Glossary of terms used on NANO Magazine

E

EAPs

ElectroActive Polymers

Elastomeric stamp or mould

Key element in soft lithography usually made from polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS), having patterned relief structures on its surface.

Elastomers

Cross-linked high-polymer materials with elastic behaviour.

Electro Spinning Microscope (ESM)

Used for the study of surface morphology and the determination of the thickness of MBE grown films.

Electronic Nose

Nanotechnology used to detect odours. The task of a sensor of an electronic nose is, like that of a sensory neuron in the olfactory epithelium, to convert the contact of an odorous molecule into a detectable signal.

Electrospinning

Electrospinning uses an electrical charge to form a mat of fine fibres. Electrospinning shares characteristics of both the commercial electrospray technique and the commercial spinning of fibres.

Embossing

Creation of a 3D design or image on paper or other material.

Enzymes

Molecular machines found in nature made of protein, which can catalyse (speed up) chemical reactions.

ESM

Electro scanning microscope.

EU

European Union

Extracellular matrix (ECM)

A complex structural entity surrounding and supporting cells that are found within mammalian tissues. The ECM is often referred to as the connective tissue. The ECM is composed of three major classes of biomolecules: structural proteins (collagen and elastin) specialized proteins (e.g. fibrillin, fibronectin, and laminin); and proteoglycans: (composed of a protein core to which is attached long chains of repeating disaccharide units termed of glycosaminoglycans (GAGs) forming extremely complex high molecular weight components of the ECM).

Extreme Nanotechnology

Builds structures from the ‘bottom up’. It encompasses atomic and molecular manipulation and self-assembly, including single electron devices using electron tunnel junctions and quantum computing and cryptography.¹

EPSRC Theme Day, http://www.epsrc.ac.uk/CMSWeb/Downloads/Other/NanotechnologyThemeday2005.pdf