Prof M A Morris, Head of Department, Dept. of Chemistry, University College Cork And CRANN, Trinity College Dublin, m.morris@ucc.ie
Résumé : CRANN, the Centre for Research in Nanostructures and Nanodevices is a Government/Industry funded research centre dedicated to research into the synthesis and properties of nanostructured and nanomaterials. It combines state-of-the-art fabrication methods with advanced structural characterisation to advance the application of nanotechnology. In this talk we highlight a self-assembly type approach for generating nanomaterials from block copolymer systems. These polymer molecules can form highly regular arrangements due to a balance of the attractive and repulsive forces between dissimilar blocks. The nanopatterns formed can be used as a template or a mask whereby the structure formed or the pattern dimension is imposed on a substrate or powder particulates. Why this work is important is described here and a few examples are given : The fabrication of silicon nanowire for transistor devices, delivery of patterned surfaces for antimicrobial application and the manufacture of magnetic nanoparticles will be outlined.
