The Science of Technology

We discussed the relatively new field of nanoscience. During the lesson we covered what nanoscience is and why studying structures less that 100 nanometers in size are so interesting, while tying this discussion to the quantum mechanics we discussed yesterday. Furthermore, we discussed the different types of nanostructures and how these are synthesized. The students were filled with great questions and came up with wonderful new, many of which are real, applications for these. We also analyzed our bacterial cultures we started Monday and saw how silver nanoparticles, which were also synthesized, were capable of acting as an antimicrobial, and are better at killing Gram-(–) bacteria than Gram-(+) bacteria. The experiment we conducted was synthesizing iron(3,4) oxide nanoparticles, which are magnetic. The students really enjoyed the experiment and were able to take their ferrofluids home, so ask the scientists about their creations!