WHAT IS NANOTECHNOLOGY?
As the name clearly suggests, nanotechnology is derived from two words, nano- denoting a measurement in an extremely small quantity and technology. Nanotechnology is a distinctive branch of science that works with the technology falling in the range scale of nanometers. To understand the gravity of this, imagine a human hair that can be 1,00,000 nanometers wide. That’s the amount of precision and accuracy that goes into working in this field of science and can only be achieved by the supremely talented.
Right from its inception, nanotechnology has proven its mettle in various dynamic and diverse fields and found a gigantic number of applications there. This includes the IT field, energy generation, medicine, and biology among others.
WHAT’S SO UNIQUE ABOUT NANOTECHNOLOGY: There are subjective thoughts on this argument coming from various scientists and nano-tech experts. Some find a thing unique that others may not, and vice-versa. But the most concise answer to this would be that materials possess different properties at that particular scale.
While nanotechnology is a new field of research, it has amazing applications in a wide range of industrial fields. In the IT sector, one of the highest in-demand centers across the globe, researchers are investigating the application of nanotechnology in order to develop a lot of unique and innovative technical projects like high density and high-efficiency memories, computer systems with new working principles, high-luminosity devices using nanomaterials such as carbon nanotubes, and high-speed optical network devices using photonic crystals.
In the medical area, specialists are working on drug injections to some particular organs with the help of liposomes or nanomachines. The environmental and energy industries are also a major part of this club; many are of the belief that nanotechnology can be utilized in such applications as environmental catalysts and hydrogen-loading materials. By achieving success in this, nanotechnology is creating new industries across a wide range of fields and attracting interest as an infrastructural technology for enriching society.
FUTURE:
So, with these nuanced uses of nanotechnology, the main focus of the world is going to be around what it is going to do for us in the future. Many are of the idea that we would be able to perfect nanotechnology and its unique molecular systems in the upcoming 30-40 years approximately. The extensive field of nanotechnology can be divided into certain distinctive parts and levels. RESEARCH: Deep research is needed to study the minute infrastructure of nanomaterials. Scientists are able to transform ordinary materials into ones possessing amazing characteristics.
These objects may be called super materials. Super materials have the potential to positively impact every industry in one way or another because of their super-efficient properties.
FUNCTIONALIZATION: This comes to be the second stage wherein the nano-materials are being efficiently converted into objects that can perform functions and tasks. The devices can be incorporated everywhere, from your computers to your smartphones and a lot of others.
But the major field that was gifted by advances in nanotechnology was medicine. Nanomedicine can be applied in fighting cancer. Nanorobots are being developed to flow through our bloodstream to detect and kill cancer cells – basically artificial T-cells that are better at finding the location of tumors. Nanorobots will travel in a person’s bloodstream and will monitor the health and the possible diseases at an exponentially detailed level. The possibilities are indeed endless.
SENSORS: The sensors that will be developed with nanotechnology will produce information to an extent no one has imagined. The technology will spot the patterns and alert us to the problems. Sensors such as those made for traffic will be used to manage jams and congestions on roads that will undeniably prevent major accidents and street havocs. Sensors could also be used for social and safety purposes, especially for women.
Safety sensors and violence detectors and can be used on bodies to detect any sort of physical disturbance.
The military, no matter which country, has seen tremendous potential in nanotechnology. So, it comes as no surprise that a majority of nanoscience research is sponsored by the military and thus, focused on military applications.
Improvement in medical and casualty care for soldiers. For example, wound dressings coated with certain nanomaterials allow for control of the release of drugs and proteins for a specified period of time, which can ultimately accelerate wound healing. Production of lightweight, strong and multi-functional materials for use in military clothing, offering better protection as well as enhanced connectivity.
Current research in nanotech has also allowed the development of durable nonwoven fabrics that can impart water absorbance or repellence, fire and thermal resistance, antimicrobial treatment, to name a few. Enhancement of military intelligence using smart sensor technologies in which nano-sensors are integrated with neural networks.
