(above) A Rotaxane - Reference 1a |
IntroductionNanotechnology is a relatively new concept to chemistry, first attributed to Richard Feynman in 1960, who described the first ideas. Nanotechnology as we know it first started taking form with research from scientists such as Drexler, in the late 1980's.But what is nanotechnology? At its most simple, it is chemistry involving molecules on the nanoscale, usually only contaning a few molecules. The "nanometer" is 10-9 metres, that's one billionth of a metre! It is important to point out that this is a potentially vast field, and we are only just scratching the surface with a tiny section of this technology. There are many different technologies present at the moment, and many different ways of acheiving the same goal. Other techniques include carbon nanotubes, and nanotechnology based on biological molecules such as DNA. bottom up nanomachines. Catenanes and rotaxanes have been chosen for this site because they are nice and simple, but also pretty interesting and show a lot of potential! |
about this websiteThis website was built by Harry Bevan in July 2006, as my entry to the Web-based Project Competition, set by the School of Chemistry, University of Bristol. |
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quizOnce you've looked at the site, why not try the quiz?It'll test what you've just learned form the site, alongside some useless trivia! go to the quiz |
