ANSWER ALL QUESTIONS

SECTION A
(all questions worth 6 marks)

Question 1

a) Calculate the effective surface area of 1 g of a suspension of 50 nm diameter

polystyrene spheres. (5)

No spheres / ml: 1.8 x 1015

Mass of PS : 1.05 g / ml

b) Comment on how this value is changed when the spheres are assembled onto a
surface? (1)

Question 2

What evidence is there that C60 and multiwalled nanotubes are toxic to alveolar
macrophage cells. (3)
Briefly describe possible differences between their toxicity in terms of their size,
aspect ratio and chemistry. (3)

Question 3

Briefly explain how, starting from the structure below, a Spindt cathode can be
fabricated. (6)

Question 4

Describe a process for the formation of Ag nanoparticles and comment on the size
dispersion of such particles. (6)

Question 5

a) Briefly explain how you would measure the dielectric permittivity and dielectric
loss of a thin film capacitor (4)

b) How do the errors in these measurements vary?. (2)

 SECTION B
(BOTH questions worth 20 marks)

Question 6

Discuss the applications of colloidal crystals as templates to direct the formation of

ordered macroporous solids.

Question 7

“Single Walled Carbon Nanotubes: Swan Song for Cells". Is this statement justified
based on current scientific evidence? Should we now avoid using SWNTs, or other
nanostructured materials, in medical therapy?