Q: What does ‘nano’ mean?

A: The prefix ‘nano’ is derived from the Greek word ‘nanos’ meaning dwarf or ‘extremely small’.

Q: How big is ‘Nano’?

A: A Nanometre is 10^-9 m, which is one billionth of a metre. A human hair is about 50-80,000 nanometres wide. A nanometre is the amount your fingernails grow in one second or 1/100 of the thickness of the metal film on a crisp packet.

Head louse on a human hair

A: Ultra-ultra clean! A hospital operating theatre has approximately 1 million dust particles per cubic metre; one of our clean rooms here at the Nanoscience centre only has 100 particles per cubic metre.                            

A: Nanoscience is defined as ‘the study of phenomena and manipulation of materials’ at the nanoscale – research which will fuel technology advances in the future.
Nanotechnology is the design, characterisation, production and application of structures, devices and systems at the nanometre scale.
                                     

A:  A carbon nanotube is an allotrope of carbon. Graphite is another carbon allotrope. A carbon nanotube is a sheet of graphite, one atom thick, rolled into a cylinder with a diameter over 10,000 times smaller than a human hair.
                                     

A: There are thousands of possibilities. Electrically, they could be incorporated into circuits and devices to produce ultra-fast, ultra-small computers or used in display devices. Their mechanical properties along the tube axis are 10,000 times stronger than steel but only 1/6th its weight. These properties make them an ideal material to produce more lightweight, fuel efficient aeroplanes and cars. They are already in tennis racquets, which is supposed to give the player extra power and control.

‘Nanocars’ powered by light

A: Originally named after Richard Buckminster Fuller, a ‘bucky ball’ is 60 carbon atoms arranged in a sphere with the atoms arranged like the panels on a football but with a diameter of ~1nm.
                  

A: A coating of ~10nm is enough to detect a colour change. On metals a noticeable pattern change can be detected at ~5nm thickness.

A: You cannot use conventional optical microscopes as the particles are smaller than the wavelength of light. The most common types of microscope used for ‘looking’ at nanoparticles are the AFM – Atomic Force Microscope, the SEM – Scanning Electron Microscope and the TEM – Transmission Electron Microscope. Each one uses different techniques to ‘see’ the samples.

Scanning Electron Microscope

A: Nanoscience and Nanotechnology are being investigated in many areas of science so the researchers that work in this Centre may have studied Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Materials Science or Engineering.

A: No. Nature is full of examples of nanotechnology. The ecosystem is very dependent on nanotechnology – nanoparticles are important in the formation of rain and snow. The different colours seen on butterfly wings are due to the light bouncing off ‘nano layers’. Geckos can climb walls and hang from ceilings due to the ‘nano’ properties of the hairs on their feet.

A: No. Pottery using nano-sized particles has been used for thousands of years. An example from 4th Century AD is the Lycurgus Chalice and can be seen at the British Museum. The cup is made from glass which appears jade green in reflected light, but when light is shone directly through the glass it appears translucent red. This unusual optical effect is caused by 40ppm (parts per million) gold and 300ppm silver contained within the glass producing 70nm particles.
                                     

A: There are many products available today that utilise nanotechnology and its benefits. For example; computer hard disk drives, synthetic bone, stain-repellent clothing, longer life tennis balls, glass that cleans itself, fuel additives that improve fuel consumption and lead to reduced emissions of pollutants, sun creams which scatter harmful UV light but not visible light and plasters that contain antimicrobial nanoparticles to name but a few.