The AIMS South Africa Public Lecture Series presents a talk titled:

‘Mathematics in Nanotechnology’

By Prof. Tim Myers, Adjunct Professor, Dept. de Matemática Aplicada I, Universitat Politécnica de Catalunya and Senior Researcher/Industrial Mathematics Group Leader, Centre de Recerca Matemática, Barcelona, Spain

Abstract: “Nanotechnology is a rapidly growing interdisciplinary area with a broad range of applications. Lying at the heart of nanotechnology is the nanoparticle (NP), a unit of matter with at least one dimension between 1 and 100nm. The excitement surrounding NP uses is reflected in the international research drive. For example, in the 2014 financial year, the U.S. government’s National Nanotechnology Initiative provided approximately $1.5 billion in funding (see http://nanodashboard.nano.gov/), while funding in the EU, China and Japan was of a similar order of magnitude. Despite extensive research into NPs, many breakthroughs and advances are the result of trial and error, since the mathematical framework and appropriate solution techniques often do not exist. In this talk we will give a taste of the modelling efforts in nanotechnology being carried out at the CRM.
Specifically, we will discuss

• Nanoparticle melting: classical models for heat flow break down at the nanoscale and sufficiently small particles can suddenly disappear.
• Nanofluid heat transfer: nanofluids, fluids containing nanoparticles, have been hailed as the saviour in the world of heat transfer. Yet they do not seem to work. Mathematics can explain why.
• Enhanced flow in carbon nanotubes: water has been reported as flowing orders of magnitude faster through CNTs than predicted by standard theory. A simple mathematical model can provide a plausible explanation for this phenomenon.African Institute for Mathematical Sciences 6 Melrose Road, Muizenberg