Today life without the use of nanotechnology is hard to imagine. These technologies interact with nano materials, and these are already present in a variety of products and are in great demand in the industrial sector. Nanotechnology is a name coined by a man named Norio Taniguchi in 1974. Typically, it is used to describe processes in a semiconductor that is a deposition of a thin film and to deal with a condition on the scale of nanometres. The processes incorporated primarily in nanotechnology are fragmentation, fusion, and transformation and are performed on a single atom or single molecule. Compared to bulk sizes, the nanoscale material is rare and very functional. This affects the electrical properties or energy of those objects. Particles smaller than ‘100 nanometres ’can be stronger than larger particles. This leads to the application of nanotechnology to various applications in the fields of engineering, science, and technology.

 

What is Nanotechnology?

History: The concept and ideas of such technologies were developed by a physicist named 'Richard Feynman'. He described the ways in which atoms and atoms can be converted and controlled. After ten years of research on the test of a professor of high precision machinery, 'Norio Taniguchi' coined the name Nano Technology. Advanced tools called ‘Scanning Tunnelling Microscope (STM)’ and ‘Atomic Force Microscope (AFM)’ are very helpful in analysing particles in nanoscale.

These nanomaterials are high-strength, lightweight, and chemically efficient compared to most materials. Nano Technology and Nanoscience deal with behavioural monitoring and look at each molecule and atoms.

A branch that tolerates less than 100nm in size and can change the composition of individual atoms or atoms that technology is described as nanotechnology. The nanometre must be half a billion meters and that is smaller than the length of the light wave. One purpose of using this technology in a variety of applications is to create a new range of products, made of new materials and chemicals and to replace the currently available pieces of equipment with improved performance standards.

 

Basics

This technology is highly effective due to the flexibility of the material. For example, objects that can charge or act as protectors may behave like semiconductors in a nanoscale. Even engineers are using nano-sized cables to design smaller and more powerful microprocessors. Similarly in many fields, this technology is being offered to make it even better and more efficient.

 

Types of Nanotechnology

Based on applications nanotechnology is categorized. The technology involved in deciphering the issue to increase the performance of transistors and microprocessors known as Nanoengineering.

The technology used to produce products in the pharmaceutical industry is known as nanomedicine. The electronics industry is known as Nanoelectronics.

It follows two types of methods: one going from the bottom to the other and the other up-and-down. On the way down, the parts of the little things go to the big ones. while looking up and down is the opposite.

 

Pros and cons

The advantages and disadvantages of nanotechnology include the following.

·         The use of nanotechnology can create unique and powerful, cheap, and durable materials.

·         Waste cleaning uses such technology.

·         The production costs of using nanotechnology will be much lower.

·         Body sculpting is a major benefit of nanotechnology.

·         Nanotechnology leads to mass production of food and consumer goods.

The disadvantages of nanotechnology are as follows:

The use of these technologies can cause health and safety-related problems. It can cause great damage to human bodies. Excessive production can lead to job losses in the agricultural and manufacturing sectors. Access to atomic weapons is easy and at the same time dangerous.

 

Applications of Nanotechnology

There are various areas where this nanotechnology is implemented. Some of the major areas of applications are listed as follows:

 

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.

·         Production of steam from sunlight - The saturation of sunlight in nanoparticles results in the production of highly efficient steam energy. This ‘Solar Steam Device’ is used in various countries without interruption of electricity to clean water or disinfect tools used for dental problems. To produce highly efficient light bulbs that are shatterproof as well as twice efficient in comparison to fluorescent bulbs.

·         Epoxy contains carbon nanotubes that are used to make air fresheners. 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

Nanotechnology used in various industries such as Food, Agriculture, Consumer, Electronics, Aerospace, etc…

·         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 manufacture of goods through the use of this technology for example cleaning the surface of the house and clothing, production of solar screen to protect the skin from harmful UV rays in cosmetics, and the production of sports shoes. 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.

 

Nanotechnology Bio

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

Nanotechnology in Warfare

A branch that is a part of nanoscience that focuses on the design of molecular systems is referred to as warfare.

·         Design of Nano Battle suit

·         Gold nanoclusters based on electronics and sensors

·         Nano sensors 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

Technological advances in nanoscale can transform industries including pharmaceuticals, electronics, and consumer products. In building batteries, space, and sports equipment use nanotechnology.

The drug delivery process required for chemotherapy has this technology. Fabrics, air quality improvement using nanotechnology. By reacting to chemical reactions using nanoparticles, the contaminated water can be made safe.

Nanotechnology has an influential and vibrant future in various fields of application in medicine, defence, biotechnology, and so on. Larger coherence is considered a major advantage of using this technology. In the future, materials designed with this nanotechnology will be able to harvest energy in their place. Currently, there are many types of research being done in the field of nanotechnology so that things can improve energy from light, movement, temperature fluctuations, etc.