INTRODUCTION

Nanotechnology is a generic term for applications that work with matter that is so small
that it exists in the atomic and molecular realm. At this size, the substance's physical,
chemical and biological properties are different from what they were at the micrometer
and larger scales.

By harnessing these new properties, researchers have found that they can develop
materials, devices and systems that are superior to those in use today.

From the way we communicate, to the methods used to diagnose and treat our illnesses,
to the speed with which our computers process data, this new technology promises to
enhance our lives in almost limitless ways.

Nanotechnology currently is being used to improve existing products and processes, for
example, by strengthening the material used in golf clubs and bicycle frames, creating
stain- and water-repellant clothing and producing wear-resistant paints and coatings.
One developing area in nanotechnology is that of self-assembly, whereby materials will
be able to grow themselves. Such innovations will not only increase productivity, but also
will create new materials in a process known as “dynamic self-assembly.”

In the longer term, however, nanotechnology is likely to result in completely

revolutionary advances. Promising uses of nanoscale particles may include the cleanup of
heavily polluted sites, more effective diagnosis and treatment of cancer and other
diseases, lighting that is twice as energy-efficient as what is currently available, cleaner
manufacturing techniques and much smaller and more powerful computers.

Research indicates that nanotechnology even may help create an alternative fuel to power
our automobiles. As optimistic as researchers may be, however, responsible decisions
must be made regarding its development and use. Growing evidence suggests that
nanoparticles–the basic building blocks of nanotechnology and the tiniest materials ever
engineered and produced–may pose environmental, health and safety risks.

Consequently, if the insurance industry is to support the myriad positive uses of

nanotechnology while not incurring major long-term losses, it must have a thorough
understanding of how nanomaterials are produced, stored, used and discarded.

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OVERVIEW OF NANOTECHNOLOGY

Nanotechnology involves both:

 The deliberate manipulation of matter by certain chemical and/or physical

processes (referred to as “bottom-up” production) to create materials with specific
properties that are not displayed in their larger forms.

 The use of manufacturing processes such as milling or grinding (called “top-

down” production) to produce nanosized particles. These particles may or may
not have properties different from those of the bulk material from which they are
developed. At the core of any process involving nanotechnology is a nanometer
(nm), which is one billionth of a meter and 10,000 times smaller than anything
that the human eye can see. Although the trend towards making things smaller is
nothing new, the reduction of materials to the size of nanometers results in both
new and altered properties. For example, some materials begin to exhibit
extraordinary electrical conductance, resistance or new magnetic properties. Some
become bactericides, and others demonstrate exceptional strength and water-
repellency. Certain nanomaterials can even interact with biomolecules, which
may enable them to improve medical diagnosis and tissue and organ replacement.

 These unique physical, chemical and biological properties general exist for two
reasons: At the scale of nanometers, particles and structures have very high
surface-to-mass .This makes them highly reactive compared to their bulk
structure, and this reactivity can be channeled to produce superior products.

 Nanometers exist in the realm of quantum physics, and quantum properties are
similarly valuable in developing enhanced materials.

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NANOTECHNOLOGY

Nanotechnology is engineering at the molecular (groups of atoms) level. It is the

collective term for a range of technologies, techniques and processes that involve the
manipulation of matter at the smallest scale (from 1 to 100 nm2).

The classical laws of physics and chemistry do not readily apply at this very small scale
for two reasons. Firstly, the electronic properties of very small particles can be very
different from their larger cousins. Secondly, the ratio of surface area to volume becomes
much higher, and since the surface atoms are generally most reactive, the properties of a
material change in unexpected ways.

For example:-

when silver is turned into very small particles, it takes on anti-microbial properties while
gold particles become any colour you choose. Nature provides plenty of examples of
materials with properties at the nanoscale such as the iridescence of butterfly wings, the
sleekness of dolphin skin or the ‘nanofur’ that allows geckos to walk up vertical
surfaces. The Gecko foot pad is covered with aggregates of hair formed from nano fibers
which impart strong adhesive properties.

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HISTORY OF NANOTECHNOLOGY

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Nanoparticles of gold and silver have been found in Ming dynasty pottery and stained
glass windows in medieval churches. However, the origins of nanotechnology did not
occur until 1959, when Richard Feynman, US physicist and Nobel Prize winner,
presented a talk to the American Physical Society annual meeting entitled There’s Plenty
of Room at the Bottom.

In his talk, Feynman presented ideas for creating nanoscale machines to manipulate,
control and image matter at the atomic scale. In 1974, Norio Taniguchi introduced the
term ‘nanotechnology’ to represent extra-high precision and ultra-fine dimensions, and
also predicted improvements in integrated circuits, optoelectronic devices, mechanical
devices and computer memory devices8. This is the so called ‘top-down approach’ of
carving small things from large structures.

In 1986, K. Eric Drexler in his book Engines of Creation discussed the future of
nanotechnology, particularly the creation of larger objects from their atomic and
molecular components, the so called ‘bottom-up approach’9.

He proposed ideas for ‘molecular nanotechnology’ which is the self assembly of

molecules into an ordered and functional structure.

C60 image from the Sussex Fullerene Research Centre

The invention of the scanning tunneling microscope by Gerd Binnig and Heinrich Rohrer
in 1981 (IBM Zurich Laboratories), provided the real breakthrough and the opportunity
to manipulate and image structures at the invented in 1986, allowing imaging of
structures at the atomic scale.

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Another major breakthrough in the field of nanotechnology occurred in 1985 when Harry
Kroto Robert Curl and Richard Smalley invented a new form of carbon called fullerenes
(‘buckyballs’), a single molecule of 60 carbon atoms arranged in the shape of a soccer
ball.

CARBON NANOTUBES

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Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) are supposed to be a key component of this nanotechnology. It
is our pride privilege that the first CNT specimen reported by Iijima was made by one of
us (Y. Ando).

Although CNTs are just 15 years old; crazy success stories are floating in media about
this teen-aged heroine of the scientific Hollywood.

Having realized its tremendous application potential in nanotechnology, a huge amount

of efforts and energy is invested in CNT projects worldwide. Till date, the art of CNT
synthesis lies in the optimization of the preparative parameters for a selected group of
materials (carbon source, catalyst and support) on a particular experimental set-up. And
the CNT produced is not more than 10-20% of the raw material used. In other words, 80-
90% of the feed stock goes waste and contributes to the environmental load.

As viewed from the perspective of green chemistry, sustaining the environment implies
sustaining the human civilization. Apart from immediate concern towards the
environment and human health, the long-term key of a sustainable society lies in ‘stable
economy’ that uses energy and resources efficiently.

Therefore, it is high time to evaluate the existing CNT techniques on these parameters.
Let us examine three popular methods of CNT synthesis. Arc-discharge method, in which
the first CNT was discovered , employs evaporation of graphite electrodes in electric arcs
that involve very high temperatures (~4000°C).

Although arc-grown CNTs are well crystallized, they are highly impure. Laser-
vaporization technique employs evaporation of high-purity graphite target by high-power
lasers in conjunction with high-temperature furnaces .

Although laser-grown CNTs are of high purity, their production yield is very low. Thus it
is obvious that these two methods score too low on account of efficient use of energy and
resources.

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Carbon nanotube structure and defects:

Many exotic structures of fullerenes exist: regular spheres, cones, tubes and also more
complicated and strange shapes. Here we will describe some of the most important and
best-known structures.

Single Walled Nanotubes (SWNT) can be considered as long wrapped graphene sheets.
As state before, nanotubes generally have a length to diameter ratio of about 1000 so
they can be considered as nearly one-dimensional structures.

More detailed, a SWNT consists of two separate regions with different physical and
chemical properties. The first is the sidewall of the tube and the second is the end cap of
the tube.

The end cap structure is similar to or derived from a smaller fullerene, such as C60. C-
atoms placed in hexagons and pentagons form the end cap structures. It can be easily
derived from Euler’s theorem that twelve pentagons are needed in order to obtain a
closed cage structure which consists of only pentagons and hexagons.5 The combination
of a pentagon and five surrounding hexagons results in the desired curvature of the
surface to enclose a volume.

A second rule is the isolated pentagon rule that states that the distance between
pentagons on the fullerene shell is maximised in order to obtain a minimal local curvature
and surface stress, resulting in a more stable structure. The smallest stable structure that
can be made this way is C60 the one just larger is C70 and so on.

The animation of a rotating carbon nanotube showing its 3D structure.

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Another property is that all fullerenes are composed of an even number of C-atoms
because adding one hexagon to an existing structure means adding two C-atoms.

The other structure of which a SWNT is composed is a cylinder. It is generated when a

graphene sheet of a certain size that is wrapped in a certain direction. As the result is
cylinder symmetric we can only roll in a discreet set of directions in order to form a
closed cylinder. (Figure 1-2).

Two atoms in the graphene sheet are chosen, one of which servers the role as origin. The
sheet is rolled until the two atoms coincide. The vector pointing from the first atom
towards the other is called the chiral vector and its length is equal to the circumference of
the nanotube.

Quantum dots and artificial atoms :

Quantum dots are small devices that contain a tiny droplet of free electrons. They are
fabricated in semiconductor materials and have typical dimensions between nanometres
to a few microns (10^-6m).

A quantum dot can have anything from a single electron to a collection of several
thousands. The physics of quantum dots show many parallels with the behaviour of
naturally occurring atoms, but unlike their natural counterparts, quantum dots can be
easily connected to electrodes and are therefore excellent tools to study atomic-like
properties.

The capability to make artificial atoms is revolutionary. The potential applications are
enormous such as counterfeit-resistant inks, new biosensors, quantum electronics,
photonics and the possibility of tamper-proof data transmission. The technology also
highlights the important regulatory and safety issues that must be addressed before
widespread application of such disruptive technologies

Properties of Carbon Nanotubes :

Electronic, molecular and structural properties of carbon nanotubes are determined to a

large extent by their nearly one dimensional structure. The most important properties of
CNTs and their molecular background are stated below.

Chemical reactivity:

The chemical reactivity of a CNT is, compared with a graphene sheet, enhanced as a
direct result of the curvature of the CNT surface. Carbon nanotube reactivity is directly
related to the pi-orbital mismatch caused by an increased curvature. Therefore, a
distinction must be made between the sidewall and the end caps of a nanotube.
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For the same reason, a smaller nanotube diameter results in increased reactivity. Covalent
chemical modification of either sidewalls or end caps has shown to be possible. For
example, the solubility of CNTs in different solvents can be controlled this way.

Though, direct investigation of chemical modifications on nanotube behaviour is

difficult as the crude nanotube samples are still not pure enough.

Electrical conductivity:

Depending on their chiral vector, carbon nanotubes with a small diameter are either semi-
conducting or metallic. The differences in conducting properties are caused by the
molecular structure that results in a different band structure and thus a different band gap.
The differences in conductivity can easily be derived from the graphene sheet
properties.8 It was shown that a (n,m) nanotube is metallic as accounts that: n=m or (n-
m) = 3i, where i is an integer and n and m are defining the nanotube. The resistance to
conduction is determined by quantum mechanical aspects and was proved to be
independent of the nanotube length.9 For more, general information on electron
conductivity is referred to a review by Ajayan and Ebbesen10.

Optical activity:

Theoretical studies have revealed that the optical activity of chiral nanotubes disappears
if the nanotubes become larger11.Therefore, it is expected that other physical properties
are influenced by these parameters too. Use of the optical activity might result in optical
devices in which CNTs play an important role.

DNA Nanotechnology

DNA nanotechnology is a branch of nanotechnology which uses the molecular

recognition properties of DNA and other nucleic acids to create designed, artificial
structures out of DNA for technological purposes. In this field, DNA is used as a
structural material rather than as a carrier of genetic information, making it an example
of bionanotechnology. DNA nanotechnology has applications in molecular self-
assembly and in DNA computing.
Although DNA is usually considered in the context of molecular biology as the carrier
of genetic information in living cells, DNA nanotechnology considers DNA solely as a
chemical and as a material, and is usually pursued outside of any biological context.
DNA nanotechnology makes use of the fact that, due to the specificity of Watson-
Crickbase pairing, only portions of the strands which are complementary to each other
will bind to each other to form duplex DNA. DNA nanotechnology attempts to rationally
designsets of DNA strands so that desired portions of each strand will assemble in the
correct positions to for some desired target structure.

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Although the field is usually called DNA nanotechnology, its principles apply equally
well to other nucleic acids such as RNA and PNA, and structures incorporating these
have been made. For this reason the field is occasionally referred to as nucleic acid
nanotechnology.

Fundamental concepts

Chemical structure of DNA. Nucleic acid double helices will only form between two
strands ofcomplementary sequences, where the bases are matched into only A-T or G-C
pairs.

DNA nanotechnology creates complex structures out of nucleic acids by making use of
the specificity of base pairing in nucleic acid molecules. The structure of a nucleic acid
molecule consists of a sequence of nucleotides, distinguished by whichnucleobase they
contain. In DNA, the four bases used are adenine (A), cytosine (C), guanine (G),
and thymine (T). Nucleic acids have the property that two molecules will bind to each
other to form a double helix only if the two sequences are complementary, meaning that
they form matching sequences of base pairs, with A's only binding to T's, and C's only to
G's. Because the formation of correctly matched base pairs is energetically favorable,
nucleic acid strands are expected in most cases to bind to each other in the conformation
that maximizes the number of correctly paired bases. This property, that the sequence
determines the pattern of binding and the overall structure, is used by the field of DNA

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nanotechnology in that sequences are rationally designed so that a desired structure is
favored to form.

Nearly all structures in DNA nanotechnology make use of branched DNA structures
containing junctions, as opposed to most biological DNA which exists in a lineardouble
helix form. One of the simplest branched structures, and the first made, is a four-arm
junction which can be made using four individual DNA strands which are complementary
to each other in the correct pattern. Unlike in natural Holliday junctions, in the artificial
immobile four-arm junction shown below, the base sequence of each arm is different,
meaning that the junction point is fixed in a certain position.

Junctions can be used in more complex molecules. One of the more widely-used of these
is the "double-crossover" or DX motif. A DX molecule can be thought of as two DNA
duplexes positioned parallel to each other, with two crossover points where strands cross
from one duplex into the other. Each junction point is itself topologically a four-arm
junction. This molecule has the advantage that the junction points are now constrained to
a single orientation as opposed to being flexible as in the four-arm junction. This makes
the DX motif suitable as a structural building block for larger DNA complexes.

A double-crossover (DX) molecule. This

molecule consists of five DNA single strands
which form two double-helical domains, on the
These four strands associate into a DNA left and the right in this image. There are two
four-arm junction because this structure crossover points where the strands cross from
maximizes the number of correct base one domain into the other. Image from Mao,
pairs, with A's matched toT's and C's 2004.
matched to G's. Image from Mao, 2004.

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Design

DNA nanostructures must be designed so that they will assemble into the desired
structures. This includes both the design of secondary structure, deciding which parts of
which nucleic acid molecules should bind to each other, and primary structure, the
specification of the identity of each individual base.

Structural design

The first step in a designing a nucleic acid nanostructure is to decide how a given
structure should be represented by a specific arrangement of nucleic acid strands. This
design step thus determines the secondary structure of the nucleic acid complex which
will assemble into the desired shape. There are several approaches which have been
demonstrated:

 Sequence symmetry minimization. Most design in DNA nanotechnology

focuses on designing sequences so that the target structure is a thermodynamic
minimum, and mis-assembled structures have higher energies and are thus disfavored.

 Folding structures. An alternative to the tile-based approach, two-dimensional

DNA structures can be made from a single, long DNA strand of arbitrary sequence
which is folded into the desired shape by using shorter, "staple" strands. This allows
the creation of two-dimensional shapes at the nanoscale using DNA. Demonstrated
designs have included the smiley face and a coarse map of North America. DNA
origamiwas the cover story of Nature on March 15, 2006.

 Kinetic assembly. Recently, there has been interest in controlling the kinetics of
DNA self-assembly, so that transient dynamics can also be programmed into the
assembly. Such a method also has the advantage of proceeding isothermally and thus
not requiring a thermal annealing step required by solely thermodynamic approaches.

Sequence design
Main article: Nucleic acid design

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After any of the above approaches are used to design the secondary structure of a target
molecule, an actual sequence of nucleotides must be devised which will form into the
desired structure. Nucleic acid design is the process of generating a set of nucleic
acid base sequences that will associate into a desired conformation (see, for
example, RNA structure). Nucleic acid design is central to the field of DNA
nanotechnology.

Nucleic acid design has similar goals to protein design: in both, the sequence of
monomers is designed to favor the desired folded or associated structure and to disfavor
alternate structures. Nucleic acid design has the advantage of being a much
computationally simpler problem, since the simplicity of Watson-Crick base pairing rules
leads to simple heuristic methods which yield experimentally robust designs. However,
nucleic acid structures are less versatile than proteins in their functionality.

Types of structures

Many structures made from DNA have been synthesized and characterized.

Periodic lattices

Assembly of a DX array. Each bar represents a double-helical domain ofDNA, with the
shapes representingcomplimentary sticky ends. The DX molecule at top will combine
into the two-dimensional DNA array shown at bottom. This is an example of the tile-
based strategy for designing DNA nanostructures. Image from Mao, 2004.

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Left, a model of a DNA tile used to make a two-dimensional periodic lattice. Right,
an atomic force micrographof the assembled lattice.Image from Strong, 2004.

The earliest method for creating DNA nanostructures was to construct them out of
smaller discrete units. This method has the advantage of being able to conceptually
separate the stronger interactions which form each tile from the assembly of the larger
complete structure. It is often used to make periodic lattices, but can also be used to
implement algorithmic self-assembly, making them one platform for DNA computing.

DX, or Double Crossover, molecules can be equipped with sticky ends in order to
combine them into a two-dimensional periodic lattice. Each DX molecule has four
termini, one at each end of the two double-helical domains, and these can be equipped
with sticky ends that program them to combine into a specific pattern. More than one
type of DX can be used which can be made to arrange in rows or any
other tessellated pattern. They thus form extended flat sheets which are essentially two-
dimensional crystals of DNA.

Two-dimensional arrays have been made out of other motifs as well, including
the Holliday junction rhombus array as well as various DX-based arrays in the shapes of
triangles and hexagons.

Creating three-dimensional lattices out of DNA was the earliest goal of DNA
nanotechnology, but proved to be one of the most difficult to realize. Success in
constructing three-dimensional DNA lattices was finally reported in 2009 using a motif
based on the concept of tensegrity, a balance between tension and compression forces.[13]

Nanotubes
In addition to flat sheets, DX arrays have been made to form hollow nanotubes of 4-
20 nm diameter. These DNA nanotubes are somewhat similar in size and shape to carbon

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nanotubes, but the carbon nanotubes are stronger and better conductors, whereas the
DNA nanotubes are more easily modified and connected to other structures.

A model of a DNA tetrahedron described in Goodman, 2005. Each edge of the

tetrahedron is a 20 base pair DNA duplex, and each vertex is a three-arm junction.

Polyhedra
A number of three-dimensional DNA molecules have been made which have the
connectivity of a polyhedronsuch as an octahedron or cube. In other words, the DNA
duplexes trace the edges of a polyhedron with a DNA junction at each vertex.

The earliest demonstrations of DNA polyhedra involved multiple ligations and solid-
phase synthesis steps to create catenated polyhedra. More recent work has yielded
polyhedra whose synthesis is much easier. These include a DNA octahedron made from a
long single strand designed to fold into the correct conformation, as well as a tetrahedron
which can be produced from four DNA strands in a single step.

Arbitary shapes
DNA structures with solid faces have also been constructed, using the DNA
origami method. These can be programmed to open and release their cargo in response to
a stimulus, making them potentially useful as programmable molecular cages.

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NANOTECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT IN LAST FEW
YEARS (1994-2004)

 Overall investment in nanotechnology increased 10-fold during this decade, with

similar growth in the number of patents filed in this field.

 Government annual spending on nanotechnology more than quadrupled between

2000 and 2004, from approximately US$1 to US$4.5 billion. Total spending in 2004
including government, companies and venture capital was US$8.6 billion.

 Major public sector R&D initiatives on nanotechnology were announced over the
past 5 years in the USA, Japan, European Union, China, Korea, Taiwan and UK.

 Lux Research (USA) projects that internationally, private sector spending will
exceed that of governments after 2004. Some 1500 companies have announced
nanotechnology R&D plans, of which 80% were start-ups.

 Global sales of products derived from emerging nanotechnologies are estimated

to escalate to over US$2 trillion per annum in the next ten years, with between 1 and
2 million new jobs generated.

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WHAT NANOTECHNOLOGY DO FOR US

There are three distinct aspect :

Direct, indirect and conceptual.by indirect is mean the progressive miniaturization of

exciting technologies, which open up new area of application of those technologies.
Direct refer to the application of novel, nanoengineered artifacts, either to enhance the
performance of exciting process and materials, or for wholly novel purposes.

Finally there is a conceptual aspect of nanotechnology, in which all materials and process
are considered from a molecular and even atomic view point, as in living system, in
which complicated molecules are broken down into there constitutes amino acids which
are than used for templates syntheses of new protein.

The artificial counterpart of this process is largely untouched temitory. Entirely novel
integrated manufacturing life cycles await development in which extreme economy
energy and the absence of unpleasant waste product will be prominent.

Furthermore, the conceptual nano view point offers the possibility of a new
understanding of the world, its structure and its process.

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Branches of nanotechnologies

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APPLICATIONS OF NANOTECHNOLOGY

Real Life Applications of Nanotechnology In Electronics

Nanotechnology is like a toolkit for the electronics industry. It gives us tools that allow us
to make nanomaterials with special properties modified by ultra-fine particle size,
crystallinity, structure or surfaces. These will become commercially important when they
give a cost and performance advantage over existing products or allow us to create new
products.

Many nano materials have been developed because of their interesting properties and
companies have been founded on products for which there is limited market demand.

This tends to lead to leading edge products with very limited immediate commercial
potential. On the other hand, the approach of many established companies has been the
Market Pull approach where existing solutions are sought for market. This conservative
approach can result in a very small increment in performance which may not show a cost-
benefit improvement for that particular application.

A more balanced approach followed by a number of successful companies, is to take a

parallel track, constantly reviewing technology choices on a portfolio basis and applying
them to market needs. Technology platforms thus developed, such as metal powders,
diamond-like coatings, Carbon nanotubes or atomic cluster deposition, can be applied to
several other business areas in addition to pure electronics, such as structural engineering,
life sciences or energy.

Nanotechnology should only be applied where there is an economic advantage coupled to

a performance advantage. This is seen in industrial processes as well as consumer goods
where a “luxury” new technology becomes the standard once the existing technology is
reaching its limits and the new technology starts to take hold.

An example in the consumer field is VCR vs. DVD vs. DVD-R vs. DVR; in the industrial
field embedded capacitors vs. discretes. In each case the shape of the graph may differ
but the important point is that there is a “crossover” which marks the start of market
adoption of thenew product.

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Semiconductors

Some of the most revolutionary applications in nanotechnology are in the semiconductor

areas. As the semiconductor roadmaps look out towards 2015 and below 20 nm features,
the need for different structures is becoming apparent...once we move to ultraviolet and
then Xray lithography, there is nowhere to go (in a practical sense) to image ultra small
features. Imagine doping a Carbon or Silicon nanotube, coating it with differently doped
materials, assembling it (preferably self-assembling it) in an array.

Imagine creating quantum dots that can store a single electron charge. Imagine trapping
atoms inside a nanotube and using the electron spin to create a quantum computing
device. There is a large number of potentialroutes to new computing, storage and optical
devices. The devices we are making now are quite clumsy compared with established
semiconductor technology.

But they will surely improve! One example of a semiconductor technology that is
generating great interest is the atomic cluster deposition technology pioneered by Nano
Cluster Devices (NCD) of Christchurch, New Zealand. The technology results from the
convergence of two well established technologies, atomic cluster deposition and the type
of lithography currently used in semiconductor manufacture.

Applications include:

• Chemical sensors, including Hydrogenand glucose sensors;

• Read heads for hard disk drives;

• Transistors, interconnects and integrated circuits (semiconductingand conducting

wires);

• Photosensors;

• Deposition control systems, a spin off technology for high precision control of
particle deposition in the sub-monolayer regime.

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How can nanotechnology improve the capabilities of electronic
components?

Nanoelectronics holds some answers for how we might increase the capabilities of
electronics devices while we reduce their weight and power consumption. Some of the
nanoelectronics areas under development, which you can explore in more detail by
following the links provided in the next section, include the following topics. Improving
display screens on electronics devices. This involves reducing power consumption while
decreasing the weight and thickness of the screens.

Biomedical Applications of Nanotechnology

Private and public research efforts worldwide are developing nanoproducts aimed at
improving health care and advancing medical research. Some of these products have
entered the marketplace, more are on the verge of doing so, and others remain more a
vision that a reality.

Since 2000, when former President Bill Clinton announced the founding of the U.S.
National Nanotechnology Initiative (NNI), governments in Europe, Japan, and other
Asian nations have responded with competitive investments in national nanoprograms.
The European Commission, a body of the European Union (EU) that funds about 24% of
the publicly financed research in the EU, and the Union’s 15 member nations will spend
about $180 million (200 million euros) on nanotechnology in 2002.

The NNI budget for fiscal year (FY) 2002 is $604 million, including $40.8 million for
the National Institutes of Health (NIH). For FY 2003, proposed budgets amount to $710.2
million in the United States and between $270 and $315 million in the EU. Definitions of
nanotechnology are as diverse as the applications that are available.

Rolf Allenspach, who leads research on the physics of nanoscale systems at the IBM
Zurich Research Laboratory in Switzerland, defines nanotechnology as “the ability to
design and control the structure of an object at all length scales from the atom up to
macro scale.” George Robillard, director of the Biological Materials and Devices
(BIOMADE) research center at the University of Groningen in The Netherlands, has a
more focused definition: “The core of nanotechnology consists of systems in the size
range of nanometers,” he says. “You could say a drug-delivery system is
nanotechnology. We are concerned with the organization of molecules in larger
functional complexes,
For example a complex that can deliver a protein to a certain site in the body.”

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ENERGY

The majority of the world’s energy comes from fossil fuels – primarily coal, oil, and
natural gas. All three were formed on Earth about 360 million years ago during the
Carboniferous Period and long before the age of the dinosaurs.

We rely on fossil fuels for much more than gasoline to power our cars. For example,
tremendous amounts of oil are required to produce all plastics, all computers and high
tech devices. According to the American Chemical Society, it takes 3.5 pounds of fossil
fuels to make a single 32 megabyte DRAM computer chip, and the construction of a
single desktop computer consumes ten times its weight in fossil fuels.

Our food is produced by high-tech, oil-powered industrial methods of agriculture, and in

the US each piece of food travels about 1,500 miles before it reaches the grocery store.
Pesticides are made from oil, and commercial fertilizers are made from ammonia, which
is made from natural gas.

Fuels are needed to make many medical devices and supplies such as life-support
systems, anesthesia bags, catheters, dishes, drains, gloves, heart valves, needles, syringes,
tubes.

There is a limited supply of fossil fuels and they are nonrenewable. Today, we are using
fossil fuels faster than we are finding them. In fact, the Oil Depletion Analysis Center
(ODAC) predicts that in the near future the demand for fossil fuels will far exceed the
Earth’s supply.

Consumer products

Recently, previously established and entirely new companies such as BetaBatt, Inc. and
Oxane Materials are focusing on nanomaterials as a way to develop and improve upon
older methods for the capture, transfer, and storage of energy for the development of
consumer products.

Conserv, a product developed by the Dais Analytic Corporation, uses nanoscale polymer
membranes to increase the efficiency of heating and cooling systems and has already
proven to be a lucrative design.

The polymer membrane was specifically configured for this application by selectively
engineering the size of the pores in the membrane to prevent air from passing, while
allowing moisture to pass through the membrane. Polymer membranes can be designed to
selectively allow particles of one size and shape to pass through while preventing others
of different dimensions. This makes for a powerful tool that can be used in consumer
products from biological weapons protection to industrial chemical separations.

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A New York based company called Applied NanoWorks, Inc. has been developing a
consumer product that utilizes LED technology to generate light. Light-emitting diodes or
LEDs, use only about 10% of the energy that a typical incandescent or fluorescent light
bulb use and typically lasts much longer, which makes them a viable alternative to
traditional light bulbs.

While LEDs have been around for decades, this company and others like it have been
developing a special variant of LED called the white LED. White LEDs consist of semi-
conducting organic layers that are only about 100 nanometers in distance from each other
and are placed between two electrodes, which create an anode and a cathode. When
voltage is applied to the system, light is generated when electricity passes through the
two organic layers. This is called electroluminescence.

The semiconductor properties of the organic layers are what allow for the minimal
amount of energy necessary to generate light. In traditional light bulbs, a metal filament
is used to generate light when electricity is run through the filament. Using metal
generates a great deal of heat and therefore lowers efficiency.

Research for longer lasting batteries has been an ongoing process for years. Researchers
have now begun to utilize nanotechnology for battery technology. mPhase Technologies
in conglomeration with Rutgers University and Bell Laboratories have utilized
nanomaterials to alter the wetting behavior of the surface where the liquid in the battery
lies to spread the liquid droplets over a greater area on the surface and therefore have
greater control over the movement of the droplets.

This gives more control to the designer of the battery. This control prevents reactions in
the battery by separating the electrolytic liquid from the anode and the cathode when the
battery is not in use and joining them when the battery is in need of use.

Thermal applications also are a future applications of nanothechonlogy creating low cost
system of heating, ventilation, and air conditioning, changing molecular structure for
better management of temperature.

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Medicine

The health care industry is predicted to receive the first significant benefits of
nanotechnology. The driving force behind this prediction is that biological structures are
within the size scale that researchers are now able to manipulate and control.

Investigators are looking to nanotechnology to develop highly sensitive disease detectors,

drug delivery systems that only target the disease and not the surrounding healthy tissue,
and nanoscale building blocks that help repair skin, cartilage, and/or bone.

The U.S. National Nanotechnology Initiative has identified the detection, diagnosis and
treatment of disease as “grand challenges” for nanotechnology. There is also speculation
that nano-robots would show on even reverse the aging process and life expectancy could
increase significantly. In near future we will be acquainted with notions like:

Cell Pharmacology: Delivery of drugs by medical nano-machines to exact location in

the body.

Cell Surgery: Modifying cellular structures using medical nano-machines.

Ribosome: Naturally occurring molecular machine that manufactures proteins according

to instructions derived from cell’s genes.

Nanomedicine: Bunch of non –replicating nanorobots with a specified medical task such
as cleaning and closing a would and many more.

Reciprocytes: Mechanical Artificial RBC: A blood borne spherical 1 Micron

diamonded 1000 atm pressure vessel with active pumping powered by endogenous serum
glucose, able to delver 236 times more oxygen to tissues per unit volume than national
red cells and to manage carbonic acidity.

Microbivore Artificial WBC: This will destroy microbiological agent causing disease
found in human bloodstream using a digest and discharge protocol.

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Nanotechnology & International Security

The possible applications of Nanotechnology to advanced weaponry are fertile ground for
fantasy. It is obvious that 3-D assembly of nano- structures in bulk can yield much better
versions of most conventional weapons

e.g. guns can be made lighter, easy more ammunition, fire self guided bullets, incorporate
multispectral gun sights or even fire themselves when an enemy is detected. Aerospace
hardware would be far lighter and higher performance, built with minimal or no metal, it
would be such harder to spot radar.Embedded computer would allow remote activation of
any weapon and more compact power handling would allow greatly improved
robotics.Nuclear weapons can be credited to prevent major wars since their inventions.

Nuclear weapons have high long term cost of use that would be much lower with
nanotech weapons.Nuclear weapons require massive research effort and industrial
development, which can be tracked more easily than nanotech weapons.

Greater uncertainty of capabilities of the adversary less response time to an attack and
better targeted destruction of enemy’s resources during an attack all make nanotech arm
races less stable. Nanotech weapons would be extremely powerful and could lead to a
dangerously to an arm race. Also unless nanotech is tightly controlled the number of
nanotech nations in the world could be such higher than the number of nuclear nations
increasing the chance of a regional conflict blowing.

Nanotechnology and Environment :

Nano technology has the potential to substantially benefit environment through pollution
prevention, treatment and remediation. Auborne nano robots can be programmed to
rebuild the removed from water sources and oil spills can be cleaned up instantly. Our
dependence an non-renewable sources would diminish with nano-technology. Many
resources can be developed by nano-machines.

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 Fig6. Nanotectnology making transortation easy.

However use of NT is scaled up emissions to environment may also increase and perhaps
a whole new class of toxins or other environment problems may be created.

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THE FUTURE OF NANOTECHNOLOGY

NANOTECHNOLOGY is slowly creeping into popular culture, but not in a way that
most scientists will like. There is a great example in Dorian – novelist Will Self ’s
modern reworking of Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray.

In one scene, set in a dingy industrial building on the outskirts of Los Angeles,we find
Dorian Gray and his friends looking across rows of Dewar flasks, in which the heads and
bodies of the dead are kept frozen, waiting for the day when medical science has
advanced far enough to cure their ailments.

Grey goo and radical nanotechnology

Even if the most extreme visions of the nanotechnology evangelists do not come to pass,
nanotechnology – in the form of machines structured on the nano-scale that do interesting
and useful things – will certainly play a growing part in our lives over the next half-
entury.

How revolutionary the impact of these new technologies will be is difficult to say.
Scientists almost always greatly overestimate how much can be done over a 10 year
period, but underestimate what can be done in 50 years. Sometimes the contrast between
the grand visions of nano- technology – robotic nanosubmarines repairing our bodies –
and the reality it delivers – say an improved all-in-one shampoo 1and conditioner – has a
profoundly bathetic quality.

But the experience we will gain in manipulating matter on the nano-scale in industrial
quantities is going to be invaluable. Similarly, there is no point being dismissive about
the fact that lots of early applications of nanotechnology will be essentially toys –
whether for children or adults – just as data-storage technology is currently being driven
forward by the needs of digital TV recorders and portable music players like Apple’s
iPod.

These apparently frivolous applications will provide the incentive and resources to push
the technology further. But which design philosophy of radical nanotechnology will
prevail – Drexler’s original “diamondoid” visions or something closer to the marvellous
contrivances of cell biology?

One way of finding the answer would be to simply develop the existing technologies that
have driven the relentless miniaturization of microelectronics. This “top-down” approach,
which uses techniques like photolithography and etching, has already been used to make
so-called microelectromechanical systems (MEMS). Such systems are commercially
available and have components on length scales of many microns – the acceleration
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sensors in airbags being a well known example. All we need to do now is shrink these
systems even further to create true nanoelectromechanical systems, or NEMS (see
Roukes in further reading).

Taking a lead from nature:-

So how could we follow biology’s example and work with the “grain” of the nanoworld?
The most obvious method is simply to exploit the existing components that nature gives
us. One way would be to deliberately remove and isolate from their natural habitats a
number of components, such as molecular motors, and then incorporate them into
artificial nanostructures.

For example, Nadrian Seeman at New York University and others have shown how the
self-assembly properties of DNA can be used to create quite complicated nano-scale
structures and devices (figure 4). Another approach would be to start with a whole, living
organism – probably a simple bacterium – and then genetically engineer a stripped-down
version that contains only the component that we are interested in.

One can think of this approach – often called “bionanotechnology” – as the Mad Max or
Scrap Heap Challenge approach to nano-engineering.We are stripping down and then
partially reassembling a very complex and only partially understood system to obtain
something else that works. This approach exploits the fact that evolution – nature’s
remarkable optimization tool – has produced very powerful and efficient nanomachines.

As we learn more about how bionanotechnology works, it should be possible to use some
of the design methods of biology and apply them to synthetic materials. Like
bionanotechnology, such “biomimetic nanotechnology” would work with the grain of the
special physics of the nanoworld.

Of course, the task of copying even life’s simplest mechanisms is formidably hard.
Proteins, for example, function so well as enzymes because the particular sequence of
amino acids has been selected by evolution from a myriad of possibilities. So when
designing synthetic molecules, we need to take note of how evolution achieved this. But
despite the difficulties, biomimetic nanotechnology will let us do some useful – if crude –
things.

For example, ALZA, a subsidiary of Johnson and Johnson, has already been able to wrap
a drug molecule in a nanoscopic container – in this case a spherical shell made from
double layers of phospholipid molecules – and transport it to where it is required in the
body. The container can then be made to open and release its bounty.
I do not think that Drexler’s alternative approach – based on mechanical devices made
from rigid materials – fundamentally contradicts any physical laws, but I fear that its
proponents underestimate the problems that certain features of the nanoworld will pose
for it.
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The close tolerances that we take for granted in macroscopic engineering will be very
difficult to achieve at the nano-scale because the machines will be shaken about so much
by Brownian motion. Finding ways for surfaces to slide past each other without sticking
together or feeling excessive friction is going to be difficult. Unlike the top-down route
using silicon, we have no large base of experience and expertise to draw on, and no big
economic pressures driving the research forward.

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RISK ASSESSMENT AND CONCERNS RAISED ABOUT
NANOTECHNOLOGY

Several non-governmental organisations are calling for greater risk evaluations or, in the
case of Canada's ETC Group, a nanotech research moratorium. They, and others
including the US-based Centre for Responsible Nanotechnology, have raised concerns
about the following aspects of nanotechnology:

The toxicity of bulk material, such as solid silver, does not help predict the toxicity of
nanoparticles of that same material.

• Nanoparticles have the potential to remain and accumulate in the environment.

• They could accumulate in the food chain.
• They could have unforeseen impacts on human health.
• The public has not been sufficiently involved in debates on the applications, uses,
and regulation of nanotechnology.
• 'Grey goo': Tiny robots generated with nanotechnology could acquire the ability
to self-replicate.
• If the rich countries are the main drivers of the development of nanotechnology,
applications which benefit developing nations will be side-lined.
• Unless rapid action is taken, research into nanotechnology could progress faster
than systems can be put in place to regulate its applications and their uses.

The following attributes of nanoparticles create a number of unknown

exposures:

 Size of particles: The size of nanoparticles makes them incapable of being

measured using normal techniques.

 Increased reactivity and conductivity: Nanoparticles are more reactive and

conductive than particles larger in size. As such, materials that have been benign in
the past may become toxic in nanoparticle form
.
 Routes of exposure: Because of their size, nanoparticles can be inhaled or
ingested and may even enter the body through the skin. In addition, they are capable
of crossing the blood-brain barrier, which protects the brain against contamination.

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ADVANTAGES & DISADVANTAGES

A new law focused on NT would have two major advantages, especially in light of the
problems outlined in Section II: It could avoid some of the pitfalls of previous regulatory
laws, and it could be tailored to the particular characteristics of NT.

By being able to define NT and nanomaterials in a legal context, a new law would avoid
the distortions and problems that come with trying to shoehorn NT into the definitions
(e.g., “chemicals”) in existing law.

The task of enacting major new legislation, however, requires mustering political
strength and wisdom.

The political strength for that task may not materialize unless an extraordinary consensus
— one involving industry, environmental groups and regulators—emerges. Compared to
the existing laws, the type of legislation outlined above could provide greater protection
for the public.
It also might place a greater burden on manufacturers, especially small start-up
companies. The choice between protecting public health versus protecting small business
and technological innovation can be very stark, but in the context of NT, it may be less
so.While much of the commercial innovation in NT comes from small start-up
companies, a discussion of the structure of the NT industry notes that,“Most
nanotechnology start-ups will not attempt to develop and market their own commercial
products.Rather, they will seek to partner with large companies in industries that can
utilize nanotechnology to improve their commercial products” (Miller et al 2005, p.37).
Also, the government can take various steps to ease the burden on smaller companies,
such as establishing an office devoted to assisting small business. It also can provide
templates, guidebooks and other technical assistance.

A new law could strike a different balance between safety and innovation than the one
outlined above.Two simple, but far-reaching, changes could fundamentally shift the
balance of the legislation.

First, the burden of proof could be placed on the government to show that there is
unacceptable risk. From the perspective of the regulating agency, the advantage of getting
adequate information is somewhat offset by the problems of reviewing and managing a
large amount of data.

The experience with TSCA is instructive.EPA generally has not pursued the avenue of
requiring test data for new chemicals, mostly because of the weakness of the law’s

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provisions allowing it to do so, but also because it feared that its limited resources would
not allow it to review most of the submitted test data.

Given that there is an expectation that a large number of NT products and applications
will materialize in the coming years, the regulators’workload and capacity will have to be
considered in the regulatory regime.

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CONCLUSION

• This concludes our study of NANOTECHNOLOGY.

• I have examined the properties of nanotechnology, and how nanotechnology are

used in modern age.

• Although this report does not cover all the aspects of nanotechnology work it will
have equipped you knowledge and skills essential to the nanotechnology industry.

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REFERENCES

WEB SITES
 http://www.myseminars\nanorelatedmatter\nanotechnology\energy.htm

 http://www.myseminars\nanorelatedmatter\nanotechnology\Energy_applications_
of_nanotechnology.htm

 http://www.myseminars\nanorelatedmatter\nano technology\environment.htm

 http://www.nanotech-now.com/introduction.htm

 http://crnano.typepad.com/crnblog/2005/01/the_meaning_of_.html

 http://www.scribd.com/doc/13602733/Nanotechnology-Seminar

BOOKS
• PHANI KUMAR, (2008) Principles of nanotechnology. Chennai: SciTech
publication.

ARTICLES
• Ebbesen, Mette, and Thomas G. Jensen. “Nanomedicine: Techniques, Potentials,
and Ethical Implications”. Journal of Biomedicine and Biotechnology (2006):
1-11. Source: www.hindawi.com/GetArticle.aspx?doi=10.1155/JBB/2006/51516
[accessed 29 August 2007]

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