What is nanotechnology?
Nanotechnology is a field of applied science focused on the design, synthesis, characterization and application of materials and devices on the nanoscale. Nanotechnology is a subclassification of technology in colloidal science, biology, physics, chemistry and other scientific fields and involves the study of phenomena and manipulation of material at the nanoscale, in essence an extension of existing sciences into the nanoscale. Nanotechnology is a group of emerging technologies in which the structure of matter is controlled at the nanometer scale, the scale of small numbers of atoms, to produce novel materials and devices that have useful and unique properties. Some of these technologies impose only limited control of structure at the nanometer scale, but they are already in use, producing useful products. They are also being further developed to produce even more sophisticated products in which the structure of matter is more precisely controlled. The Foresight Nanotechnology Challen
Nanoscience or nanotechnology is the study and application of systems at the molecular and atomic level. It includes research, observation, measurement and manipulation at or near the nanometer range – a nanometer is one billionth of a meter. For comparison the diameter of a human hair is around 80,000 nanometers. The advent of current nanotechnology over the last 15 years came about for many reasons, but most dramatically because of the development of the Atomic Force Microscope (AFM). With an AFM scientists can study arrays of atoms and molecular materials, observe their interactions, measure their properties and manipulate individual atoms. Applications for nanoscale materials are already in the market place with an exponential increase expected over the next decade. The National Science Foundation is forecasting a need for one to two million trained nanoscience workers in the next decade with a need of 4 to 5 technicians for every Ph.D. scientist or engineer.
Nanotechnology is the application of scientific and engineering principles to make and utilize very small things. How small? Not as small as atoms or molecules, but much smaller than anything you can see. Nanotechnology is different from older technologies because many materials exhibit surprising and useful properties when their size is reduced far enough. Researchers who try to understand the fundamentals of these size-dependent properties call their work nanoscience, while those focusing on how to effectively use the properties call their work nanoengineering.
Nanotechnology refers to a wide range of activities in many diverse fields of endeavor that have a common attribute: materials or devices are made with control over features at the nanometer scale. This could mean sunscreen lotion that is made with 10 nm diameter ceramic particles of zinc oxide instead of 1 micrometer diameter particles in conventional sunscreen lotions. At that small size zinc oxide will absorb the ultraviolet rays from the sun just like the larger particles but they are transparent to visible light and so are clear instead of white. Nanotechnology can also refer to semiconductor devices fabricated with individual transistor devices which are 50 nanometers across that can have a billion transistors on a single chip. In all cases, what sets nanotechnology apart from conventional technologies is that when materials are made very small (near atomic dimensions), they behave differently. If we can change a materials behavior, then we have an opportunity to create a new dev
Nanotechnology is an exciting area of scientific development which promises ‘more for less’. It offers ways to create smaller, cheaper, lighter and faster devices that can do more and cleverer things, use less raw materials and consume less energy. There are many examples of the application of nanotechnology from the simple to the complex. For example, there are nano coatings which can repel dirt and reduce the need for harmful cleaning agents, or prevent the spread of hospital-borne infections. New-generation hip implants can be made more ‘body friendly’ because they have a nanoscale topography that encourages acceptance by the cells in their vicinity. Moving on to more complex products, a good example of the application of nanotechnology is a mobile phone, which has changed dramatically in a few years – becoming smaller and smaller, while paradoxically, growing cleverer and faster – and cheaper!
