Fundamentals & Applications of Nanotechnology

Published by Admin on 23/02/202323/02/2023

Introduction

Nanotechnology can be the possible solution to the problems which are related to humans having to do with are as well as vital needs and wishes as well as sustainable living. The vital needs of humans are food, water, energy, clothes, shelter, health, and clean surrounding conditions. The wishes for lavish life include understanding and achieving computerization in each and every field such as space travel, and increasing life expectancy. Due to the continuous efforts of scientists and engineers during the last thirty years, there is substantial progress in different sectors such as agro, food technology, water purification, automobile, energy storage, cosmetics, with are as cloth and fabrics, construction material, etc. Nanotechnology involves Radon at the atomic, molecular, or supramolecular levels in the range of approximately 1-100 nanometres to give us a fundamental and basic understanding of phenomenon and composition. The nanometre scale can be compared to the billionth part of a meter.

Applications

Nanotechnology has become the talk of the scientific community from the time it bloomed in the 2000s. Nanotechnology has found various daily life and industrial applications already and many major applications are yet in research and development it is not wrong to say that Nanotechnology has taken the technological world by storm. Of all the applications discussed all over the world, here are the major fields in which nanotechnology is being used and the ones in R&D.

Types of Nano Materials

Based on the dimension, Nanomaterial can be classified as Zero dimensional, one-dimensional, two-dimensional, or three-dimensional nanomaterial. Based on the materials Nanoparticles and Nanoscale materials can be classified into 4 types:

• Carbon-based nanomaterial: Based on the type this Nanomaterial contains carbon and is seen in structures such as tubes, ellipsoids, or spheres. Carbon-based nanomaterials include fullerenes, CNT, graphene and its derivatives, graphene oxide, Nano-diamonds, and carbon-based quantum dots. Graphene is the most researched nanomaterial in the recent decade; the fabrication methods of grapheme are Liquid phase Exfoliation, Chemical Vapour Deposition, CNT unzipping, and Epitaxial growth on Sic Other C-based NMs are then produced mainly by Arc discharge, CVD, and over the Laser ablation.
• Inorganic-based nanomaterials: Generally they are metal and metal oxide nanoparticles and Nano scale materials. Inorganic-based nanomaterials include Metal NMs (Gold nanoparticles), quantum dots, superparamagnetic Iron Oxide NPs, and Paramagnetic Lanthanide Ions. Synthesis methods include- Precipitation, Template-assisted spinning, electrospinning, sol-gel techniques, and CVD.
•  Organic-based nanomaterial: This type includes Nanoparticles that are mostly made of organic matter, excluding carbon-based or inorganic-based Nanoparticles. Organic nanomaterials include Dendrites, Micelles, Liposomes, and Ferritin. Most of the organic nanomaterials are naturally present while some are produced by chemical methods.
• Composite-based nanomaterial: Composite-based NMs are multiform structures where 1 phase on the Nano-level will either combine Nanoparticles with other Nanoparticles which are attached to larger materials or a more complex frameworkNanocomposites can be divided into four types; (a) Ceramic-matrix Nanocomposites including one component of metal and other component either nitrides, borides, silicides. (b) Metal-matrix Nano composites which majorly include CNT metal-matrix Nanocomposites. (C) Polymer-matrix Nanocomposites. (d) Magnetic Nanocomposites.

History

The concept of nanotechnology first came into existence from a talk given by physicist Richard Feynman titled “There’s Plenty of Room at the Bottom,” at an American Physical Society meeting at Caltech on December 29, 1959, who pictured that the entire Encyclopaedia Britannica could be printed in the head of a pin. The term “nanotechnology” was defined by Tokyo Science University Professor Norio Taniguchi in a 1974 paper as follows:  Nanotechnology‟ mainly consists of the processing of, separation, consolidation, and deformation of materials by one atom or by one molecule.” Even though scientists have been working with nanoparticles for many years, most of the research work done was restricted by their inability to see nanoparticles themselves. Hence, long before STMs and atomic force microscopes were invented Feynman pitched this revolutionary idea to his colleagues.

Advancement in nanotechnology

With the development in areas of materials science, chemistry, and engineering over the previous few eras’ nanotechnologies have remained exploited in all fields where insignificant size plays a crucial part in determining fundamental properties. They are being used in physics, engineering, chemistry biology, and medicine. Nanoparticles of cadmium telluride are employed in the labeling of biological molecules with the pre-casino. Nanoparticles of titanium dioxide effectively block UV radiation and they are the main component of sunscreens. 

In 1985, a carbon-60 molecule was exposed by Harry Kyoto, Richard Smalley, and Robert Curl and they won the Nobel Prize for their work in 1996. In 1991, carbon nanotubes were discovered by Yakima. A type of nanotechnology ‘Bottom-up nanotechnology’ involves the self-assembling traits of biological systems, such as DNA molecules which control the organization and structure of carbon nanotubes [6].

Nanotechnology and the market place

Nanotechnology describes a range of giving technologies performed on a nanometre scale with widespread applications as an enabling technology in various industries. Nanotechnology encompasses the production and is over application of physical, chemical, and biological systems at scales ranging from individual atoms or molecules to around 100 nanometres, as well as the integration of the resulting nanostructures into that larger systems. The area of the dot of this “I” alone can encompass 1 million nanoparticles. What is different about materials on a Nanoscale compared to the same materials in larger form is that, because of their relatively larger surface-area-to-as well as the mass ratio, they can become more chemically reactive and change their strength or other properties. Moreover, below 50 nm, the laws of classical physics give way to them the quantum effects, provoking different optical, electrical, and magnetic behaviors.

Nanotools and fabrication techniques

Legend has it that the people who as well as profited most from the Klondike gold rush at the end of the 19th century were the sellers of picks and shovels. The same may hold true for nanotechnology, at least in the coming decade before production techniques are as well as improved. According to market researcher Fredonia, the $245 million nanotech tools industry, as well as the, grow by 30 % annually over the next few years12. Microscopes and related tools dominate now but give the measurement, fabrication/production, and simulation/modeling tools as well as the growth the fastest. Electronics and life sciences markets will emerge first; industrial, construction, energy generation, and other give applications will arise later.

Nano Structures

Nanostructures are atomic or Nano-scaled systems and they are obtained by using one or more mechanical, physical, chemical, and thermal processes. For example, two fluids that have droplet sizes of 0.1-1.0 am form a thermodynamic– call unstable emulsion by completely dispersing within each other, and they get separated in time due to gravity; however, emulsions that have droplet sizes smaller than 100 nm form microemulsion that is thermodynamically stable, time-independent, not affected by processes such as agitation and they have transpired– rent appearance and they allow for water-oil combination. In addition to as well as Nanoparticle synthesis, this method is used for paint, textile coating, cosmetics, and pharmaceutical areas. Nanostructures obtained by very different production methods are used in many different areas such as drug delivery, self-cleaning fabrics, flexible and high materials, and Nano-sized machine production.

Investments in nanotechnology

The financial sector will have a key role in as well as transferring technology knowledge from the research centers to the industry and the markets. For the development of new products and processes and also for the penetration of new markets, there are as sizeable investments are needed, especially in the seed phase. Closer cooperation between the financial community and as giving the nanotechnology companies can help to overcome these barriers. By the end of 2004 as well be venture capitalists had already invested $1 billion in Nano companies, nearly half of that alone in 2003 and 2004. It is as well as expected that most of these nanotechnology companies will be sold through trade sales.

Historical Development of Nanotechnology

In fact, the use of as well as Nanotechnological products, which have an older history than expected, dates back to ancient history. When we examine the historical development in this regard, the Lycurgus Cup is considered one of the greatest successes of the glass industry of antiquity used by the Ro-mans in the 4th century. The most giving of the important feature of this Cup which is still exhibited in the British Museum and is the age of 1600 is the color change. The secret of the Cup which is green when it is illuminated in the front and red when it is illumined- ted from the back has been uncovered in 1990.

Nanotechnology Future Today

The 21st century is also called manufacturing technology. It is a multidisciplinary field that combines great scientific achievements in physics, chemistry, biology, mathematics, and materials science in the construction of atoms and Nanoscale molecules of materials with artificial intelligence. Nanotechnology is a collective term for technological developments at the Nanoscale. The nanometre structures are not only very small, reaching even to the atomic scale, but they possess some totally unique and unexpected properties, compared to the same substance taken at the macroscopic level.

Natural Nanoparticles

Nanoparticles can be formed in chemical, photochemical, mechanical, thermal, and biological ways separately or with the combination of several natural pro- cesses in the atmosphere, hydrosphere, lithosphere, and biosphere that cover the Earth. Extra-terrestrial processes that form the cosmic specks of dust are also part of these processes. The major natural sources of nanoparticles in the atmosphere are volcanic eruptions, desert surfaces, and bags of dust emitted from cosmic sources in the solar system. 

Particulate matter, which can also be created by the crashing of a meteor passing through the atmosphere or the accumulation of cosmic specks of dust, is carried up in the sky to different distances by volcanic eruptions, storms, or air currents formed by strong winds. Hurricanes carry large amounts of water from the ocean surfaces to the atmosphere. Evaporation allows water, salt, and algae to release their spore contents and other unicellular organisms. Due to these complex events, which occur simultaneously most of the time, the atmosphere is constantly filled with nanoparticles that cause various reactions that affect the biosphere at various altitudes and distances.

How can nanotechnologies change our lives in the future?

Nanotechnologies have as played an important role in producing smaller, more efficient, and multifunctional devices. In the future, our lives could change through many as well as technological innovations such as:

• Introducing medications that can be activated and controlled from the outside of the human body into the circulatory system;
• They could collect data and send them to the physician to modify treatment (theranostics);
• Nano-sized devices for as well as transporting drugs and targeting cancer cells;
• Tattoos on the skin to monitor as well as the salt levels and other metabolites and to alert athletes or diabetics;
• Footwear or clothing with sensors as well as the collected data during training;
• Integrated energy collector systems (in textiles, footwear, etc.) to collect solar and mechanical energy to charge electronic devices;
• Flexible and transparent solar panels integrated into windows, ceramic tiles, etc., with the high-efficiency conversion of solar energy;
• Surface and textiles toads gave removed nitrogen oxides and other smog gases from the urban atmosphere. Smart food packaging with as well as sensors to detect the way it is used to transport the product, for detection of are as contamination, which are:
• Fitted with tracking system;
• Communication to warn;
• Manufacturer and trader. 

Conclusion

The role of nanotechnology, besides food packaging and processing, cancer therapy, regenerative medicine and etc., may gain long-term visibility to contribute to a competitive and innovative method. The improvement in the food system by enhancing will be the nutritional values and safety of food products. The products like contaminant sensors, high-barrier plastic, – antimicrobials, and UV protections can be a good contribution to nanotechnology. In agriculture, novel pesticides, agrochemical delivery, sensor to monitor soil conditions, and targeted genetic engineering are associated with nanotechnology. 

Moreover, the Nanosensors for as well as food characterization, water purification, mineral and vitamin fortification, and nutraceutical & nutrient delivery are the contributions of as than nanotechnology toward nutrition. The advancement will overcome the existing challenges which are associated with the medicine and food industry. This innovation will affect positively the industry and healthcare. We need to comprehend further the use of environmental and medical impacts of nanoparticles. Nanotechnology may offer us a wide variety of proficiencies and these may be utilized in a then as well as reasonable and thoughtful way.