For a market expected to reach $1 trillion by 2015, the small science of nanotechnology has a big future – particularly in the US, where investors have the largest share of global investment (28%) in the science, holding a slight lead over the Japanese market (24% share).
In addition, in 2005, venture capitalists showed their confidence in nanotechnology science with $500m in nanotechnology investing.
So why is it that this 'science of the small' with the potential to revolutionise manufacturing in almost every sector of the economy, including medicine, communication, agriculture, and transportation, is so misunderstood by the public?
Nanotechnology expert, Dr Martin Moskovits, former dean of Science at UC Santa Barbara and a member of the US Department of Energy's committee that oversees five national centres for nanotechnology, explains: "Nanotechnology is a suite of powerful materials synthesis and fabrication technologies that can control structure in the nanometer to 100 nanometer range - precisely the size range where 'size' controls properties. As a technology strategy, nanotechnology will result both in new devices and products based on designer materials and engineered structure, as well as a large number of improvements to existing products and products resulting from the marriage of nanotechnology with currently-used fabrication technologies."
Moskovits was recently appointed as chief technology officer of API Nanotronics, a company engaged in the manufacture of electronic components and systems for the defence and communications industries.
He says that to get an idea of the 'size range' being referred to, consider the following: a sheet of paper is about 100 000 nanometers thick and a human hair is about 50 000 nanometers wide. Nanotechnology involves the development and use of devices that use the nanoscopic properties of materials, where dimensions are less than 100 nanometers!
The overall concept in nanotechnology is to structure and control matter at close to the atomic level, which will provide opportunities for radical new engineering designs and scientific breakthroughs far into our future.
By utilising research and advances in working with these tiny particles, nanotechnology companies already provide systems and electronics for advanced military, industrial, commercial, automotive, and medical applications. Because nanotechnology is the engineering of machines on a molecular scale, the projected ability to manufacture components, devices and complete products 'from the bottom up' using techniques and tools that place every atom and molecule in a desired place, promises big potential benefits for the future of this small science.
And, what are the benefits of manufacturing with nanotechnology? They include significant increases in material strength, durability and flexibility; better built, longer lasting, cleaner, safer and smarter products; and increasing the efficiency of technology while lowering production costs and shrinking size.
© Technews Publishing (Pty) Ltd | All Rights Reserved
printer friendly version