Nanoscopic materials : size-dependent phenomena / Emil Roduner.

Nanotechnology has been hailed as a key technology of the 21st century. The scope of this field is huge and could have a wide influence on many aspects of life. Nanoscience; the manipulation of matter at the atomic and molecular level, and nanomaterials; materials so small that their behaviour and characteristics deviate from those of macroscopic specimens and may be predicted by scaling laws or by quantum confinement effects, are discussed in Nanoscopic Materials: Size - Dependent Phenomena. The book focuses on a qualitative and quantitative approach discussing all areas of nanotechnology with particular emphasis on the underlying physico-chemical and physical principles of nanoscience. Topics include electronic structure, magnetic properties, thermodynamics of size dependence and catalysis. There is also a section discussing the future potential of the field and the ethical implications of nanotechnology.

1: Introduction
2: Bulk and interface
3: Geometric structure, magic numbers, and coordination numbers of small clusters
4: Electronic structure
5: Magnetic properties
6: Thermodynamics for finite size systems
7: Adsorption, phase behaviour and dynamics of surface layers and in pores
8: Phase transitions and dynamics of clusters
9: Phase transitions of two-dimensional systems
10: Catalysis by metallic nanoparticles
11: Applications: facts and fictions

Includes bibliographical references and index.