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Soap and sand : Construction tools for nanotechnology

Edler, Karen J. LU orcid (2004) In Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences 362(1825). p.2635-2651
Abstract

Nanotechnology is the science of making and using very small structures. As the scales of the constructions become smaller, the existing methods of making these structures - lithography, etching and micromoulding - although constantly improving, will reach physical limits. To overcome the limitations and create smaller, designed and ordered structures, a so-called 'bottom-up' approach must be used. In bottom-up manufacture, self-assembly and nanocasting using molecular assemblies is a burgeoning area of research producing promising materials with current and future applications. In particular, the use of amphiphilic molecules, such as surfactants, which are familiar to most people as the soap bubbles in their kitchen sink, form a range... (More)

Nanotechnology is the science of making and using very small structures. As the scales of the constructions become smaller, the existing methods of making these structures - lithography, etching and micromoulding - although constantly improving, will reach physical limits. To overcome the limitations and create smaller, designed and ordered structures, a so-called 'bottom-up' approach must be used. In bottom-up manufacture, self-assembly and nanocasting using molecular assemblies is a burgeoning area of research producing promising materials with current and future applications. In particular, the use of amphiphilic molecules, such as surfactants, which are familiar to most people as the soap bubbles in their kitchen sink, form a range of very uniform structures in the 1-100 nm size range that can be used to direct the structure of other materials. This paper reviews the use of surfactant templating to create nanoscale structures focusing on recent advances in the understanding of how the ordered nanostructures form, and the developing appreciation of how emergent larger-scale structures made of these materials come about.

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author
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
keywords
Mechanism, Nanostructure, Self-assembly, Silica, Surfactant templating
in
Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences
volume
362
issue
1825
pages
17 pages
publisher
Royal Society Publishing
external identifiers
  • scopus:10844293606
ISSN
1364-503X
DOI
10.1098/rsta.2004.1456
language
English
LU publication?
no
id
cb226cc1-e352-40f7-9816-f32936967cc1
date added to LUP
2023-05-04 18:42:30
date last changed
2023-06-13 09:35:41
@article{cb226cc1-e352-40f7-9816-f32936967cc1,
  abstract     = {{<p>Nanotechnology is the science of making and using very small structures. As the scales of the constructions become smaller, the existing methods of making these structures - lithography, etching and micromoulding - although constantly improving, will reach physical limits. To overcome the limitations and create smaller, designed and ordered structures, a so-called 'bottom-up' approach must be used. In bottom-up manufacture, self-assembly and nanocasting using molecular assemblies is a burgeoning area of research producing promising materials with current and future applications. In particular, the use of amphiphilic molecules, such as surfactants, which are familiar to most people as the soap bubbles in their kitchen sink, form a range of very uniform structures in the 1-100 nm size range that can be used to direct the structure of other materials. This paper reviews the use of surfactant templating to create nanoscale structures focusing on recent advances in the understanding of how the ordered nanostructures form, and the developing appreciation of how emergent larger-scale structures made of these materials come about.</p>}},
  author       = {{Edler, Karen J.}},
  issn         = {{1364-503X}},
  keywords     = {{Mechanism; Nanostructure; Self-assembly; Silica; Surfactant templating}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  month        = {{12}},
  number       = {{1825}},
  pages        = {{2635--2651}},
  publisher    = {{Royal Society Publishing}},
  series       = {{Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences}},
  title        = {{Soap and sand : Construction tools for nanotechnology}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rsta.2004.1456}},
  doi          = {{10.1098/rsta.2004.1456}},
  volume       = {{362}},
  year         = {{2004}},
}