THE BIGGER THE BETTER? Sometimes being smaller is better. That accounts for so called nanomaterials. These materials are in the range of 1 to 100 nanometres, but what is a nanometre? Nano is Greek for dwarf which means that a nanometre is a billionth of a meter. That is incredibly small. For example: Your fingernails grow at a speed of circa one nanometre per second. More examples for the better understanding of this hard-to-imagine size will be given throughout this unit.

Practical relevance – This is what you will need the knowledge and skills for

In this unit you will learn, what nanotechnology is and what it is used for in general. You will get an insight on how small a nanometre is and how the size of the nanoparticles gives them remarkable properties. Moreover, you will learn about the history of nanotechnology and that it can be found in various fields of modern research and technology.

Overview of learning objectives and competences

In „Understanding the nano dimension” you will learn how small the world of nanotechnology is.

In “History of nanotechnology” you will get to know nature as the first great nanotechnologist and how we imitate many of those principles until today.

“Nanotechnology in different disciplines” gives an insight on the various branches of science, making use of nanotechnology.