Nanotechnology is the science and
technology of small things. Moreover it is the science, engineering, and
technology conducted at the Nano
scale, which is about 1 to 100 nanometer (nm) or a billionth of a meter. For comparison,
Ø
A human hair is about
60-80,000 nanometers wide
Ø
A sheet of newspaper is about 100,000 nanometers thick
Ø
If a marble were a nanometer, then one meter would be the size of
the Earth
Ø
1 inch = 25 400 000
nm
Ø
10-9 m is
3 atoms long
It’s hard to imagine just how small nanotechnology
is. The microscopes needed to see things at the
Nano scale were invented
relatively recently about 30 years ago.
But the idea and the
concept behind nanotechnology started with a talk entitled “There’s Plenty of Room
at the Bottom” by physicist Richard
Feynman at an American Physical Society meeting at the
California Institute of
Technology (CalTech) on December 29, 1959, where he described a process in
which scientists would be able to manipulate and control individual atoms and
molecules. After
that Professor Norio Taniguchi coined the term nanotechnology.
Although modern nanotechnology are
quite new, Nano scale
materials were used for centuries.
E.g. Alternate-sized
gold and silver particles created colors in the stained glass windows of
medieval churches hundreds of years ago. The artists back then just didn’t know
that the process they
used to create these beautiful works of art actually led
to changes in the composition of the materials
they were working with.
Today's scientists
and engineers are finding a wide variety of ways to deliberately make
materials at the Nano scale to take advantage of their enhanced properties such
as:
Ø
Higher strength
Ø
Lighter weight
Ø
Increased control of light spectrum
Ø
Greater chemical reactivity
As a Sri Lankan I am
very glad to say that Sri Lanka Institute of Nano Technology has launched a lot
of researches focused on various areas such as:
Ø
Agriculture
Ø
Apparel
Ø
Water Purification
Ø
Healthcare
Ø
Mineral Resources
Nanotechnology can be used across all the
other science fields,
such as chemistry, biology,
physics, materials science, and engineering. And
it is
marvelous. Therefore many are predicting
that
nanotechnology is the next technical revolution and
products resulting
from it will affect all areas of our
economy and lifestyle. Therefore I invite you all to
stay tuned to be
in the workforce in the future
keeping this exciting tech in your hand.
References:
Dhanushka Perera
No comments:
Post a Comment