized by attached oligonucleotides. Nano Lett 4(8):1385–1389 · doi:10.1021/nl0493850
  65. Swanson DR, Huang B et al (2007) Unique steric and geometry induced stoichiometries observed in the divergent synthesis of poly(ester-acrylate) (PEA) dendrimers. New J Chem 31:1368–1378 · doi:10.1039/b700193m
  66. Teranishi T, Hori H et al (1997) ESR study on palladium nanoparticles. J Phys Chem B101:5774–5776 · doi:10.1021/jp970599y
  67. Thomas PJ, Kulkarni GU et al (2001) Magic nuclearity giant clusters of metal nanocrystals formed by mesoscale self-assembly. J Phys Chem B 105:2515–2517 · doi:10.1021/jp0021998
  68. Tomalia DA (1993) Starburst/cascade dendrimers: fundamental building blocks for a new nanoscopic chemistry set. Aldrichimica Acta 26(4):91–101
  69. Tomalia DA (2003) Fluorine makes a difference. Nat Mater 2:711–712 · doi:10.1038/nmat1004
  70. Tomalia DA (2004) Birth of a new macromolecular architecture: dendrimers as quantized building blocks for nanoscale synthetic organic chemistry. Aldrichimica Acta 37(2):39–57
  71. Tomalia DA (2008) Periodic patterns, relationships and categories of well-defined nanoscale building blocks. National Science Foundation Final Workshop Report, pp 1–156. http://www.nsf.gov/crssprgm/nano/GC_Charact08_Tomalia_nsf9_29_08.pdf
  72. Tomalia DA, Dvornic PR (1996) Dendritic polymers, divergent synthesis (Starburst polyamidoamine dendrimers). In: Salamone JC (ed) Polymeric materials encyclopedia. CRC Press, Boca Raton, FL, 3(D–E), pp 1814–1840
  73. Turro NJ, Barton JK et al (1991) Molecular recognition and chemistry in restricted reaction spaces. Acc Chem Res 24(11):332–340 · doi:10.1021/ar00011a003
  74. Uppuluri S (1998) Rheological properties of dendrimers. PhD Thesis, Michigan Technological University
  75. Uppuluri S, Keinath SE et al (1998) Rheology of dendrimers. I. Newtonian flow behavior of medium and highly concentrated solutions of polyamidoamine (PAMAM) dendrimers in ethylenediamine (EDA) solvent. Macromolecules 31:4498–4510 · doi:10.1021/ma971199b
  76. Uppuluri S, Swanson DR et al (1999) Tecto(dendrimer) core-shell molecules: macromolecular tectonics for the systematic synthesis of larger controlled structure molecules. Polym Mater Sci & Eng (ACS) 80:55–56
  77. Vargaftik MN, Moiseev II et al (1991) Giant palladium clusters: synthesis and characterization. Faraday Discuss 92:13–29 · doi:10.1039/fd9919200013
  78. Wang J, Rivas G et al (1998) Adsorption and detection of DNA dendrimers at caron electrodes. Electroanalysis 10(8):553–556 · doi:10.1002/(sici)1521-4109(199807)10:8<553::aid-elan553>3.0.co;2-7
  79. Wang X, Inapagolla R et al (2007) Synthesis, characterization, and in vitro activity of dendrimer-streptokinase conjugates. Bioconjug Chem 18:791–799 · doi:10.1021/bc060322d
  80. Wooley KL, Hawker CJ et al (1993) Fullerene-bound dendrimers: soluble, isolated carbon clusters. J Am Chem Soc 115:9836–9837 · doi:10.1021/ja00074a075
  81. Zimmerman SC, Zeng F et al (1996) Self-assembling dendrimers. Science 271:1095–1098 · doi:10.1126/science.271.5252.1095
  82. Zumdahl SS, Zumdahl SA (2007) Chemistry. Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston

Cited by

See all 255

Metadata

Authors
Tomalia, D. A.
Venue
Journal of Nanoparticle Research
Publisher
Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Published
2009-05-26
Volume
11
Issue
6
Pages
1251-1310
ISSN
  • 1388-0764 (ISSN-L)
  • 1572-896X
DOI
10.1007/s11051-009-9632-z
OpenAlex
W2099481084
Cited by
255
References
152
FWCI
11.45
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
hybrid
Licence

About these checks

Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.

Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.

Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.

What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›

Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review

How to cite

Cite CoChat for the checks on this page, and the paper for its own findings.

This page
CoChat. (2026). Citation check: In quest of a systematic framework for unifying and defining nanoscience. https://app.cochat.ai/papers/10.1007/s11051-009-9632-z
The paper
Tomalia, D. A. (2009). In quest of a systematic framework for unifying and defining nanoscience. Journal of Nanoparticle Research. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11051-009-9632-z

Data sources

Bibliographic data: Semantic Scholar, OpenAlex, Crossref.

Contains information from the Semantic Scholar Academic Graph Datasets, made available under the ODC Attribution License (ODC-BY 1.0).

Semantic Scholar’s data is described in: Kinney, R., et al. (2023). The Semantic Scholar Open Data Platform. arXiv:2301.10140.