Nanotechnology at the University of Oregon

By Linda Barney, Barney and Associates

The University of Oregon is on the forefront of “green nanotechnology” and chemical-related nanotechnology research and is actively involved in collaborating with ONAMI, OSU, PSU and PNNL on nanotechnology research. Dr. David C. Johnson and Dr. Jim Hutchison are both on the ONAMI leadership team. Dr. David C. Johnson is a U of O professor of chemistry; member of Materials Science Institute (MSI); and founder of University of Oregon’s Center for Advanced Materials Characterization in Oregon (CAMCOR). Dr. Jim Hutchison is a U of O professor of chemistry and director of the Materials Science Institute (MSI).

Dr. Johnson is one of the winners of the Oregon Academy of Science's 2006 Outstanding Scientist Award. Johnson's research efforts focus on the principle of controlling solid state reactions by tailoring diffusion distances. His work has resulted in a new synthetic technique that has permitted Johnson and his colleagues to prepare hundreds of new inorganic materials.

CAMCOR and MSI
Extensive nanotechnology and chemical research is performed at the U of O’s CAMCOR Center. CAMCOR is comprehensive materials characterization center available to research institutions and private industry. CAMCOR comprises several individual facilities which provide enabling infrastructure for research in chemistry, nanoscience, materials science, bioscience and optics. CAMCOR houses capital-intensive equipment for microanalysis, surface analysis, electron microscopy, semiconductor device fabrication, as well as traditional chemical characterization. CAMCOR is open to use by local industry, and through the affiliation with ONAMI, now offers remote access. For instance, a researcher in a start-up company in Burns, Oregon can send a sample to the CAMCOR facility and log onto the CAMCOR lab website and can actually watch “remotely” while a worker at CAMCOR is working on his sample.

The Materials Science Institute (MSI) is an interdisciplinary research institute at the University of Oregon that spans across chemistry and physics. Founded in 1985, the purpose of the Institute is to study the structure and properties of materials, to educate in the sciences of materials, and to serve Oregon as a resource in these sciences. Through its Master’s Internship Program, MSI places students in internships in various industries.

U of O's green nanotechnology program
The University of Oregon’s green chemistry program is a leader in developing new “green” undergraduate chemistry curricula. Since 1997, U of O’s chemistry faculty has developed courses that merge the principles and practices of green chemistry into undergraduate lectures and laboratory classes. U of O’s green nanotechnology program merges the principles of green chemistry and nanoscience to produce safer nanomaterials and more efficient nanomanufacturing processes in the context of producing nanoparticles and nanostructured materials for applications in fields such as photovoltaics, nanoelectronics and sensing. [1]Hutchison stated, “Green chemistry and nanoscience are emerging fields that take advantage of molecular-level design and have enormous potential for advancing our science. Taken together, the principles of green chemistry can guide responsible development of nanoscience, and the new strategies of nanoscience can fuel the development of greener products and processes.”

Safer Nanomaterials and Nanomanufacturing Initiative (SNNI)
ONAMI’s Safer Nanomaterials and Nanomanufacturing Initiative (SNNI) represents an interdisciplinary, multi-institution group of ONAMI researchers that merges green chemistry and nanoscience – a concept pioneered at U of O. SNNI has been developed in partnership with and funded by the Air Force Research Laboratory. Biologists, engineers, chemists, physicists and material scientists from UO, OSU, PSU and PNNL collaborate within ONAMI to address fundamental questions key to the responsible development of nanotechnology. According to Hutchison, “The SNNI brings together the best talent through the ONAMI collaboration, involving engineering from OSU, basic sciences at PSU, applied science at PNNL, along with efforts at the U of O.” The following questions are part of this research:

1. How does one design nanomaterials with high performance but without harmful effects?
2. How do you safely and efficiently manufacture nanomaterials?
3. How do you take nanomaterials and integrate them into macro-scale devices or materials? Humans interface with the macroscopic world but not the nano world, so how do you provide the bridge between the high-value nanomaterials and something that humans use?

Researchers in the SNNI project have created diverse libraries of finely tuned structures of gold nanoparticles. For example, changes are made to the coatings of the gold nanoparticles or to the size of the core. Part of the research involves learning how cells respond when nanomaterials are applied and determining how to design a nanomaterial that has all of the functions that you want without the hazards. Hutchison stated, “When we do this on a wide variety of nanostructures, we will learn what classification of structures lead to positive or negative biological impacts. This would allow us to design nanomaterials that have a specific response – such as killing cancer cells. The information could also be used to determine how to design a nanomaterial that is not toxic.” SNNI researchers synthesize materials on a very small scale, at most maybe a thimble-full. An additional challenge will be understanding the methods required to create the amount of nanomaterials that will be useful for industry. U of O is partnering with engineers at OSU, PNNL and PSU within ONAMI to try to understand what novel production methods might be used to make nanomaterials efficiently and in larger quantities without hazardous by-products. The researchers are trying to use mini-parallel micro reactors to produce useful amounts of the nanomaterials. Microreactors give excellent control over the process conditions in terms of how quickly things mix, how temperatures can change and give more tight chemical process controls.

Patents awarded on green nano research
The University of Oregon has been awarded two patents relating to green nanoscience that were the first ever issued in terms of production of the gold nanoparticles. The first patent involves how to create the gold nanoparticles. The second patent relates to self-assembly of gold nanoparticles and interfacing of the gold particles; the goal in this work is to get enhanced properties that are more interesting than the properties of the individual nanoparticles.

Growth in nanotech research at the University of Oregon
The University of Oregon has become a major center for nanoscience research. There are over 25 groups working in nanoscience research and most of this has evolved in the past five years. Hutchison said, “We have the state-of-the-art CAMCOR research facility, an amazing faculty, and the Integrated Graduation and Education Research and Training (IGERT) program sponsored by the National Science Foundation which helps us recruit outstanding students. As part of ONAMI’s effort, a new instrumentation facility is being built at the U of O that will be one of the best in the world where all high-performance instruments can be located in one facility. We have developed a world-leading program in green chemistry and green nanoscience.”

About the author
Linda Barney is the founder and owner of Barney and Associates, a technical and marketing writing firm. Founded in 1990, Barney and Associates specializes in technical writing, documentation, online help, web content and training. Barney and Associates also provides a wide range of marketing writing services including creating media articles, white papers, data sheets, solution briefs, case studies and reviewer’s guides. Contact Linda at linda@barneyassoc.com.