UNT assistant professor gets $515,000 grant to work in nanotechnology

One day, tiny nano-creatures WILL RULE THE WORLD!

One day, little tiny nano-creatures WILL RULE THE WORLD!

University of North Texas associate professor Nandika D’Souza received a federal grant of more than half a million dollars to study and deploy new nanotailored multifunctional materials.

These materials are substances with multiple characteristics thanks to nanotechnology, which involves the combination of materials science, engineering, chemistry, biology and physics to explore matter at the atomic and molecular levels where the nanometer (one billionth of a meter or about 1/75,000th of the width of a human hair), is the standard unit of measurement.

D’Souza, associate professor of materials science and engineering, says the three year, $515,000 cooperative agreement from the National Institute of Standards and Technology will examine how nano particles of various substances can be used in conjunction with polymers to form composites, thin films or dispersions. An example of the “contradictory properties” D’Souza is researching would be a polymer-ceramic-nanotube combination that could be both electrically conductive as well as store electronic charges like a capacitor.

Work on this project will be jointly conducted at NIST, near Washington D.C., and at UNT. In addition to D’Souza, two post-doctoral researchers will be hired to work on the project.

Source: UNT