Nanopatterns - using network archetypes as an approach to understanding emergence of properties at scale

Chemistry and materials science students face a daunting taxonomy of terminology, molecular and crystalline structures, and chemical and physical properties to memorize, organize, and apply. “Emergence of properties at scale” is a foundational concept in nanoscience, yet nothing in nanotechnology curriculum explains how and where specific properties emerge. Through nanotechnology courses and a certificate program, Foothill College is developing a framework that captures emergent network archetype properties. A novel pedagogical approach applies the concept of patterns to nanostructured materials, as a classification means to understand how physical properties emerge from extended networks of atoms and molecules, and the physics of those extended structural networks. From such a foundational understanding, scientists, technicians and engineers will be better informed in “engineering the neighborhood of the atom,” to produce novel materials with unique properties, the working definition of nanotechnology.