Welcome to the Birck Nanotechnology Center
Nanotechnology is an emerging science in which new materials and tiny structures are built atom-by-atom, or molecule-by-molecule, instead
of the more conventional approach of sculpting parts from pre-existing materials. Nano is a prefix meaning one-billionth, so a nanometer
is one-billionth of a meter.
Just as antibiotics, the silicon transistor and plastics affected nearly every aspect of society in the 20th century, nanotechnology is
expected to have profound influences in the 21st century.
The possibilities include:
- The creation of new materials with superior strength, electrical conductivity, resistance to heat and other properties.
- Microscopic machines for a variety of uses, including probes that could be injected into the body for medical diagnostics and repair.
- A technology in which biology and electronics are merged, creating “bio-chips” that detect food-borne contamination, dangerous substances
in the blood or chemical warfare agents in the air.
- The creation of artificial organs and prosthetics that enhance the quality of life.
- The development of "molecular electronics" and devices that "self assemble," similar to the growth of complex organic structures in
living organisms. Theoretically, such self-assembling devices could make electronics processing far less expensive than conventional
semiconductor processing.
Nanotechnology at Purdue
At Purdue Univeristy, researchers are investigating some of the most intriguing and significant problems: those in the emerging, highly
interdisciplinary field of nanotechnology. The brochure linked below highlights many of the projects at Purdue across the categories of
nanomaterials, nanodevices, nano/bio interfaces, nanomanufacturing, computational nanotechnology, and nanometrology/characterization.
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Current News
New Director Search
Purdue University seeks an individual with vision and demonstrated leadership for the position of Director of the Birck Nanotechnology Center. Please click here for additional information.
New opportunities from old chemistry in surface science, say Purdue chemists
A team led by Alexander Wei has shown that amines, a large and important class of organic molecules, when mixed with carbon disulfide, can
bond to gold more robustly than thiols, which are commonly used materials for giving new functions to metal surfaces. Gold surfaces are
often used as baseplates of sensors and in nanomaterials, and scientists have been searching for stable organic coatings they can attach
to gold to form an interface between the organic and inorganic worlds. The group's findings suggest that amines may be the best candidate
group of such materials.
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