There is a silent but steady revolution taking place in laboratories across the world to change the way we do everything. If you have guessed Nanotechnology then you are right. This technology has the potential to change everything we do. So first take a look at what is Nanotechnology.
As early as 1959 the idea of Nanotechnology took roots in the mind of physicists like Richard Feynman. To quote his famous words. " I want to build a billion tiny factories, models of each other, which are manufacturing simultaneously. . . The principles of physics, as far as I can see, do not speak against the possibility of maneuvering things atom by atom. It is not an attempt to violate any laws; it is something, in principle, that can be done; but in practice, it has not been done because we are too big."
It was in 1974 that Norio Taniguchi an acclaimed scientist who taught in Tokyo Science University coined the word "nanotechnology".
Nanotechnology in the original sense of the term means basically to build things from the bottom up with a precision that of an atom. A basic definition of Nanotechnology would mean the engineering of functional systems at a molecular and supramolecular scale, with dimensions ranging in between 1-100 nanometer.
Current Developments in Nanotechnology
The power of Nanotechnology has been well understood and it is seeing continuous growth and investment. According to industry estimates governments, corporations and venture capitalists had made an investment of around $9.6 billion on nanotech R&D in the year 2005. In 2006, global spending on nanotechnology grew by around 29%. USA is the largest contributor of funds invested for research in nanotechnology followed by Japan and other European nations. The global forecast for nanotech facilitated products is something like this.
Why Nanotechnology
A Nanotechnology enabled product offers the following possibilities.
Miniaturization: Meaning less space, less material, less energy and faster execution.
Low manufacturing Cost: As the products made of nanotechnology will be manufactured almost billions at a time, the product becomes affordable as well as effective at the same time. The problem regarding storage and transportation will also be completely eliminated.
Efficient length scale for manufacturing: Requires lesser energy as compared to subatomic or macroscopic particles.
Enhanced surface effects: This translates to increased surface to volume ratio.
Nanotechnology Applications
In Biology: Nanotechnology provides the necessary tools and the right platforms in technology for the examination and transformation of biological systems. Nanobiotechnology is a field which applies the principles and techniques associated with nanoscale to create an understanding and act as a transformation tool for biosystems (living or non-living). In the coming decade or so the process to integrate nanotechnology with biotechnology would speed up.
In Chemistry: Chemistry essentially deals with the study of matter and the changes that it undergoes. Nanotechnology has extensive uses in chemistry. This is due to the simple fact that the scale of molecules is really the domain of chemistry. This means all nanotechnology designs should be viable chemically.
In Physics: In a physics laboratory nanotechnology finds application in the applied physics, quantum physics and Optical Physics. Nanophysics deals with natural phenomena at nanometre scale. It involves studying solids, fluids and gaseous substances on a nano scale which corresponds to one billionth of a metre. Theoretical nanophysicists employ quantum theories to model electron transport via carbon nanotubes, nano threads and molecules.
