Nanoscale science concepts

Lastly, in recognition of the growing importance of nanoscale science as an interdisciplinary field with contributions from all the areas of chemistry, and other disciplines the Examinations Institute has begun the process of writing questions developed around nanoscale science concepts, experiments, and methods. We expect that these questions will be additional items which instructors can choose to incorporate into their examinations if those materials are discussed in their courses. These questions are still under development with the committee preparing for publication in 2007. 

The nano science concept proposed the following (a) creation of a nanomaterials roadmap focused solely on well defined (i.e., >90% mono-disperse), (0-D) and (1-D) nanoscale materials (b) these well defined... 

A smart brick concept was developed recently by scientists at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Center for Nanoscale Science and Technology that can be used to monitor a building s health, and hence can help to prevent disasters. The system, combined sensor fusion, signal processing, wireless technology and basic construction... 

The second component of onr project is the incorporation of nanoscale science experimentation into the introdnctoiy level cnrricula in each science discipline. In doing so, we emphasize topics of cnrrent research interest in nanoscale science and use a common instrament across traditional disciplines. We incorporate a modular approach to facilitate replacement of existing laboratory exercises rather than the replacement of an entire course, or the development of an additional conrse that might be poorly populated as an elective course in a number of majors. Each module is designed aroimd the use of a scanning probe microscope (SPM), operated as either a scanning tuimeling microscope (STM) or as an atomic force microscope (AFM), independent of the scientific discipline involved. We incorporate the SPM because it is commonly used in nanoscale science experiments and because one way to illustrate the field s interdisciplinary nature is to demonstrate the multiple ways one instmment can be used in several traditional fields to obtain results of interest to that field. Thus each module makes use of a SPM and a model for a SPM to instmct the students in a specific science discipline, and simultaneously in the fundamental concepts of nanoscale science. The modules themselves can be found online (15) and will be addressed more completely elsewhere. 

Jones, G. M., T. Andre, R. Superfine, and R. Taylor (2003) Learning at the nanoscale The impact of students use of remote microscopy on concepts of viruses, scale, and microscopy. Journal of Research in Science Teaching 40(3), 303-322. 

Kickelbick, G. 2003. Concepts for the incorporation of inorganic building blocks into organic polymers on a nanoscale. Progress in Polymer Science 28 83-114. 

We will provide the reader with an introduction to fundamental concepts in catalytic reactivity and catalyst synthesis derived from the results of computational analysis along with physical and chemical experimental studies. The tremendous advances in nanoscale materials characterization, in itu spectroscopy to provide atomic and molecular level resolution of surfaces and adsorbed intermediates under reaction conditions, predictive ab initio quantum mechanical methods and molecular simulations that have occurred over the past two decades have helped to make catalysis much more of a predictive science. This has significantly enhanced the technology of catalysis well beyond the historical ammonia synthesis and petrochemical processes. 

In parallel to developments in the field of electronics, nanostmctured materials have been developed by materials scientists and chemists also. The concept of nanocrystalline structures emerged in the field of materials science, and polycrystals with ultrafine grain sizes in the nanometer range have been produced. These nanophase materials have been shown to have significant modifications of their mechanical properties compared with the coarse-grain equivalent materials. The huge surface area of nanoporous materials has attracted much attention for applications in chemistry such as molecular sieves, catalysis, and gas sensing. This has motivated intense research aimed at the fabrication of materials with a well-controlled composition and nanoscale stracture, such as synthetic zeolites. 

Nanoreactors are nanoscale containers with the ability of selective encapsulation of guest(s). The confined microenvironment within a NR can remarkably influence the process inside. There are various kinds of NRs, including biological, self-assembled, and natural or synthetic NRs, Up to now, numerous reports have been published on the synthesis and applications of NRs, It is expected that this research field will develop even more rapidly and offer solutions to many challenging topics in material science, catalysis, biomedicine, sensors, etc. It is hoped that the concepts presented in this opening chapter provide information to fundamental concepts of NRs and their potential applications. In the following chapters, various kinds of organic NRs, as well as their potential applications, will be discussed in detail,... 

It is from this perspective that the National Science Foundation (NSF) sponsored a workshop entitled Periodic patterns, relationships and categories of well-defined nanoscale building blocks in 2007 [136]. This seminal workshop evolved an embryonic consensus that subsequently led to a proposed concept for defining and unifying nanoscience based on the integration of traditional chemistiy first principles with certain critical hierarchical design parameters (CHDPs) [137,138]. These CHDPs include size, shape, surface chemistiy, flexibOity/rigidity, composition, and architecture and appear to be conserved and transferred as a function of complexity (illustrated in Fig. 14). 

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