Nanoscience & Nanotechnology

An Introduction

by
Dr SWATI NAGPAL
( Nano Device Fabrication Lab)
Rajdhani College
 NATURE-TECHNOLOGY- NANO:
A Correlation

TECHNOLOGY 21st century: Wonder of NATURE:

•MISSILES, SATELLITE TO
MARS, IT, ATOMIC BOMBS,
ROBOTS REPLACING HUMANS,
PACE-MAKER ,BLUE- TOOTH,
FIBRE OPTICS, SMART DEVICES
RICH MAN FEELS LIKE A KING
Efficiency = OUTPUT/INPUT:
Best combustion Engine = 52%
Best Solar Cell = 18%
•Coconut or water melon is
better than the best water
purifier.
• No sensor more efficient
than olfactory apparatus of
dogs
•No machine is more
sophisticated than a human
apparatus
Efficiency: 90% for Human beings. If
efficiency =60% then much more food
would be required.
DISASTERS of TECHNOLOGY: NATURE:
Photosynthesis can fix 120
•Carbon Emission is 8 billion tons billion of C per year
•Human emit only 0.7 billion tons via CO2
•6.25B tons is by Fossil fuels
•Other pollutants
•Ozone Depletion SOLUTION:
•Soil Erosion Eric Drexler:
•Deforestation Molecular Technology
Bottoms Up Approach:
•Over Population
Disastrous Effects overweigh much more Most complicated Natural
than the benefits . processes are molecular

SOLUTION ( May be Nano):

Power to manipulate atoms & arrange them in our way Creates complex inorganic
Structures & all man-made products.
Examples Today: Muscle fibres, molecular motors, enzymes : All these do a specific
function.
IT MAY BE SLOW ……..BUT
As such centuries have gone by in which evolution has happened to reach the complexity of
a machine of a human being.
 NANO WAS ALWAYS THERE
4th century :
•Only technology of crushing and heating was
known
•The Lycurgus cup: Dichroic glass ( colloidal Ag &
Au): Opaqueness when lit from outside but
translucency when light shines from inside
(British Museum)https://www.nano.gov/timeline

6th – 15th centuries : Stained glass windows

containing Au nano particles in European
Cathedrals

Indian Ayurveda the “SARASWATHARISHTAM”

for memory enhancement contained Gold nanoparticles.
Magnetite(Fe3O4) nanoparticles are fabricated by bacteria
which helps bacteria find direction with the help
of magnetism of these particles itself.
It’s a question of size . . . .
macro, micro and nano

What we want to see dictates what

instruments we use:
Beyond the magnifying glass
• Optical microscopes
• Electron microscopes
• Surface analysis
• Elemental analysis
• and more…….
How do we build small things?
•Computer chips can be made “Top-down”– building
something by starting with a larger component and carving
away material (e.g. like a sculpture).
•Metal nanowires are made “Bottom-up”– building
something by assembling smaller components (e.g. like (e.g.
like building a car engine or Lego). building a car engine or
Lego).
What is a nanoparticle?

An example is a bucky ball

– a fullerene ~1 nm

– 60 carbon atoms linked together in one unit.

How big is
‘nano’?

ratio ratio
earth / football = football / fullerene

© Dan Marsh - Fotolia.com © Paul W. Brian - Fotolia.com nanotechnologyuniverse.com

Water filter packaged like a tea bag! taken anywhere &stuffed into the neck of an
ordinary water bottle.
Portable nanotechnology water filter : Many water filters can get out relatively big
things like dirt and bacteria, but only filters with very small pores can remove tiny
things like viruses and salt ions.
 Nano silica beads coated in
gold : treat cancer!

•Nano-core -shells injected

in the blood
•Used with near-infrared
light to heat and kill
tumors.
•Very little harm to nearby
tissue.

•LAB ON A CHIP: Small chips the size of a postage stamp

•1 drop of blood & a few minutes.
•Whole variety of medical tests.
•Efficiency due to micro-sized channels and nano-sized
sensors
 There are
socks, for
example, that
use nanosilver
to kill the
bacteria that
make feet
smell.

What happens
if nanosilver
particles enter
Many sun blocks the water
contain nano-sized supply when
particles of ZnO or TiO2 you wash
them ??????
 To move, the
gecko tilts it
foot, breaking
the bonds.

•Geckos can climb up walls

•No glue on the bottom of their feet!
•Millions of nano-sized “hairs” (SARAE 200nm) form bonds with the wall
•Molecules in the setae are attracted to molecules in the wall & form a
temporary weak bond.
•Enough setae that the intermolecular forces overcome the force of gravity.
Potential impacts of nanotechnology

Materials:
Sports industry, cosmetics, clothing and space
elevators.
 *Sensitivity, 2 main
*Electrical, effects @NANOSCALE:
*Magnetic, Physical Properties
*Mechanical CHANGE??
*Optical SA/Vol Ratio
Quantum
Confinement

SA/vol (sphere) =3/r

Changes Reactivity
300mm 1 mm
sphere sphere
0.001 granulated sugar or sugar cubes
3 units
unit
Which dissolves faster in water?
 Change in Optical Properties
Why does Rose look Red???
BAND GAP IS THE ANSWER

Gold colloidal Solutions

The color of gold:
(Purple to red)

depends upon

Size of gold Particle.

LOW DIMENSIONAL PHYSICS
QUANTUM CONFINEMENT
 Low dimensional/Nanomaterials

3D 2D 1D 0D
Bulk Wells Wires Dots
(No confinement) (1D Confinement) (2D confinement) (3D confinement)
 Particle in a Potential Well

1st 3 states(n=1,2,3) for 1D Potential Well

(a) Infinite walls: En n2 & wave functions

vanishes at wall, Total no of states is infinite.
Probability of finding a particle inside =1

(b) Finite Walls: probability <1;

(c)Dispersion Law for finite well:

( for finite walls discrete points are there )

Density of electron states of a semiconductor as a function of dimension. The
optical absorption spectrum is roughly proportional to the density of states.