Nanotech – microscopic is great

Smaller than small

Smaller than small and invisible to the naked eye, one millionth of a millimetre. That’s nanotechnology. Nanotech is as exciting as it is complicated. This technology investigates and uses the surprising properties of microparticles, turning the rules of physics and chemistry upside down. From antimicrobial forms to tubes with sheaths no thicker than an atom: nanotechnology promises a radical disruption of materials science and medicine.

With nanotech we are able to develop new materials and change the properties of materials. Thus, a fabric that is not conductive can suddenly be made very conductive. This way we can make super fast computers or sensitive measuring instruments. Nanotechnology consists of fundamental and applied research. In fundamental research, for example, one tries to understand what happens when you link atoms. Applied research is used to find ways to use these new materials.

Nanotech, by the way, is not a stand-alone technology. Nanotech encompasses developments in several fields, such as physics, chemistry, 3D printing technology, biology and engineering. These additional scientific developments are reshaping reality by enabling an unimaginable variety of applications.

When technologies on which we depend every day – for example, communication satellites – break down, repair is usually very expensive. It is impractical to retrieve the satellites when a circuit fails and repairing them in space is often not an option either. However, nanoparticles can cause satellites to repair themselves. This saves millions and guarantees long-term uninterrupted service. It won’t be long before almost all electronics can repair themselves.

The future of nanotechnology

In the future, the use of nanotechnology is the most normal thing in the world. The cost of fossil energy is likely to rise again in the foreseeable future. This means that we can expect radical solutions for sustainable energy. Over the next decade, floors and roads will generate green energy, partly thanks to this technology. Xudong Wang, scientist at UW-Madison, has discovered that the cellulose nanofibres in wood pulp – an easily available, inexpensive and recyclable product – produce the electrical charges that make that possible. The result is an inexpensive technique that generates free energy from the pressure and friction exerted on the floor or road surface under which it is applied.

If the technology of mini-sensors improves, the infrastructure will soon be able to repair itself. Atomically small sensors in roads, bridges, tunnels and our electricity grid can detect damage and pass it on to nanomachines that repair it themselves. This ‘self-healing’ technique may soon be applicable in airplanes, ships and even in the human body.