Nano-sized bulk materials which do not have atomically-controlled structure and prepared by top-down (mostly) & bottom-up approach. Examples are nanofibers, inorganic nano-particles,nanoclays, multi-walled nanotubes etc.
Nanostructured materials have atomically-controlled structure and are usually prepared by bottom-up approach. Examples are thin-film organized nanostructure, designer protein, biomimetic materials, nanostructured polymers,organic nanoparticles, single-walled nanotubes etc.
2. Molecular Nanomaterials are a wide range of photofunctional molecules and nanomaterials includes functional dyes, photoresponsive liquid crystals, materials for recording fluorescent images, and organo-functionalized nanometals and fullerenenanoclusters. Functional dyes are used as functional materials besides their traditional use as colorants, in a number of technologically important applications such as in electrography, optical data storage, solar energy conversion, and photobiology. Photoresponsive liquid crystals are materials possessing optical properties, which can be controlled by external light stimuli, have potential application in high-speed processing of information and as optical switches. Materials for recording fluorescent images include novel solid state fluorescing materials in which fluorescent images can be recorded using laser emission have been developed. These materials can have potential use as security labelling materials, since the recorded image can be read only on exposure to UV light. Organo functionalized nanometals and fullerene nanoclusters are nanoparticles are versatile building blocks for the construction of nanoscale devices through a 'bottom-up approach'