CUI: Advanced Imaging of Matter
Cluster of ExcellenceCUI: Advanced
Imaging of Matter
Imaging of Matter
Understanding nano: scientists develop simple experiments for complex concepts
26 November 2024
Photo: Sarodi Jonak Dutta
When going from bulk to nanomaterials, the material itself remains the same.
Photo: Sarodi Jonak Dutta
Some of these simple experiments include constructing cubes to showcase the high surface-to-volume ratio, or witnessing the melting rates of larger and smaller ice cubes.
Photo: Sarodi Jonak Dutta
Simple, practical learning tools make complex concepts accessible.
When bulk materials are reduced in size to the nanometer scale, in particular, their surface-to-volume ratio increases drastically. Researchers from the Department of Physics at the University of Hamburg developed simple experiments for bachelor and high school students to visualize this concept in a laboratory class. In Journal Chemical Education, they present these experiments and describe how the consequences on the properties of the materials can be demonstrated.
The high surface-to-volume ratio of nanomaterials is one of their striking properties. “It is important to understand that, when going from bulk to nanomaterials, the material itself remains the same. There is no chemical reaction, no change of atoms, but there is the introduction of a new surface,” says Sarodi Jonak Dutta, who was honored for her scientific excellence with a fellowship from the Cluster of Excellence “Cui: Advanced Imaging of Matter”. As a researcher in the group of Professor Wolfgang Parak and due to her interest in teaching and dissemination, she helps a lot to educate young people. In a recently published video, she describes various funding programs of the cluster and shares her enthusiasm for science: “If you love science, be part of science. It's beautiful.”
The idea behind this paper was to develop experiments that can be widely adopted and tested in an educational setting to assess effectiveness across age groups. They address high school or bachelor students who might have heard the term ‘nano’ somewhere and are curious to know more about it.
The group introduces the concept of surface-to-volume ratio by several simple yet effective experiments, followed by explaining how reducing materials to nanoscale greatly increases their surface-to-volume ratio. As a result, nanomaterials exhibit unique properties, such as higher reactivity, faster dissolution, and lower melting points, compared to their bulk counterparts.
These widely reported concepts are integral in understanding nanomaterials. The team therefore aimed to develop simple, practical learning tools that make these complex concepts accessible and memorable. Some of these simple experiments include constructing cubes to showcase the high surface-to-volume ratio, or witnessing the melting rates of larger and smaller ice cubes.
“We are hopeful that further simplification or standardization of these experiments may help integrate them into a standard curriculum, increasing accessibility and comprehension in materials science and nanotechnology education,” Sarodi Jonak Dutta says.
Publication:
Maria Pozzi, Sarodi Jonak Dutta, Mia Kuntze, Jeannette Bading, Johanna S. Rüßbült, Cornelius Fabig, Malte Langfeldt, Florian Schulz, Patricia Horcajada, and Wolfgang J. Parak
Visualization of the High Surface-to-Volume Ratio of Nanomaterials and Its Consequences
J. Chem. Educ. 101, 3146−3155 (2024)
