I&EC 159 |
| Nanomaterials may enable technological solutions to critical problems now faced by the developing world in the areas of water treatment, energy production and heathcare. To see these technologies applied successfully, however, requires innovative manufacturing strategies that not only make these materials using ‘green' techniques, but also in ways that are transferable to the low infrastructure settings found in the developing world. In this paper, we present a new scheme for generating nanocrystals that relies on everyday items and simple tools of the type found in restaurants. The method takes advantage of the particle growth mechanism found when metal salts are decomposed in fatty acid mixtures; surprisingly high quality magnetic nanocrystals can be generated even using starting materials such as edible oils (olive) and rust collected from refuse. Quantum dot materials formed in a similar fashion are not as uniform in size, but the products still display the striking optical features essential for their applications. The optical and magnetic properties of these systems can be verified using relatively simple tools, and this information can provide feedback on a given sample's utility. Potential users of nanotechnology in the developing world could use these methods as a starting point to develop nanomanufacturing for micro-businesses or possibly even household settings.3 Ultimately, we envision that the methods described here will be adapted and refined by the global community using open source techniques pioneered by hackers and software engineers. |
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Nanotechnology and the Environment: Emphasis on Green Nanotechnology
1:30 PM-5:30 PM, Thursday, April 10, 2008 Morial Convention Center -- Rm. 231, Oral
Division of Industrial & Engineering Chemistry |