NANOTECHNOLOGY: WHY IS A TOPIC SO MINISCULE IMPORTANT?

BY: MICHAEL WILLIAMS AND AQUIL DANTZLER

WHAT IS THIS PROJECT ABOUT?

We are making this project to show you what nanotechnology is and its importance to the world today.

WHAT IS NANOTECHNOLOGY?

• Nanotechnology is the creation and use of functional structures designed from atomic or molecular scale with at least one characteristic dimension measured in nanometers.

• Their size allows them to exhibit novel and significantly improved physical, chemical, and biological properties, phenomena, and processes because of their size.

• When a structure’s features are midway between isolated atoms and bulk materials in the range of about one to 100 nanometers, the objects often display physical attributes usually different from those displayed by either atoms or bulk materials.

FACTS ABOUT NANOMETERS

The basis of the extremely small world of -Nano is difficult to understand. Here are some facts to help put this incredible world into your point of view!

• If the atoms in your body were the size of golf balls, you would be tall enough to touch the moon!

• If you can jump sixteen inches in the air, you could jump a billionth of the distance from Earth to the Moon.

• How much space would a billion grains of salt take up? A cup? A gallon? 5 gallons? A billion grains of salt would fill an entire bathtub!

NANOTECHNOLOGY ARE…

• The future of scientific investigations

• One of the biggest scientific feat that researchers ever made

• These:

SO, NANOTECHNOLOGY IS BASICALLY SHRINKING, RIGHT?

Wrong.

• To many people, nanotechnology may be understood as a process of shrinking. Ideally, changes in number become changes in quality.

• Shrinkage of a specimen may lead to a change in operation principle because of the physics that governs the motion and interaction of electrons in atoms.

• In fact, if it was possible, shrinking would require a new measurements and control systems that can span across millimeter-, micrometer-, and nanometer-sized scales, while including the physics that govern the device and the specimen environment interaction at each specific size scale.

I KNOW ALL THAT. NANOTECHNOLOGY IS ALL ABOUT TINY THINGS BEING MOVED RIGHT?

Close, but not quite. Like in the third slide, as we explained:

• “Nanotechnology is the creation and use of structures designed in atomic/molecular scale with at least one dimension measured in nanometers.”

• To clarify, Nanotechnology is when you build structures and use them at molecular scale.

WHEN/ WHERE IS NANOTECHNOLOGY GOING TO HELP?

Nanotechnology is used in many commercial products and processes.

• Nano materials are used to manufacture lightweight, strong materials for applications such as boat hulls, sporting equipment, and automotive parts.

• Nanomaterials are also used in sunscreens and cosmetics.

• Nanostructured products are used to produce space-saving insulators which are useful when size and weight is at a premium—for example, when insulating long pipelines in remote places, or trying to reduce heat loss from an old house.

• Nanostructured catalysts make chemical manufacturing processes more efficient, by saving energy and reducing waste.

WHY IS THIS IMPORTANT?

Nanotechnology has the potential to change every part of our lives. 

Nanotechnology affects all materials: 

• ceramics

• metals

• polymers

• and biomaterials. 

New materials are the foundation of major technological advances. In the coming decade nanotechnology will have an enormous impact. Future advances could change our approaches to:

manufacturing, electronics, IT and communications technology making previous technology redundant and leading to newly found applications

BIBLIOGRAPHY

"Birck Nanotechnology Center." - Discovery Park at Purdue University. Purdue University, n.d. Web. 24 Oct. 2013. <http://www.purdue.edu/discoverypark/nanotechnology>.

"Nanotechnology and its applications." Nanotechnology and its applications. Royal Society of Chemistry, n.d. Web. 24 Oct. 2013. <http://www.rsc.org/get-involved/hot-topics/Nanotechnology/>.

"Frequently Asked Questions." Nano. National Nanotechnology Initiative, n.d. Web. 24 Oct. 2013. <http://www.nano.gov/nanotech-101/nanotechnology-facts>.

"Fact Sheet for Nanotechnology under the Toxic Substances Control Act." EPA. Environmental Protection Agency, 22 Apr. 2010. Web. 25 Oct. 2013. <http://www.epa.gov/oppt/nano/nano-facts.htm>.

DRUMROLL PLEASE…

We are now taking you on a virtual tour of nanotechnology at work.