NANOTECHNOLOGY

• MIRHAN TAREQ
ALI ELKOWYES
12
A
 WHAT IS NANOTECHNOLOGY?
• History: The concept and the ideas of such technology have been started
by a physicist called ‘Richard Feynman’. He described the process through
which the molecules and the atoms can be manipulated and controlled.
After a decade of research on the exploration of ultraprecision machines
professor, ‘Norio Taniguchi’ coined the word called Nano Technology. The
developed tools called ‘Scanning Tunneling Microscope (STM)’ and the
‘Atomic Force Microscope (AFM)’ helps a lot in the analysis of the particles
at the nanoscale. These nanomaterials possess high strength, lightweight,
and great chemical reactivity in comparison to the bulk materials. Nano
Technology and Nanoscience deal with monitoring the behavior and
observe each of the individual molecules and atoms. The branch which
deals with the tolerances and the dimensions lesser than 100nm and can
manipulate the structure of individual molecules or atoms such technology
is defined as nano-technology. A nanometer is supposed to be one billionth
of the meter and that is smaller than that of the light’s wavelength. The
sole purpose of using this technology in various applications is to fabricate
a new range of products, formulated with the new materials and chemicals
and substitute the currently available pieces of equipment with improved
levels of performance.
 BASICS
• This technology has vast applications because of its change in material properties. For
example, the substances that are unable to carry a charge or acting as insulators can behave
like semiconductors at the nanoscale. Even engineers make use of the wires made of nano-
sizes so that smaller and the most powerful microprocessors can be designed. Likewise in
many fields, this technology is imparted to make it much better and more effective.
• Types of Nanotechnology
• Based on the applications the nanotechnology is classified. The technology dealing with the
manipulation of the matter to increase the performance of the transistors and the
microprocessors is known as Nanoengineering
The technology used in the manufacturing of the products in the field of pharmaceuticals is
known as nanomedicine. The fabrication of electronic devices is known as Nanoelectronics.
• It follows two types of approaches one is bottom-up and the other is top-bottom. In the
bottom-up approach, the components of small materials move towards the larger ones.
whereas in top-down approach it is the opposite
Bottom-up approaches
These seek to arrange smaller components into more complex assemblies.
DNA nanotechnology utilizes the specificity of Watson–Crick basepairing to construct
well-defined structures out of DNA and other nucleic acids.
Approaches from the field of "classical" chemical synthesis (Inorganic and organic
synthesis) also aim at designing molecules with well-defined shape (e.g. bis-peptides ).
[42]

More generally, molecular self-assembly seeks to use concepts of supramolecular

chemistry, and molecular recognition in particular, to cause single-molecule
components to automatically arrange themselves into some useful conformation.
Atomic force microscope tips can be used as a nanoscale "write head" to deposit a
chemical upon a surface in a desired pattern in a process called dip pen
nanolithography. This technique fits into the larger subfield of nanolithography.
Molecular Beam Epitaxy allows for bottom up assemblies of materials, most notably
semiconductor materials commonly used in chip and computing applications, stacks,
gating, and nanowire lasers
Top-down approaches
• Many technologies that descended from conventional solid-state silicon methods for
fabricating microprocessors are now capable of creating features smaller than 100 nm,
falling under the definition of nanotechnology. Giant magnetoresistance-based hard drives
already on the market fit this description, as do atomic layer deposition (ALD)
[43]

techniques. Peter Grünberg and Albert Fert received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2007 for
their discovery of Giant magnetoresistance and contributions to the field of spintronics.
[44]

• Solid-state techniques can also be used to create devices known as nanoelectromechanical

systems or NEMS, which are related to microelectromechanical systems or MEMS.
• Focused ion beams can directly remove material, or even deposit material when suitable
precursor gasses are applied at the same time. For example, this technique is used
routinely to create sub-100 nm sections of material for analysis in Transmission electron
microscopy.
• Atomic force microscope tips can be used as a nanoscale "write head" to deposit a resist,
which is then followed by an etching process to remove material in a top-down method.
 Advantages & Disadvantages
The advantages and disadvantages of nanotechnology include the
following.
The use of nanotechnology can create materials that are unique and are
stronger, cheaper, and durable.
Cleaning of pollution utilizes such technology.
The manufacturing cost of using nanotechnology will be very low.
Body sculpturing is a great advantage of nanotechnology.
Nanotechnology leads to the mass production of food and consumables.
The disadvantages of nanotechnology are as follows:
The usage of this technology can cause issues related to health and safety. It can
cause severe damage to human bodies. The massive production can lead to the
loss of employment in the sectors of farming and manufacturing. The accessing
of atomic weapons becomes easier and at the same time can be destructive as
well.
 Applications of Nanotechnology
Applications of Nanotechnology
There are various areas where this nanotechnology is implemented. Some of the major areas of applications are listed as follows:
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 Energy Applications of Nanotechnology
• The usage of nanotechnology in the various applications of energy
improves its efficiency and various techniques are used in the
generation of energy effective in terms of cost.
• Generation of steam from the sunlight – The concentration of
sunlight on the nanoparticles results in the production of steam
that is highly efficient in terms of energy. This ‘Solar Steam Device’
is utilized in various countries without the interference of
electricity for the purification of water or for disinfecting the
instruments used for dental problems.
• To produce highly efficient light bulbs that are shatterproof as well
as twice efficient in comparison to fluorescent bulbs.
• Epoxy consists of nanotubes made of carbon used in the making of
blades of a windmill. This increases the amount of electricity
generated by each windmill.
• The layers of graphene used in the fuel cells of the powered cars
result in the increment of bind energy amid hydrogen and
graphene. It leads to higher amounts of hydrogen storage and has
the fuel tank lighter in terms of weight
•
 Industrial Applications
• Nano Foods- The utilization of nanotechnology in the
food industry has various applications including the
change of characteristics of food, packaging, protection,
and processing.
• In the field of agriculture ‘precision farming’ is carried
out by using nanotechnology.
• The manufacturing of consumer goods by implementing
this technology for example surface cleaning in the
household and the coatings, Sunscreen production to
protect the skin from harmful UV rays in cosmetics, and
sports shoe manufacturing.
• As the nanomaterials are light in weight and are
stronger in terms of physicality makes they flexible in
the manufacturing of aircraft. The design of the
spacecraft can also be benefitted from this technology
because weight is the major concern in its design.
 Nano Electronics
• Microelectronics has certain disadvantages in terms of an increase in physical size as well as
an increase in the cost of production of IC’s. This can be overcome by using nanotechnology
in electronics.
• Nanoelectronics allows more transistors to be accommodated in a single chip.
• The usage of nanotechnology paved the way for increment in the processing speed in
computers by decreasing the cost of it.
• The presence of nanotubes made of carbon on the plastic sheet or glass allows the
manufacturers to design a display with a clear and extremely thin conductive panel.
• Further, it provides huge memory storage applications in electronics.
• Nano Bio-Technology
• The term Nanobiotechnology indicates the intersection of biology with nanotechnology.
• The ‘stem cells’ treatment used to protect humans from various diseases is one of the
applications of this technology.
• ‘DNA nanotechnology’ is one of the examples of this technology.
• Dental, Orthopaedics, Drug delivery is some of the applications included by this technology.
•
NanoMedicine
The involvement of nanotechnology in medicine can revolutionize the path of detecting and treating the damage
that occurred in human bodies. The most important applications
are: Delivery of drugs to specific cells
Diagnostics or disease detection techniques
Antibacterial treatments
Wound treatments
Cell repair

Nano-Technology in Warefare
A branch that is a part of nanoscience that focuses on the design of molecular systems is referred to as warfare.
• Design of Nano Battlesuit
• Gold nanoclusters based on electronics and sensors
• Nanosensors to detect the magnitude and nature of potential risks during explosions.
• Nano Drones
• Biomolecular Motors
• Nano-nuclear biological and chemical weapons
• Design of nanosatellites to detect enemy territories using images.
 Uses of Nano Technology
• The development of the structures at the nanoscale is capable of
revolutionizing the industries that include medicine, electronics, and
consumer products. In the design of batteries, space, and sporting
goods utilize nanotechnology.
• The drug delivery process required in chemotherapy possesses this
technology. fabrics, improvement in the air quality utilizes
nanotechnology. By the chemical reaction performed using
nanoparticles, the contaminated water can be made harmless.
• Nanotechnology has an impactful and bright future in various fields
of application regards to medicine, defense, biotechnology, and so
on. The compactness of the size is considered to be the great
advantage of using this technology. In the future, the objects
designed with this nanotechnology are capable of harvesting
energy from their environment. Currently, many kinds of research
are taken place in the field of nanotechnology so that the materials
can be able to develop energy from light, movement, variation in
temperature, etc…