For most of us, scientific research and exotic discoveries at the nanoscale seem far removed from the large scale challenges of planetary stewardship and sustainability. For example, three looming areas where sustainability is under scrutiny in the 21st century are food, water and energy. However, when we focus down on these global problems, we can see that there is plenty of nanoscale chemistry to be done. For example, food security will ultimately involve smart nanosensors for detecting pathogens, while water quality already depends on advances in nanofiltration and significant energy conservation can be achieved with next generation nanoelectronics. In this talk, I will discuss some of our recent work on nanomaterials and how I believe this work will contribute to sustainability on three different fronts. The first case involves photovoltaics using CdTe/ZnO nanocrystal solar cells (MacDonald et al. NanoLetters 2011, ACS Nano 2012). The second case involves catalysis research on single gold nanocrystals and high throughput screening, while the third case involves the insidious problem of friction, where we find that Amonton is not always right.

Can nanocrystals contribute to a sustainable planet?

248th National Meeting (2014)

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