NANOTECHNOLOGY: ENGINEERING OF NANOSCALE

When we hear the term “Nanotechnology”, a lot of fascinating ideas go through our mind. Generally, people think nanotechnology means technology with nanoparticles. Well, that’s only 10% correct. According to the earliest definitions/descriptions, “Nanotechnology” refers to the technology that aims of precisely manipulating atoms and molecules for making of macroscale products. On further studies and researches, a more precise definition is been given. According to modern description, Nanotechnology refers broadly to a field of applied science and technology whose unifying theme is the control of matter on the molecular level in scales smaller than 1 micrometre, normally 1 to 100 nanometres, and the fabrication of devices within that size range. This description has been depicted under a few criteria. It seems that a size limitation to the 1-100 nm range, the area where size-dependent quantum effects come to bear, would exclude numerous materials and devices, especially in the pharmaceutical area, and some experts caution against a rigid definition based on a sub-100 nm size.

Another important criterion for the definition is the requirement that the nano-structure is man-made, i.e. a synthetically produced nanoparticle or nanomaterial. Otherwise, you would have to include every naturally formed biomolecule and material particle, in effect redefining much of chemistry and molecular biology as 'nanotech.

The most important requirement for the nanotechnology definition is that the nano-structure has special properties that are exclusively due to its nanoscale proportions. This definition is based on the number of dimensions of a material, which are outside the nanoscale (<100 nm) range.

Accordingly, in zero-dimensional (0D) nanomaterials all the dimensions are measured within the nanoscale (no dimensions are larger than 100 nm); in two-dimensional nanomaterials (2D), two dimensions are outside the nanoscale; and in three-dimensional nanomaterials (3D) are materials that are not confined to the nanoscale in any dimension. This class can contain bulk powders, dispersions of nanoparticles, bundles of nanowires, and nanotubes as well as multi-nanolayers.

History

Richard Feynman

The history of nanotechnology traces the development of the concepts and experimental work falling under the broad category of nanotechnology. Although nanotechnology is a relatively recent development in scientific research, the development of its central concepts happened over a longer period of time. The term “nanotechnology” was first coined by Norio Taniguchi of Tokyo Science University in 1974. Although, the concepts of nanotechnology were first given on December 29, 1959, by one of the greatest physicists of all time Richard Feynman in his lecture “There’s Plenty of Room at the Bottom”, in which he described the possibility of synthesis via direct manipulation of atoms. In the 1980s, K. Eric Drexler gave a static idea of nanotechnology. He conceptually explored the handling of individual atoms and molecules in his book “Engines of Creation” in the year 1986. These were the conceptual origins of nanotech, many other engineers and inventor combos like Mohamed Atalla and Dawon Kahng, Gerd Binniig and Heinrich Rohrer (Nobel Prize winners for the same), etc. In 1990s many nanotechnology companies began to operate. In the same decade many noticeable developments have taken place like CNT, MCMs, quantum dots, DPN, etc.

Fundamental Concepts

K. Eric Drexler

Concept of nanotechnology is based on the fact that nanometre is one-billionth of a meter and when materials are decomposed and rearranged at much a smaller scale than their characteristics changes. Spacing between the atoms of the molecules of particular materials is 0.12-0.15 nm and many other cellular structures like bacteria are also small. The properties of materials can be different at the nanoscale for two main reasons:

First, nanomaterials have a relatively larger surface area when compared to the same mass of material produced in a larger form. This can make materials more chemically reactive (in some cases materials that are inert in their larger form are reactive when produced in their nanoscale form), and affect their strength or electrical properties.

Second, quantum effects can begin to dominate the behaviour of matter at the nanoscale – particularly at the lower end – affecting the optical, electrical and magnetic the behaviour of materials. Materials can be produced that are nanoscale in one dimension (for example, nanowires, nanorods and nanotubes), in two dimensions (plate-like shapes like nanocoating, nanolayers, and graphene) or in all three dimensions (like nanoparticles).

Researches and Developments

Various researches and developments have taken place since coining the concept of nanotechnology. Most noticeable developments have taken place in the last few decades.

Ø  In the year 1981, Gerd Binning and Heinrich Rohrer at IBM’s Zurich lab invented the scanning tunnelling microscope, allowing scientists to "see" (create direct spatial images of) individual atoms for the first time.

Ø  In 1986 Gerd Binnig, Calvin Quate, and Christoph Gerber invented the atomic force microscope, which has the capability to view, measure, and manipulate materials down to fractions of a nanometre in size, including measurement of various forces intrinsic to nanomaterials.

Ø  In 1991, Sumio Iijima of Nippon Electric Company has discovered the carbon nanotube (CNT).  It is like Buckyballs, are entirely composed of carbon, but in a tubular shape. They exhibit extraordinary properties in terms of strength, electrical and thermal conductivity, among others.

Ø  In 1993, Moungi Bawendi of MIT invented a method for controlled synthesis of nanocrystals (quantum dots), paving the way for applications ranging from computing to biology to high-efficiency photovoltaics and lighting. Within the next several years, work by other researchers such as Louis Brus and Chris Murray also contributed methods for synthesizing quantum dots.

Ø  In 1999, Chad Mirkin at North-western University invented DPN (dip-pen nanolithography), leading to manufacturable, reproducible “writing” of electronic circuits as well as patterning of biomaterials for cell biology research, nano encryption, and other applications.

Ø  In 2010, Nadrian Seeman and colleagues at New York University created several DNA- like robotic nanoscale assembly devices.

Many more types of research and developments are been recorded over the decades, and many more are ongoing and hopefully, many more to come in the future years. In addition to these advancements, there are many journals published by many renounced organizations. Here is a list of top 10 research organizations on the basis of a number of publications:

RANK	ORGANIZATION	COUNTRY	NUMBER OF PUBLICATIONS
1	Chinese Academy of Sciences	China	29,591
2	Russian Academy of Sciences	Russia	12,543
3	National Centre for Scientific Research	France	8,105
4	University of Tokyo	Japan	6,932
5	Osaka University	Japan	6,613
6	Tohoku University	Japan	6,266
7	University of California, Berkeley	The United States of America	5,936
8	Spanish National Research Council	Spain	5,585
9	University of Illinois	The United States of America	5,580
10	Massachusetts Institute of Technology	The United States of America	5,567

Table courtesy: Wikipedia

Applications

There are many new concepts which came into being as nanotechnology stepped into the world of technology such as mechanosynthesis and many new implicational types of research such as nanoelectronics, nanomechanics etc. at present the latest machines are having nano arrangements in them. The most recent components that were developed are three distinct molecular devices whose motion is controlled from the desktop with changing voltage a nanotube nanomotor, a molecular actuator, and a nanoelectromechanical relaxation oscillator. The movies like Avengers Infinity-war, Avengers Endgame, Bloodshot there is an excellent use of nanotechnology in medical purpose. Some of the application of nanotechnology are:

1.     Electronics and IT items: Nanotechnology has greatly contributed to the development of the computer and IT industry. It has enabled the growth of faster, smaller and more portable systems. Magnetic Random-Access Memory which is enabled by nanometre‐scale magnetic tunnel junctions can save data quickly during a sudden system shutdown. There are other computing and IT-related products too that use nanomaterials including flash memory chips in smartphones, ultra-responsive hearing aids and similar more products like flexible displays for e-book readers.

2.     Medical and Healthcare Application: Researchers are studying nanotechnology for diagnosis and treatment of atherosclerosis and regenerative medicines. Researchers are working on making the direct delivery of medications to cancer cells possible using nanoparticles with minimum risk of damage to healthy tissues. This can dramatically alter cancer treatment and reduce the toxic effects of chemotherapy.

3.     Energy Application: The world’s energy demands have increased and in such a scenario, nanotechnology is playing a critical role with regards to improving the efficiency of energy generation methods. Many researchers are trying to develop clean and efficient methods of energy generation apart from reducing the toxic pressure on the environment and controlling the energy consumption of the world.

4.     Environmental Issues: Just as it has some important applications in energy issues, Nanotechnology has also found applications in environmental areas. While in this area too, a lot of development is yet to happen, research is going on for faster development. It can help with easy and cheap detection of impurities found in water for removing contaminants and thus making clean drinkable water available affordably.

Future with Nanotechnology

There is a great future with the upcoming discoveries in the field of nanotechnology. The applications defined in several sci-fi movies increase our expectations for the development of technologies. Nanobots might take over risky missions and bloodstream making repairs and guarding against infections. Miniature body armour is also seen as the epic future of nanotechnology.

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References:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nanotechnology

https://www.nanowerk.com/nanotechnology/introduction/introduction_to_nanotechnology_1.php

https://www.nano.gov/timeline

https://futureforall.org/nanotechnology/nanotechnology.htm

https://notesmatic.com/2018/07/applications-advantages-and-disadvantages-of-nanotechnology/