Foothill College Nanoscience Program overview for Nano-Link Conference in Phoenix Arizona, February 2015

1. Foothill College
Nanoscience Program
Foothill College
Nano-Link 2015

2. Overview
• Foothill College NANO Program
• Electron microscopy instruments
• NANO10 – HS nanoscience
• NANO Camp 2014-2015
• Hands on activities
• Nano-Link integration
• NASA-ASL / Socialization of Science

3. Foothill College
Nanoscience Program
• Six course program:
• NANO 10 – Nanoscience
• NANO 51 – Nanotechnology Applications
• NANO 52 – Nanostructures and Materials
• NANO 53 – Nanocharacterization Tools
• NANO 54 – Nanofabrication Methods
• NANO 62 – Nanostructure Engineering

4. Hitachi TM-3000 SEM
MVLA High School student operates tabletop SEM at a Saturday session

5. Atomic Force Microscope
AFM measurements of a copolymer coating using close contact (tapping) mode

6. NANO10
• High school nanoscience course
• Lecture and hands-on laboratories
• Small mini demonstrations
• Larger one and two day labs
• Rigorous laboratory science (for HS)
• Students are AP level (mostly seniors)

7. NANO10 Lab Activities
• Photolithography – could be done in
NANO Camp – but chemicals need prep
• Solar PV fabrication – tricky but fun!
• Supercapacitors – working the bugs out
• Nanoparticles – nanogold / nanosilver
• Ferrofluid synthesis – tricky and messy
• Modeling tools – needs time and guidance

8. Photolithography

9. Solar Cell
Fabrication
Dye sensitized photocells are
made from frozen raspberry
juice applied to titanium dioxide
on glass. One side of the cell is
coated with graphite from a
pencil, and potassium iodide is
used as a donor of electrons in
the photoconduction circuit.
Students make measurements of
voltage and current in the cell.
The lab takes about 100 minutes,
so either needs a long lab, or two
one hour periods. This activity
looks harder than it is, and is
actually quite approachable.

10. Surface Area to Volume
Students use play-doh to create
small objects which are used to
make measurements of surface
area to volume ratios. Students
then plot those ratios verses the
size of the object ( millimeters)
and observe the size range. In
the nanoparticle synthesis lab,
we do calculations of surface
atoms to interior atoms, and
again plot that ratio as a function
of particle size. Students then
observe that as nanoparticles
get very small, say 5 to 10 to
20nm , the number of surface
atoms proportionally grows.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surface-area-to-volume_ratio

11. Gold Nanoparticles
Turkevich method of preparing gold nanoparticles => Auric chloride + Trisodium Citrate

12. Molecular Modeling
QuteMol modeling of protein (left) SiCN rendering (right)

13. NANO Camp
• Four day hands-on exercises
• 20+ Self-guided learning activities
• Targeted to high school (science) students
• Possible extension to HS teachers
• The idea is fun learning / experience
• NANO Camp can also be a NANO Club

14. NANO Camp 2014/15
• Modeling
• Crystal structure
• Size and scale
• Forces
• Digital microscopes
• AFM/SEM
• Fuel cell demo
• Nitinol
• Nanoparticles
• Surfaces
• Solar PV
• Lithography
20 plus exercises
Bonus: 3D printing of MEMS and Stanford Nanocenter Walking Tour

15. Crystal Activity
Students prepare crystal structures including SC, BCC, FCC, and HCP

16. Graphene
Modeling
The graphene modeling
was among the more
favorite activities in the
camp. Students worked in
teams to prepare
fullerenes, carbon
nanotubes, and other (yet
to be invented) carbon
structures. The hands on
modeling was far more
effective than PowerPoint,
and even the computer
modeling. This activity also
allowed students to work in
teams, with each group
working on a nanostructure.

17. Lab Calculations
NANO Camp TA leads an ad hoc calculation during a hands-on lab activity

18. Stanford Laboratory Tour
NANO 10 students from Palo Alto High School Tour Stanford’s Nanocenter

19. NANO10 Activities
• Self assembly
• Crystal structure
• Modeling
• Ferrofluid
• Lithography
• Biotoxicity
• Photolithography
• Stanford tour
• Surfaces
• Heat Mirror
• Thin films
• Water filtration
• Solar PV Cell
• Supercapacitor
Bonus: 3D printing of MEMS and Stanford Nanocenter Walking Tour

20. Faculty Experience
• Miguel Aznar
– 7 years COSMOS
– 2014 NANO Camp
• Robert Cormia
– Nanoscience program (NSF)
– 15 years materials analysis
• Lisa Wesoloski
– UCLA PhD Nanoscience
– CNSI / Nanoeducation

21. Integrated Learning Outcomes
Integrated Learning Outcomes => NSF-ATE Program for Training Nanotechnicians

22. Socialization of Science
• Mentoring of students
• Influence (social) networks
• Four levels of college students
• Faculty researchers
• Small business innovators

23. Socialization of Science

24. Mentoring of Students
• Influence (social)
science networks
• Multiple levels of
college students
• Faculty and NASA
UCSC researchers
• Small business
innovators / PBL
Students form groups around projects and work with each other in teams

25. Mentor Training
Foothill College students Anh Nguyen and Yessica Torres (now at
EAG labs) participate in materials research and microscopy
training at NASA-ASL using a Transmission Electron Microscope
(TEM).

26. Gold Nanoparticle TEM
NASA-ASL intern David Skiver
prepared gold nanoparticles
using sodium citrate reduction
of auric chloride. Particles are
produced in a dark solution
and suspended in a TEM grid.
This particle was imaged at 1
million X using a Hitachi HR
9500 TEM. Students can see
individual gold atoms in the
particle, which is ~ 15 nm in
diameter. The group is now
developing an approach to
nanosilver particles using silver
nitrate and sodium citrate.

27. AFM Image of Nano Islands
Mn on GaN 2u x 2u Amorphous region 5u x 5u
AFM images from PNI Nano-R AFM using Close Contact Mode

28. Real Science – Real Learning
Nothing is as fun as doing it yourself – Robert Cormia using XPS Spectrometer

29. Advisory Board
• EAG Labs
• Nanolab Technologies
• NASA-ASL
• PlasmaTreat
• SAMCO
• Southwall Technologies

30. Summary
• NANO10 – Nanoscience
• NANO Camp => NANO experience
• Mixture of labs and lectures
• Lab experience can be complex
• Integrated SLOs / NANO big ideas
• NANO can be academic or a club
• Hands-on activities are essential