Introduction to Nanoscience and

Nanotechnology
Lecture 1

What is happening at a very, very small length scale?

Dr. Ishrat Sultana
Department :Physics CUI,Lahore
Email:[email protected]
Room #108 (Faculty Block)

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 Content
• What is Nano scale Science?

• Actual physical dimensions relevant to Nano systems.

• Properties of Nanomaterial.

• Size & Shape Dependent Properties – at Nano scale.

• Conclusions.

• Suggested Readings.

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 What is Nano ?
•
Nano : a prefix that means very, very, small !

• A nanometer is one billionth of a meter. Nanoscale is actually

Nanometer scale.
• Nanometer scale range from approximately 100 nm to 1 nm.
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Key Questions

What is the difference between nanoscience and

nanotechnology?

How long have humans been using nanoparticles?

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 Nanoscience
• The study of structures and unique properties of matter
at the nanoscale
• An interdisciplinary field of science combining physics,
materials science, chemistry, and related disciplines.

• First example of a liquid crystal

• Studied in 1888
• Unusual properties (two melting points)
• Unusual interaction with light
• No interest at the time

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 Nanotechnology
• The design, characterization, production, and application of
structures, devices, and systems by controlled manipulation of
size and shape at the nanometer scale

• Further research into liquid crystals led to molecules being fine tuned
to give properties suitable for the production of LCD screens.

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NANOSCIENCE NANOTECHNOLOGY

• Design
• Identification of physical • Application
and chemical properties • Learning how to control and
mass produce the material.

Antibactierial properties of
Nanosilver studied with a nanosilver are used in a number of
scanning tunneling microscope products. 7
 Nanoscience and Nanotechnology
• Nanoscience is the study of phenomena and
manipulation of materials at atomic molecular and
macromolecular scales where properties differ
significantly from those at larger scale.

• Nanotechnology is the design ,characterization,

production and application of structures, devices and
systems by controlling shape and size at nanometer
scale.

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 Nanoscience: Nanometer scale
science
• A part of science that studies small stuff

So, what is Nano science ?

• It is not only Biology.
• It is not only Physics .
• It is not only Chemistry.
• It is all sciences that work with the very small.

 Nanoscience is not physics,

chemistry, engineering or biology. It
is all of them.
S.M. Lindsay, Introduction to Nanoscience,
Oxford University Press (2009).
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Natural Nanomaterials

Close up view of Nasturtium leaf

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 Actual physical dimensions relevant to
Nanosystem

Nanoscience

0.1nm 1nm 10nm 100nm 1m 10 m

Size and shape dependent

properties

Nanometer scale : The length scale where corresponding

property is size & shape dependent. 11
 Nanomaterials

Nano materials have extremely small size that having at least one dimension in
nanometer scale(1-100 nm). They may be made Non-intentionally and intentionally in
laboratories.

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 What’s interesting about the
nanoscale?
• Nano sized particles exhibit different properties than
larger particles of the same substance.

• Nano sized particle exhibit size & shape dependent

properties.

How do properties
change at the
Nanoscale ?

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 Nanosystems: % of Surface atoms
Example of Gold Nano particle:

 Sphere of radius 12.5 nm contains total approx. 480,000 atoms.

surface contains approx. 48,000 atoms.
So, approx. 10% atoms are on the surface.

 Sphere of radius 5 nm contains total approx. 32,000 atoms.

surface contains approx. 8000 atoms.
So, approx. 25% atoms are on the surface.

Surface atoms have unused electrons – so very reactive

(can be used for catalysis)

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 Properties of a
Material
A property describes how a material acts under
certain conditions.
• Types of properties:
 Optical (e.g. color).
 Electrical (e.g. conductivity).
 Physical (e.g. melting point).
 Chemical (e.g. reaction rate).
• Properties are usually measured by looking at
large (~1023) aggregations of atoms or molecules.

Sources: http://www.bc.pitt.edu/prism/prism-logo.gif 16
http://www.physics.umd.edu/lecdem/outreach/QOTW/pics/k3-06.gif
 Optical Properties: Colour of
•
Gold
Bulk gold
appears yellow in colour.

• Nano sized gold

appears red in colour.
The particles are so small that electrons are not free to
move about as in bulk gold Because this
movement is restricted, the particles react differently
with light.
12 nanometer gold clusters of
particles look red.

Sources:
http://www.sharps-jewellers.co.uk/rings/images/bien-hccncsq5.jpg
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http://www.foresight.org/Conferences/MNT7/Abstracts/Levi/
 Physical Property: Melting Point of a
Substance
• Melting Point (microscopic definition)
– Temperature at which the atoms, ions, or molecules in a
substance have enough energy to overcome the
intermolecular forces that hold the them in a “fixed”
position in a solid
– Surface atoms require less energy to
move because they are in contact with
fewer atoms of the substance.

In contact with 3 atoms

In contact with 7 atoms

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http://serc.carleton.edu/usingdata/nasaimages/index4.html
Understanding Melting Point: macro vs. nano
At the macro At the Nanoscale
scale
The majority of …almost all on the inside …split between the inside
the atoms of the object and the surface of the
are… object

Changing an …has a very small effect …has a big effect on the

object’s size… on the percentage of percentage of atoms on the
atoms on the surface surface

The melting …doesn’t depend on size … is lower for smaller

point… particles
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Electrical Properties :Conductivity of
Nanotubes
• Nanotubes are long, thin cylinders of carbon:
Their electrical properties change with diameter, “twist”, and
number of walls
They can be either conducting or semi-conduct their
electrical behavior.

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Chemical Property: Reaction Rate
• Nano particles are very small in size.

• Very high surface area to volume ratio.

• Reactions are very quick.

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 Conclusions
• Nanoscience
refers to the science with dimensions in the range from
1-100 nanometres.

• In Nano science building blocks may consist of anywhere from a few

hundred atoms to millions of atoms.

• In Nanoscale, properties (electrical, mechanical, optical, chemical,

and biological) are fundamentally different from bulk.

• In Nanoscale, properties (electrical, mechanical, optical, chemical,

and biological) are shape and size dependent.

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 Recomended
1. Introduction to Nanoscience and Nanotechnology by
Hornyak, Tibbals, Dutta, and Moore

2. Introduction to Nanoscience and Nanotechnology, By

Gabor L. Hornyak, H.F. Tibbals, Joydeep Dutta,

3. Introduction to Nanoscience,by S.M. Lindsay

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