Nano-materials for novel magneto-rheological liquids and nano-fluids

Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, 2007.
Includes bibliographical references (p. 56-60).
Introduction: Nanotechnology, in its many forms, has evolved as a forefront of the global scientific and technological frontier. Materials once disregarded as very small dust or particulate impurities twenty years ago, are today, the focus of intensely popularized investigation. New materials have been synthesized via nanometer precision engineering, and their resulting properties continue to defy the thermal, electrical, and mechanical limitations of conventional materials [1]. Even liquid suspensions of nano-particles yield tremendous enhancements in thermal and transport rates that still remain unexplained. Analogously, forty years ago the machining and synthesis of object features with nanometer dimensions and accuracy was a mere scientific interest. Today, that capability forms the core technical competency of the leading manufacturers of micro-processor electronics. The purpose of this thesis is to contribute to the field of nanotechnology through the synthesis of a novel nano-material, and to examine its utility in areas such as directed self-assembly and nanofluid enhanced mass transport.
by Stephen V. Samouhos.
S.M.