Nanotechnology

Put simply, nanotechnology is the making of things that are smaller than about 100 nanometres.

Why Size Matters

Below about 100 nanometres, novel and important properties, such as increased chemical rates of reaction and quantum mechanical effects, can come into play.

To get some idea of the sizes involved, the thickness of a human hair is about a hundred-thousand nanometres, a red blood cell can be several-thousand nanometres across, the tuberculosis bacterium (which is one of the smaller bacteria) is about 120 nanometres, the polio virus is about 25 nanometres, and a hydrogen atom is about 1/10 of a nanometre.

On this scale, the Ångström is a better unit of length (10 Ångströms = 1 nanometre). A hydrogen atom is about one Ångström across; nanotechnology, therefore, involves sizes smaller than about 1000 hydrogen atoms.

Nano Business

The business of nanotechnology is developing rapidly. A simple analysis of the data held at the Nanotech Project shows that as of February 2008 there were 676 different nanotechnology products on their database. As of June 2009 that number had risen to 803 products.

Coatings and Computers

The manufacture of a wide range of catalysis and coatings is an area where nanotechnology is already extensively used. Another area is the manufacture of computer hard-drives, which now often contain nano-size magnetic materials, so-called tunneling magneto-resistance (TMR) paticles, that give a significant increase in storage capacity.

Future Developments

Shifting the emphasis slightly to one that looks to possible future developments, we can also think of nanotechnology as a so-called bottom-up process, whereby molecular-size matter is built into larger units.

Richard Feynman

The physicist Richard Feynman was an early visionary of this approach to nanotechnolgy. In a talk given in 1959 to the American Physical Society, he outlined the idea of fabricating complex structures by the placing and manipulation of individual molecules.

Medical Applications

In the areas of medicine and health care, nanotechnology is likely to produce important results. The most obvious and simplest is possibly within bioactivity and the biocompatibility of implants, where improvements may be possible through the use of nano-coatings.

It is also likely that the use nano-size particles could hold some advantages for drug delivery and as killing agents for tumour cells.

Research is also current in developing so-called self-organising scaffolding for the use in tissue engineering and organ replacements.

IT and Computers

As well as the use of TMR (see above), molecular nano-electronics, spintronics and quantum computing could open up new avenues beyond present computer technology.

Environmental Issues

"It may be straightforward to dismiss the notion that self-replicating nano-machines will run amok and turn everything into a "killer dust". Somewhat harder tasks lie ahead. For instance, it is likely that the industry will have to deal with the claim, made by certain environmentalists, that nano-size carbon is highly toxic, and has the ability to enter a living cell without triggering the cell's defences. Headline-grabbing claims that a carbon nano-tube represents the "asbestos of the future" are often made consistent with a suggestive reading of the scientific literature."

Colin Baxter
Financial Times (London) 17 January 2003

These comments are still relevant today since the nanotechnology industry remains slow in ensuring that it fully and honestly educates the public about claims of possible environmental pitfalls. The financial, scientific and social implications of not doing so have the potential of severely retarding progress.

Toxicology

A recent research review suggests that the toxicology of a nanoparticle may not be sufficiently determined only by its size [1].

Reference

[1] Anthony Seaton et al, J. R. Soc. Interface, 2 September 2009.



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