Development of Hands-on Nanotechnology Content Materials: Undergraduate Chemistry and Beyond

Hands-on nanotechnology content materials based on semiconductor quantum dot nanocrystals were developed for use in a broad range of educational settings including undergraduate major and non-major chemistry courses, an upper level undergraduate chemistry laboratory course and outreach activities for K-12 and general public audiences. The focus is the colorful trend exhibited by cadmium selenide (CdSe) and cadmium selenide sulfide (CdSe(x)S(1-x)) quantum dots, which is correlated with the physical size of nanosized quantum dots. This visual trend illustrates one of the central themes in nanoscience that physical properties often depend on size at the nanoscale.