New Material

Smart Materials have some really weird properties
1. Smart material behaves differently depending on the conditions (E.g. Temperature)
2. A good example is nitinol – a “shape memory alloy”
  1. If the nitinol bends, it remember it original shape and goes back to it.
Nanoparticles are really really really really tiny
1. They are 1-100 nanometre across, are called ‘Nanoparticles’ ( 1nm = 0.000000001m)
Nanoparticles contain roughly a few hundred atoms
Nanoparticles include fullerenes
1. These are molecules of carbon, shape like hollow balls or closed tubes
2. The carbon atoms are arranged in hexagonal rings.
3. Different fullerenes contain different numbers of carbon atoms.
A Nanoparticles has very different properties from the ‘bulk’ chemical that it’s made from – E.g. fullerenes have different properties from big lumps of carbon.
Using Nanoparticles is known as nanoscience
1. Many new uses if Nanoparticles are being developed
  1. This could help make new industrial catalysts
  2. They have highly specific sensors are already being used to test water purity
  3. Nanotubes can be used to make stronger, lighter building material
  4. New Cosmetics
  5. Nanomedicines
  6. New lubricant coating
  7. Nanotubes conduct Electricity
2. They have a huge surface area to volume ratio

Resource summary

	Created by Evangeline Taylor about 11 years ago