Description
Book SynopsisThe ability of nanostructures to organize into complex arrangements leads to unique materials with valuable applications. Self-assembly is therefore a key concept for nanotechnology, but it can be quite a complex and difficult subject to approach. Water Droplets to Nanotechnology gives a simple and general overview of the different self-assembly processes which are at the basis of recent developments in nanotechnology. The book shows how simple phenomenon from everyday examples can become sophisticated tools for self-assembly and the fabrication of nanomaterials. By exploring the coffee stain and tears of wine phenomena, the first part looks at how the evaporation of a droplet of colloidal solution can be used in designing organized structures. This leads onto more complex systems such as templated porous materials, photonic crystals, colloidal nanocrystals and quasi-crystals through to bottom-up systems for designing hierarchal materials. By taking the reader on a journey from everyday life to the secrets of nanotechnology, the book is suitable for a non-specialist audience interested in self-assembly as well as the wider perspectives and latest developments of nanoscience.
Table of ContentsThe Coffee Stain: Using a Water Droplet for Self-assembly; The Tears of Wine. The Marangoni Effect, a Fluid Phenomenon for Self-Assembly and Organization; The Lord of the Rings: Stick and Slip Motions and Self-Assembly During Coffee-Stain Formation; Convective Self-Assembly (CSA); Using Breath for Nanotechnology; Nanomaterials with Light Shaping Capabilities: Photonic Crystals; Superlattices and Quasicrystals; Shaping and Ordering the Porosity Through Self-assembly; Towards the Complex Organization of Matter: Hierarchical Porosity;
