Foothill college nanoscience program

Foothill College Nanoscience Program

Foothill College

Nano-Link 2015

Overview

• Foothill College NANO Program

• Electron microscopy instruments

• NANO10 – HS nanoscience

• NANO Camp 2014-2015

• Hands on activities

• Nano-Link integration

• NASA-ASL / Socialization of Science

Foothill College Nanoscience Program

• Six course program:

• NANO 10 – Nanoscience• NANO 51 – Nanotechnology Applications• NANO 52 – Nanostructures and Materials• NANO 53 – Nanocharacterization Tools• NANO 54 – Nanofabrication Methods• NANO 62 – Nanostructure Engineering

Hitachi TM-3000 SEM

MVLA High School student operates tabletop SEM at a Saturday session

Atomic Force Microscope

AFM measurements of a copolymer coating using close contact (tapping) mode

NANO10

• High school nanoscience course• Lecture and hands-on laboratories• Small mini demonstrations• Larger one and two day labs• Rigorous laboratory science (for HS)• Students are AP level (mostly seniors)

NANO10 Lab Activities

• Photolithography – could be done in NANO Camp – but chemicals need prep

• Solar PV fabrication – tricky but fun!• Supercapacitors – working the bugs out• Nanoparticles – nanogold / nanosilver• Ferrofluid synthesis – tricky and messy• Modeling tools – needs time and guidance

Photolithography

Solar Cell FabricationDye sensitized photocells are made from frozen raspberry juice applied to titanium dioxide on glass. One side of the cell is coated with graphite from a pencil, and potassium iodide is used as a donor of electrons in the photoconduction circuit. Students make measurements of voltage and current in the cell. The lab takes about 100 minutes, so either needs a long lab, or two one hour periods. This activity looks harder than it is, and is actually quite approachable.

Surface Area to Volume

Students use play-doh to create small objects which are used to make measurements of surface area to volume ratios. Students then plot those ratios verses the size of the object ( millimeters) and observe the size range. In the nanoparticle synthesis lab, we do calculations of surface atoms to interior atoms, and again plot that ratio as a function of particle size. Students then observe that as nanoparticles get very small, say 5 to 10 to 20nm , the number of surface atoms proportionally grows.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surface-area-to-volume_ratio

Gold Nanoparticles

Turkevich method of preparing gold nanoparticles => Auric chloride + Trisodium Citrate

Molecular Modeling

QuteMol modeling of protein (left) SiCN rendering (right)

NANO Camp

• Four day hands-on exercises

• 20+ Self-guided learning activities

• Targeted to high school (science) students

• Possible extension to HS teachers

• The idea is fun learning / experience

• NANO Camp can also be a NANO Club

NANO Camp 2014/15

• Modeling• Crystal structure• Size and scale• Forces• Digital microscopes• AFM/SEM

• Fuel cell demo• Nitinol• Nanoparticles• Surfaces• Solar PV• Lithography

20 plus exercises

Bonus: 3D printing of MEMS and Stanford Nanocenter Walking Tour

Crystal Activity

Students prepare crystal structures including SC, BCC, FCC, and HCP

Graphene ModelingThe graphene modeling was among the more favorite activities in the camp. Students worked in teams to prepare fullerenes, carbon nanotubes, and other (yet to be invented) carbon structures. The hands on modeling was far more effective than PowerPoint, and even the computer modeling. This activity also allowed students to work in teams, with each group working on a nanostructure.

Lab Calculations

NANO Camp TA leads an ad hoc calculation during a hands-on lab activity

Stanford Laboratory Tour

NANO 10 students from Palo Alto High School Tour Stanford’s Nanocenter

NANO10 Activities

• Self assembly• Crystal structure• Modeling• Ferrofluid• Lithography• Biotoxicity• Photolithography

• Stanford tour• Surfaces• Heat Mirror• Thin films• Water filtration• Solar PV Cell• Supercapacitor

Bonus: 3D printing of MEMS and Stanford Nanocenter Walking Tour

Faculty Experience

• Miguel Aznar– 7 years COSMOS– 2014 NANO Camp

• Robert Cormia– Nanoscience program (NSF)– 15 years materials analysis

• Lisa Wesoloski– UCLA PhD Nanoscience– CNSI / Nanoeducation

Integrated Learning Outcomes

Integrated Learning Outcomes => NSF-ATE Program for Training Nanotechnicians

Socialization of Science

• Mentoring of students

• Influence (social) networks

• Four levels of college students

• Faculty researchers

• Small business innovators

Socialization of Science

Mentoring of Students

• Influence (social) science networks

• Multiple levels of college students

• Faculty and NASA UCSC researchers

• Small business innovators / PBL

Students form groups around projects and work with each other in teams

Mentor TrainingFoothill College students Anh Nguyen and Yessica Torres (now at EAG labs) participate in materials research and microscopy training at NASA-ASL using a Transmission Electron Microscope (TEM).

Gold Nanoparticle TEM

NASA-ASL intern David Skiver prepared gold nanoparticles using sodium citrate reduction of auric chloride. Particles are produced in a dark solution and suspended in a TEM grid. This particle was imaged at 1 million X using a Hitachi HR 9500 TEM. Students can see individual gold atoms in the particle, which is ~ 15 nm in diameter. The group is now developing an approach to nanosilver particles using silver nitrate and sodium citrate.

AFM Image of Nano Islands

Mn on GaN 2u x 2u Amorphous region 5u x 5u

AFM images from PNI Nano-R AFM using Close Contact Mode

Real Science – Real Learning

Nothing is as fun as doing it yourself – Robert Cormia using XPS Spectrometer

Advisory Board

• EAG Labs

• Nanolab Technologies

• NASA-ASL

• PlasmaTreat

• SAMCO

• Southwall Technologies

Summary

• NANO10 – Nanoscience• NANO Camp => NANO experience• Mixture of labs and lectures• Lab experience can be complex• Integrated SLOs / NANO big ideas• NANO can be academic or a club• Hands-on activities are essential