Methods of synthesis for large-scale production of nanoparticles, using as precursors derivated materials from mining processes

Nanoparticles are not something new, but the recent interest in them has highlighted the possibility of changing many aspects of current products. Once the scale of nanoparticles and its effect on properties is appreciated, many new products will emerge. There is a huge potential for new products and processes and there are a lot of initiatives already in this exciting field, throughout the world. Nanoparticles have many issues to address such as preparation, characterization, handling, and applications. Preparation is one of the most studied subjects of nanoparticles. Wet methods are commonly used due to their simplicity and the possibility to produce large samples. In this work, we present simple wet methods to produce metallic and semiconductor nanoparticles. These methods have been designed to use raw materials from mining and/or metallurgical processes. The methods were first tested and validated at lab scale and later on scaled up to produce large samples. Applications of the produced nanoparticles have been explored and implemented in different base materials such as plastics, in order to provide them different functionalities.