Faculty - Nanoscience and Materials

Nanotechnology & Materials Research

The invention of the scanning tunneling microscope, which allowed molecules to be imaged and manipulated at the atomic scale, opened up an entirely new field, known as Nanotechnology. When materials are synthesized on the length scale of nanometers, their properties often behave dramatically different from bulk materials. Materials chemistry focuses on the relationship between the microstructure and the macroscopic properties of materials used in applications from plastics and coatings, to ceramics and catalysis, to biocompatible materials for prosthetics. The field is very multidisplinary, and uses highly specialized instrumentation for imaging and manipulating matter at the nanoscale.

UMaine chemists utilize photolithography and silicon micromachining techniques in the clean room at LASST to fabricate miniature devices for applications from genomics and cell biology to catalyst screening for biofuel production. Synthetic methods range from use of structure directing agents in the liquid phase to gas phase methods like atomic layer deposition and molecular beam epitaxy. Experimental methods include electron microscopy, x-ray diffraction and neutron scattering, vibrational and electron spectroscopy, and adsorption porosimetry. Faculty working in this research area are listed below.

Other useful links:

Micro Instruments and Systems Laboratory:

Laboratory for Surface Science & Technology

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