Nanoscience is a field that really opens up our minds and our worlds to a whole new field of ideas and understanding. So much so that new scientific methodologies have been created to just be able to study and understand this world of science. Nano technology was the idea of understanding things on a nanoscale, measuring things by the nanometer.
Richard Feynman was very important in the theoretical discovery and growth of nano science technology. He developed the basic idea that we can use nanotechnology to nameplate things on the scale of the atom. He also discovered that when we shrink thinks to the nanoscale, the laws of physics can change. One way that nanotechnology is used and seen today is in many of the products we use including cosmetics and clothing, but it isn't a very new concept and can be seen used as far back as ancient Roman times. One major way that it was used was in art, specifically through color. Nano sizing materials can play interesting roles on those materials such as making them transparent rather than opaque or a liquid rather than a solid. One example Dr. Gimzewski gives in his lecture is stained glass windows where the color is not due to chemicals but nanoparticles. So even in Ancient Rome, nano particles were used in their art. Its very hard to ignore the role of nano science and nanotechnology in art because it has been this way for centuries. 
Another interesting way that nanotechnology can be thought of in terms of art is in natural art. This can be understood through the idea of self organization or self assembly. This can be something like the nano size water particles self assembling into a snowflake. The blue morph butterfly has iridescent blue wings where the color is a nanostructure. The light is manipulated on the nanoscale such that they reflect back this color. Artists can use the nature of nanoparticles to create more color in their artwork or at least use the understanding of it. Quantum dots are black when large and they are colorful when they are made smaller. You can obtain every spectrum of color just by the size of it. Black wont be black when broken down to the nano color. This discovery can lead to better uses of things like cosmetics and reduce the use of dangerous chemicals.
References
Gimzewski, James. (2019). Nanotechnology and Robotics: Part I. [Video Lecture]. Retrieved from https://cole2.uconline.edu/courses/1067208/pages/unit-8-view?module_item_id=26086657
Gimzewski, James. (2019). Nanotechnology and Robotics: Part II. [Video Lecture]. Retrieved from https://cole2.uconline.edu/courses/1067208/pages/unit-8-view?module_item_id=26086657
Gimzewski, James. (2019). Nanotechnology and Robotics: Part III. [Video Lecture]. Retrieved from https://cole2.uconline.edu/courses/1067208/pages/unit-8-view?module_item_id=26086657
Stained Glass Nanotechnology, artsci.ucla.edu/artsci/SI_BLOG/?p=659.
“Study Shows Single Atoms Can Make More Efficient Catalysts.” Nanowerk, 7 Jan. 2019,
Hi Emma,
ReplyDeleteI likes how you mentioned the glass windows, before I took this class I always thought that the glass was given its color through minerals. I found it so interesting how the color is actually given to them through nanoparticles.