Camp NanoTech

What is Nanotechnology?

Nanotechnology is an emerging field of science and engineering that focuses on the behavior of materials that have sizes of approximately 1 to 100 nanometers (1 - 100 nm). A nanometer is one billionth of a meter. For perspective, a single atom is about 0.1 nm wide while a typical biological cell is 10,000 nm wide. So, nanotechnology deals with materials with sizes that are bigger than a single atom but smaller than a cell. The material could be a particle, a wire or tube, or a film or coating. If something is related to nanotechnology, it's usually given the "nano-" prefix, so a wire that is 50 nm in diameter (but could be much longer) is called a "nanowire".

A carbon nanotube

But nanotechnology is more than just about size. People who study nanotechnology are interested in how to build these particles, tubes, etc. and what the nanomaterials actually do. Their strategy for building materials is to start by combining atoms together but then stopping before it gets too big. That's easier said than done since these atoms naturally like to clump together until they form big chunks of material. Students at Camp NanoTech will perform two experiments and produce magnetic iron oxide and red or blue nanoparticles of gold.

At this point, a good question to ask is, "If this stuff is so small, how do I know if it's even there?" That's another very important part of nanotechnology - detecting nano-sized materials. Several special microscopes have been created for this purpose. They don't allow you to actually "look" the atoms on the surface but the microscopes use high-precision electronics and so me unusual behavior of atoms to create an accurate, atomic-scale image of the surface. After a little bit of training, Camp NanoTech students will operate these instruments to view individual atoms of several types of materials. It is uncommon for college undergraduates to get to use microscopes like these, so this is a really special opportunity for high school students.

STM

STM image of layers of gold atoms

Camp NanoTech students will also learn about the history of nanotechnology. It's actually quite old (hint: did you ever wonder where the colors in a stain glass window come from?) As nanomaterials become more common in consumer goods, there is growing concern among the public about the impact of nanotechnology on the environment, the economy and society as a whole. Camp NanoTech instructors will lead a discussion with students that encourages them to reflect on this issues.

Below are some links to other websites that describe nanotechnology in more detail. Each link points to the site's page for general nanotechnology information.

http://science.howstuffworks.com/nanotechnology.htm A good introduction to nanotechnology at HowStuffWorks.

http://www.nano.gov/html/facts/home_facts.html A general overview of nanotechnology with information about how important nanotechnology is to the U.S. government, from the EPA to the Pentagon.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nanotechnology What would any list of web links be without something from Wikipedia?

http://www.foresight.org/nano/index.html The Foresight Institute, a public interest group that promotes nanotechnology, provides resources for the general public and researchers.

The best way to learn about nanotechnology is to do nanotechnology. Enroll in Camp NanoTech today!

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What is Nanotechnology?