SkillRary

Over the past few decades, nanotechnology has increasingly been considered as to be an attractive technology that has revolutionized the food sector. It is a technology on the nanometre scale and deals with the atoms, molecules, or the macromolecules with the size of approximately 1–100 nm to create and use materials that have a novel properties. The created nanomaterials possess one or more external dimensions, or an internal structure, on the scale from 1 to 100 nm that allowed the observation and manipulation of matter at the nanoscale. It is observed that these materials have unique properties unlike their macroscale counterparts due to the high surface to volume ratio and other novel physicochemical properties like colour, solubility, strength, diffusivity, toxicity, magnetic, optical, thermodynamic, etc.

After more than 20 years of basic nanoscience research and more than fifteen years of focused R&D under the NNI, applications of nanotechnology are delivering in both expected and unexpected ways on nanotechnology’s promise to benefit society.

Nanotechnology is helping to considerably improve, even revolutionize, many technologies and industry sectors: information technology, homeland security, medicine, transportation, energy, food safety, and environmental science, among many others. Described below is a sampling of the rapidly growing list of benefits and applications of nanotechnology.

Nanotechnology deals with the production and use of materials with nanoscale dimensions in different aspects of life. Nanoparticles, due to their nanoscale dimensions, have high surface-to-volume ratios and thus very specific properties. Nanotechnology is a new and expanding technology, its main applications are the development of innovative methods to fabricate new products, to formulate new chemicals and materials, and to substitute the current generation of equipment with improved performance equipment, resulting in lower consumption of materials and energy and decreased harm to the environment, as well as offering environmental remediation.

Many benefits of nanotechnology depend on the fact that it is possible to tailor the structures of materials at extremely small scales to achieve specific properties, thus greatly extending the materials science toolkit. Using nanotechnology, materials can effectively be made stronger, lighter, more durable, more reactive, more sieve-like, or better electrical conductors, among many other traits. Many everyday commercial products are currently on the market and in daily use that relies on nanoscale materials and processes:

Nanoscale additives to or surface treatments of fabrics can provide lightweight ballistic energy deflection in personal body armour, or can help them resist wrinkling, staining, and bacterial growth.

Clear nanoscale films on eyeglasses, computer and camera displays, windows, and other surfaces can make them water- and residue-repellent, antireflective, self-cleaning, resistant to ultraviolet or infrared light, antifog, antimicrobial, scratch-resistant, or electrically conductive.

Nanoscale materials are beginning to enable washable, durable “smart fabrics” equipped with flexible nanoscale sensors and electronics with capabilities for health monitoring, solar energy capture, and energy harvesting through movement.

Lightweighting of cars, trucks, aeroplanes, boats, and spacecraft could lead to significant fuel savings. Nanoscale additives in polymer composite materials are being used in baseball bats, tennis rackets, bicycles, motorcycle helmets, automobile parts, luggage, and power tool housings, making them lightweight, stiff, durable, and resilient. Carbon nanotube sheets are now being produced for use in next-generation air vehicles. For example, the combination of lightweight and conductivity makes them ideal for applications such as electromagnetic shielding and thermal management.

Nano-bioengineering of enzymes is aiming to enable conversion of cellulose from wood chips, corn stalks, unfertilized perennial grasses, etc., into ethanol for fuel. Cellulosic nanomaterials have demonstrated potential applications in a wide array of industrial sectors, including electronics, construction, packaging, food, energy, health care, automotive, and defence. Cellulosic nanomaterials are projected to be less expensive than many other nanomaterials and, among other characteristics, tout an impressive strength-to-weight ratio.

Transistors, the basic switches that enable all modern computing, have gotten smaller and smaller through nanotechnology. At the turn of the century, a typical transistor was 130 to 250 nanometers in size. In 2014, Intel created a 14-nanometer transistor, when IBM created the first seven-nanometer transistor in 2015, and then Lawrence Berkeley National Lab demonstrated a one-nanometer transistor in 2016!  Smaller, faster, and better transistors may mean that soon your computer’s entire memory may be stored on a single tiny chip.

Using magnetic random access memory (MRAM), computers will be able to “boot” almost instantly. MRAM is enabled by nanometer‐scale magnetic tunnel junctions and can quickly and effectively save data during a system shutdown or enable resume‐play features.

Ultra-high-definition displays and televisions are now being sold that use quantum dots to produce more vibrant colours while being more energy-efficient. Scientists in protective clothing hold up IBM's 7 nm chip wafer

Flexible, bendable, foldable, rollable and stretchable electronics are reaching into various sectors and are being integrated into a variety of products, including wearables, medical applications, aerospace applications, and the Internet of Things. Flexible electronics have been developed using, for example, semiconductor nanomembranes for applications in smartphone and e-reader displays. Other nanomaterials like graphene and cellulosic nanomaterials are being used for various types of flexible electronics to enable wearable and “tattoo” sensors, photovoltaics that can be sewn onto clothing and electronic paper that can be rolled up. Making flat, flexible, lightweight, non-brittle, highly efficient electronics opens the door to countless smart products. 

Commercial applications have adapted gold nanoparticles as probes for the detection of targeted sequences of nucleic acids and gold nanoparticles are also being clinically investigated as potential treatments for cancer and other diseases.

Better imaging and diagnostic tools enabled by nanotechnology are paving the way for earlier diagnosis, more individualized treatment options, and better therapeutic success rates.

Nanotechnology is being studied for both the diagnosis and treatment of atherosclerosis, or the buildup of plaque in arteries. In one technique, researchers created a nanoparticle that mimics the body’s “good” cholesterol, known as HDL (high-density lipoprotein), which helps to shrink plaque.

Nanotechnology is being used to develop solutions to three very different problems in water quality. One challenge is the removal of industrial wastes, such as a cleaning solvent called TCE, from groundwater. Nanoparticles can be used to convert the contaminating chemical through a chemical reaction to make it harmless. Studies have shown that this method can be used successfully to reach contaminates dispersed in underground ponds and at a much lower cost than methods which require pumping the water out of the ground for treatment.

Nanotechnology is being used to develop solutions to three very different problems in water quality. One challenge is the removal of industrial wastes, such as a cleaning solvent called TCE, from groundwater. Nanoparticles can be used to convert the contaminating chemical through a chemical reaction to make it harmless. Studies have shown that this method can be used successfully to reach contaminates dispersed in underground ponds and at a much lower cost than methods which require pumping the water out of the ground for treatment.