Synthesis of Nickel Nanowires By Jameson Thornton Anant Singh Ashton Mortazavi Engr 45

Origins of nanotechnology “Why cannot we write the entire 24 volumes of the Encyclopedia Britannica on the head of a pin?” - Richard Feynman

Understanding nanotechnolgy NanoTechnology, or NanoScience? Nanoscience is the discipline of understanding how things work, using commonly accepted experimental and theoretical techniques. Nanotechnology is the application of that scientific knowledge to a particular industry or marketplace. -IBM

What is nanotechnology? If you ask 100 people what nanotechnology is, you will get 11 different answers 90 wont know what it is The other 10 will give you varying answers

Nanotechnology Nanotechnology is the engineering of function systems at the molecular scale. It refers to the projected ability to construct items from the bottom up. -K. Eric Drexler -K. Eric Drexler Nanotechnology ranges in dimensions from 1 nm to 100 nm.

Red blood cells (~7-8  m) Things Natural Things Manmade Fly ash ~  m Head of a pin 1-2 mm Quantum corral of 48 iron atoms on copper surface positioned one at a time with an STM tip Corral diameter 14 nm Human hair ~  m wide Ant ~ 5 mm Dust mite 200  m ATP synthase ~10 nm diameter Nanotube electrode Carbon nanotube ~1.3 nm diameter The Challenge Fabricate and combine nanoscale building blocks to make useful devices, e.g., a photosynthetic reaction center with integral semiconductor storage. Microworld 0.1 nm 1 nanometer (nm) 0.01  m 10 nm 0.1  m 100 nm 1 micrometer (  m) 0.01 mm 10  m 0.1 mm 100  m 1 millimeter (mm) 1 cm 10 mm m m m m m m m m m Visible Nanoworld 1,000 nanometers = Infrared Ultraviolet Microwave Soft x-ray 1,000,000 nanometers = Zone plate x-ray “lens” Outer ring spacing ~35 nm Office of Basic Energy Sciences Office of Science, U.S. DOE Version , pmd The Scale of Things – Nanometers and More MicroElectroMechanical (MEMS) devices  m wide Red blood cells Pollen grain Carbon buckyball ~1 nm diameter Self-assembled, Nature-inspired structure Many 10s of nm Atoms of silicon spacing nm DNA ~2-1/2 nm diameter

Nano Manipulation It's like trying to make things out of LEGO blocks with boxing gloves on your hands. Yes, you can push the LEGO blocks into great heaps and pile them up, but you can't really snap them together the way you'd like. - Ralph Merkle

Nano level Properties change at the nano level. The properties of electrostatic forces as well as quantum forces become increasingly important as things get smaller.

Nano scale Crazy things happen at the nano scale Opaque subtances become transparent (Copper) Inert materials become catalysts (Platinum) Stable materials become combustible (Aluminum) Solids turn into liquids (Gold) Insulators become conductors (Silicon)

Nanotechnology Importance of volume vs. surface area Great heat sinks Mesoporous materials

Aerogel Extremely low thermal conductivity Nearly 99.8% air Density nearly that of air

Nanotubes Usually made from carbon networks Great strength Lightweight

Applications of Nanotubes Used for strengthening all sorts of composites Strengthening frames for cars and other structures Applications in biotechnology field, especially as small transporting tubes

Dangers of Nanotechnology Molecular manufacturing suddenly will create many risks

Dangers of Nanotechnology Disruption of the basis of economy is a strong possibility Nano-built products may be vastly overpriced relative to their cost, perpetuating unnecessary poverty.

Dangers of Nanotechnology Criminals and terrorists could make effective use of the technology Nanotech weapons would be extremely powerful and could lead to a dangerously unstable arms race.

The Experiment This experiment was an attempt at a modified technique for synthesizing nickel nanowires from the following website. Modified Approaches Nickel Paint Gold Sputtering Aluminum (foil)

The Experiment SuppliesBeakerNickelwire Nickel Plating Solution Sodium Hydroxide Nitric Acid Alumina Ceramic Whatman Disks Power Source

The Experiment

Nickel Paint Nickel flakes in an acetone solution applied on back of disk similar to the instructions on website for Gallium Indium Possible reasons for failure Capillary action of resin in solution may have clogged filter Drying of nickel paint may have contracted causing cracks in the delicate ceramic disk

Gold Sputtering Places a very thin layer of gold plating on back of ceramic disk using a sputtering machine Possible reasons for Failure Plating may have been too thin, thereby not completing the circuit as we desired Gold is too inert to be disolved to retrieve any nickel nanowires Ceramic DiskGold Plating Polymer Ring Copper Backing

Aluminum (foil) Very thin aluminum sheet applied to back of ceramic disk Possible reasons for failure Poor conduction Difficulty adhering aluminum to ceramic disk

The Results Trace of nickel deposits found on ceramic disk using nickel paint method Nickel flakes found suspended in solution using gold sputtering method but could not be separated from the gold plating No nickel plating was found using the aluminum method due to poor conduction path

References