Nanotechnology for a Sustainable Future
Mohammad Hanief
Nanotechnology can be defined as the science and engineering involved in the design, synthesis, characterization, and application of materials and devices whose smallest functional organization, in at least one dimension, is on the nanometer scale or one billionth of a meter. At these scales, consideration of individual molecules and interacting groups of molecules in relation to the bulk macroscopic properties of the material or device becomes important, as it has a control over the fundamental molecular structure, which allows control over the macroscopic chemical and physical properties.
American physicist Richard Feynman is considered the father of nanotechnology. He introduced the ideas and concepts behind nanotech in a 1959 talk titled “There’s Plenty of Room at the Bottom.” Feynman did not use the term “nanotechnology,” but described a process in which scientists would be able to manipulate and control individual atoms and molecules.
Modern nanotechnology truly began in 1981, when the scanning tunneling microscope allowed scientists and engineers to see and manipulate individual atoms. IBM scientists Gerd Binnig and Heinrich Rohrer won the 1986 Nobel Prize in Physics for inventing the scanning tunneling microscope. The Binnig and Rohrer Nanotechnology Center in Zurich, Switzerland, continues to build on the work of these pioneering scientists by conducting research and developing new applications for nanotechnology.
The iconic example of the development of nanotechnology was an effort led by Don Eigler at IBM to spell out “IBM” using 35 individual atoms of xenon.
By the end of the 20th century, many companies and governments were investing in nanotechnology. Major nanotech discoveries, such as carbon nanotubes, were made throughout the 1990s. By the early 2000s, nanomaterials were being used in consumer products from sports equipment to digital cameras.
Now, as society faces serious, even grave, challenges, we look to new technologies to offer solutions in almost every aspect from health, energy, climate, and environment, either directly or indirectly. In 2017, the United Nations set out the urgent call for action for all countries in its Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs), recognizing that ending poverty and other deprivations go hand-in-hand with improving health, environment, and the economy to reduce inequality in all areas.
In November 2020, representatives from a group of leading nanotechnology research institutes met for the virtual International Workshop on Nanotechnology for a Sustainable Future with a focus on how nanotechnology and its applications can address these goals, with speakers from five countries spanning four continents hosted by the Waterloo Institute for Nanotechnology at the University of Waterloo, Canada. Here, one of the key outcomes was recognizing the need for an International Network for Sustainable Nanotechnology (N4SNano) to create a global forum to find solutions to achieve this vision and to invite others with new thoughts and ideas. A main focus of this network is to bridge the wide gap between scientists and technologists with governments and policy-makers around the world for ready adoption of much-needed technology-based solutions to our current problems.
Instead of incremental improvements to existing technologies, nanotechnology offers disruptive, game-changing breakthroughs and innovations that can provide immediate answers and solutions to help our society, environment, and the planet. Areas in which nanotechnology advances are making differences include energy, environmental protection, resource management, and healthcare through the development of smart materials and connected devices. Further, nanoscience and nanotechnology, as fields, have developed communication skills to bring scientific, engineering, medical, and other communities together, and have thus impacted many related fields.
Nanotechnology is helping to considerably improve, even revolutionize, many technology 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.
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 rely on nanoscale materials and processes.
Nanoscale additives to or surface treatments of fabrics can provide lightweight ballistic energy deflection in personal body armor, or can help them resist wrinkling, staining, and bacterial growth.
Lightweighting of cars, trucks, airplanes, boats, and space craft 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 light weight and conductivity makes them ideal for applications such as electromagnetic shielding and thermal management.
High-resolution image of a polymer-silicate nanocomposite that this material has improved thermal, mechanical, and barrier properties and can be used in food and beverage containers, fuel storage tanks for aircraft and automobiles, and in aerospace components.
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.
Other computing and electronic products include Flash memory chips for smart phones and thumb drives; ultra-responsive hearing aids; antimicrobial/antibacterial coatings on keyboards and cell phone casings; conductive inks for printed electronics for RFID/smart cards/smart packaging; and flexible displays for e-book readers.
Nanotechnology is already broadening the medical tools, knowledge, and therapies currently available to clinicians. Nanomedicine, the application of nanotechnology in medicine, draws on the natural scale of biological phenomena to produce precise solutions for disease prevention, diagnosis, and treatment. Below are some examples of recent advances in this area:
Nanotechnology is finding application in traditional energy sources and is greatly enhancing alternative energy approaches to help meet the world’s increasing energy demands. Many scientists are looking into ways to develop clean, affordable, and renewable energy sources, along with means to reduce energy consumption and lessen toxicity burdens on the environment as Nanotechnology is improving the efficiency of fuel production from raw petroleum materials through better catalysis. It is also enabling reduced fuel consumption in vehicles and power plants through higher-efficiency combustion and decreased friction.
(The author is a regular columnist and can be mailed at [email protected])
