Bionanotechnology
Up to date schedule information
This course is a core core for students in the MSc Chemistry Energy & Sustainability and MSc Life Science and Technology programme and an elective core for MSc Chemistry Chemical Biology students.
Description
Bionanotechnology studies the implementation of nanomaterials to understand biology. Bionanotechnology represents a large research field with an important part lead by large and medium sized companies. Although the word ‘bionanotechnology’ does not contain the word ‘chemistry’, chemistry – however – is one of the driving force in this field. Bionanotechnology finds many applications in chemical biology research, DNA/protein sequencing, drug delivery systems, sustainable energy, and biosensors.
This new course introduces nanotechnologies from a chemical perspective and details to what extend nanotechnology can be used to study biology. A particular focus of the course will be given to graphene, other two-dimensional materials, nanopores, and nanoparticles – with the objective to understand why those new nanomaterials are so much in the spot lights of scientific and academic research — Basic concepts such as bottom-up and top down nanofabrication, surface functionalization, biomolecular sequencing, wetting transparency, colloidal stability, nanocrystal nucleation & growth, electronic device nanophysics, and single molecule biochemistry, are explained first. Then, these elementary blocks will be put in perspective for applications: field-effect biosensing, nanopore sensing, current DNA sequencing technologies, and drug-delivery with nanoparticles.
Literature
G.F. Schneider et al: “Single molecule detection with graphene: nanopores and beyond” (Chemical Society Reviews, 2015)*, “Chemical and biological sensing with a graphene surface” (Nanoscale, 2015)*, “Chemistry of graphene edges” (Angewandte Chemie, 2015)*; handouts; articles.
- to be published
Assessment method
Oral and written exam
This course will be given in 2015-2016.