1. Workshop: Nanotechnology
By Wilfredo Otaño
Nanotechnology is the science that works with materials within the scale of 100 nm
or smaller. This technology gives us the ability to understand and manipulate physical and
technological characteristics of systems. The physical, chemical, and biological
characteristics of materials differ at this nanometer scale, and scientists can have advantage
of this and apply this technology in different purposes. An advantage of nanotechnology is
that materials have more superficial area, and this can induce more catalytic reactions, more
toughness of materials, and a higher chemical reactivity. In the lab I saw the creation of a
censor that detects hydrogen. First of all, we used a substrate of silicon that was oxidized
by heat. Above the substrate there were fibers of polyethylene oxide that were created by
electrospining. This process uses an electrical charge to draw very fine fibers from a liquid.
Then, using the technique of sputtering, which consists of bombarding a substrate with
materials, creating thin films, a layer of palladium was added to the fibers. Afterwards, it
was bombarded again with gold at the ends of the censor, but this time a mask was placed
in the center of it. Then, the mask was removed, and the censor was tested. Finally, it was
how fast it detected hydrogen concentrations.