Question

6. (20 pts)
(a) (5pts) Define the terms nanostructured diamond and detonation nanodiamond and detail the method for synthesizing nanostructured diamond by CVD Describe one application for nanostructured CVD diamond and detonation nanodiamond particles in biomedical applications

(b) (5 pts) How many carbon nanotubes 1 nm in diameter can be tightly packed into a cylinder defined by a human hair 100 μm in diameter? Assume packing is done parallel to the long axis and the tubes have two-dimensional coordination of 4 as in a square pattern.

(c) (5 pts) Give an example of how nanomaterials/nanotechnology is or could be a vital part of the technology being fielded to assist in cleanup of the oil spill in the gulf

(d) (5 pts) Short account of ‘MXenes’ and its applications electronic materials, energy and environments

Answer 1

6.

(a)

(i) Nanostructured diamonds are basically the diamonds which possesses sizes less than 1 micrometer in diameter while the detonation nanodiamond is 5 nm in diameter which are prepared by detonating the oxygen deficient mixture of TNT/RDX for several microseconds.

(c)

(i) People are using nanosciences to clean up the oil spill which is a very tough job to do. Many approaches were used previously to clean the oil spill but they were deficient on a large scale.

(ii) People have been able to turn the oil spill into the floating brown jelly that can be easily separated.

(iii) Some scientists have also designed supergelators. These molecules associate with each other and form physical bonds which when sprayed on oil contaminated seawater gets converted to ling fibres and trapped the dispersed oil.

(iv) The microsubmarines have a coating of hydrophobic molecule which easily interacts with the oil droplets hence capture and transport them.

(v) Materials can also be modified in such a way that they have a hydrophobic layer to scavenge oil droplets in water. For example, magnesium particles coated by layer of nickel ad gold and hence further by some hydrophobic entity.

(d)

(i) Mxenes (or ceramics) are 2-D materials which are formed by the bulk crystal known as MAX.

(ii) These possesses good conductivity due to the molecular sheets present made up of nitrides and carbides of d block elements like titanium or molybdenum. The molecular sheets can have any possible arrangements.

(iii) Mxenes can be used in energy storage devices such as capacitors or batteries. It allows batteries to charge at a much faster rate.

(iv) Theses are robust and possesses high mechanical strength which maintains its performance under high bending and stretching.

(v) Due to high surface area and variety in surface chemistries, these can act as a catalyst, can be used in the purification of water.