Facultatea de mecanica si tehnologie

Tehnologia constructiilor de masini

Nanotechnology

Student : Ursu Constantin

Grupa 1.2.1

Cadrul didactic coordonator : Prof. univ. Dr. Ing. Marioara Abrudeanu

Table of contents:
1.Introduction...,,page 3
1.1.Introduction to the nanoscale.......................,,....page 3
2.Carbon nanotubes.......pages3-5
3.Properties of nanoparticles and size effect...page 6
4.Types of nanotechnology....page 7
5. Applications of nanotechnology...pages 7-9
5.1.Aviation and space.page 7
5.2.Medicine..page 8
5.3Food..page 8
5.4.Electronics...page 9
5.5.Energy..page 9
5.6.Ecology.....page 9
6. Nanotechnology Solutions to Water Issues in Africa.page 10
7.Summary.page 10
8.Bibliography....page 11

1.Introduction
Nanotechnology is clearly a concept whose time has come. Five years ago, little was
known about the technology outside specialist circles. Yet it is now being promoted in the
scientific and popular press as a major technological breakthrough, heralding the next industrial
revolution. Researchers and developers are talking about how nanotechnology might be used to
develop lighter, stronger materials, better batteries and improved solar cells in the
near-term with applications such as targeted cancer treatments, microscopic sensors and even
life-mimicking devices in the mid to distant future.
The celebrated physicist and Nobel Laureate Richard Feynman is perhaps the first person
to be credited with having the vision to see the potential of working at the nanoscale. In a lecture
at the Californian Institute of Technology in 1959 titled Theres plenty of room at the bottom,
he postulated that being able to manipulate atoms and molecules at will would open up new
avenues of technology.
Feynman saw the potential for this scale of engineering, but did not have the tools to
make it a reality. These came over 20 years later, with the development and application of the
Scanning Tunnelling Microscope to moving individual atoms on a substrate.
Some of the key properties that can be exploited by nanotechnology come from
nanoparticles, such as size and high surface-area-to-volume ratio. The benefits include the
reduction of pollution, energy consumption, and greenhouse gas emissions; curing, managing, or
preventing diseases; remediating environmental damage; and offering new safety-enhancing
materials that are stronger, self-repairing, and able to adapt to provide protection.

1.1 Introduction to the nanoscale

The term nano has etymological origins in the Greek, and means dwarf. This term
indicates that physical dimensions are on the order of a billionth of a meter (10 m or
nanometer). This range is colloquially called nanometric scale or simply nanoscale.
By convention, dimensions between 1 and 100 nm are accepted as belonging to the
nanoscale.

FIGURE 1.1 Different atoms aligned in a 1 nm long ruler: 3.5 gold atoms, 4 iron atoms, and 6.67
nitrogen atoms.
All materials you see around us, from a grain of sand to the largest galaxies, are formed
by atoms. we can consider that the basic unit for building a house is a brick, several bricks form
a house. Following this line of thought, we can consider the atom as the basic unit of
construction of all that is around us. Thus, we can say that atoms are the basis of all life as we
know it.

2.Carbon nanotubes (CNTs)

Perhaps the best known of the new nanomaterials was carbon nanotubesdiscovered in
the 1990s . Singlewalled carbon nanotubes (SWCNT) are in essence a single sheet of graphite
(graphene), wrapped into a tube with 1.5 nm in diameter.
CNTs have been extensively employed in many applications ranging from electrodes for
fuel cells , batteries, supercapacitors and solar cells to substrates for biological cell growth and
materials for electromagnetic interference (EMI) shielding .
Vohrer et al. [1] utilized glow discharge plasma treatments using N2, O2 and Ar gases to
produce hydroxyl and carboxyl functional groups on SWNT and MWNT buckypapers. Figure 1
shows the X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) analysis of N2 plasma-treated MWNT
buckypapers.
Scientists reported that length of the nanotubes has an important influence on the
conductivity of composites and in order to prepare a continuous and stable buckypaper,
nanotubes should be adequately long. Therefore, plasma offers an attractive alternative to
conventional acid functionalization techniques and establishes itself as the preferred technique
for future industrial scale-up of CNT processing.

Fig.1
XPS survey scan and C1s spectra acquired at four different position of the same
plasma-treated MWNT buckypaper. The plasma conditions were N2, 10 W, and 10 min.[1]

This unique atomic configuration leads to a material with an exceptionally high strengthto-weight ratio; that is an excellent thermal conductor; that is highly electrically conductive.
Using CNTs, researchers plan to build a space elevator, a space transportation system that
extends from the Earths surface into space via a cable of length between 40,000 and 96,000 km .
In space, the cable will be attached to a counterweight.The idea of building a space elevator was
presented in a 1960 article by Yuri N. Artsutanov.
It is believed that the technology that will eventually make this visionary idea possible is
the use of CNTs, one of the most resistant materials known to humans. The main purpose of the
space elevator is to reduce the cost of shipping (launching) materials to the low earth orbit
(LEO).

Fig. 2. Single-walled carbon nanotubes. (a) Schematic diagram of a single-walled carbon nanotube _ Chris Ewels.
(b) Transmission electron micrograph of as-produced single-walled carbon nanotube, showing aligned clusters of nanotubes
(nanoropes) and nanometre-diameter metal catalyst particles, used in the production process.

Thin-film polymer composites with CNT sheets sandwiched between two layers of polymer
have shown unique properties, such as optical transparency. Strong and conductive CNT sheets
have also been produced and studied ; however, there are still many interesting applications to
explore and challenges to overcome.

3. Properties of nanoparticles and size effect

Consider for example something that surely we would like to have: a gold cube
with 1 cm edge. In terms of the physical properties of the cube, we can affirm that the color is
yellow (typical of gold), its melting point is 1063 C, its specific surface is 0.31 cm2/g, and its
density is 19.3 g/cm, which reflects a mass of 19.3 g. Admit now that you can cut this cube into
half-height, half-width, and half length. At the end of the process, we will have eight smaller
gold pieces (cubes). Each piece will have the same color, density, and melting point. If we repeat
the same process we will have 64 smaller gold cubes. Again, color, density, and melting point do
not vary. After the fourth cut ,there will be 512 smaller cubes with an edge of 0.125 cm (Fig.2)[2].
Now imagine that you keep repeating the process until you cut the starting gold cube a
total of 20 times. Certainly, we would not be able to see the new pieces of gold obtained by
naked eye and would have to use an electron microscope.
On this order of magnitude nanometric, something interesting starts to happen: the
nanoscale effect starts to be detected. The melting point, which was 1063 _C, may decrease to
500 C. The color that until then was constant now depends on the size of each piece. Pieces with
different edges will have different colors ranging from blue to red in the spectrum.

[2]
As we have seen above, the nanoscale materials tend to have unique characteristics
different from the same material when considered on a large scale. Even properties such as
melting point and dielectric constant, considered as specific properties, may change when the
particles reach nanometric size. This change in the fundamental properties with the variation of
particle size is known as the size effect. Nanoparticles show a number of unique characteristics
in their morphological, structural, thermal, electromagnetic, optical, and mechanical properties.

4. Types of nanotechnology
Nanotechnology materials can be classified as having one dimension, two dimensions, or
three dimensions. Examples of the nanotechnology materials that can be classified as having one
dimension are thin films, engineered surfaces, and surface coatings. The two-dimensional
nanotechnology materials are nanowires, biopolymers, inorganic nanotubes, and carbon
nanotubes (CNTs). The three-dimensional nanotechnology materials are colloids, precipitates,
dendrimers, fullerenes/carbon 60, nanoparticles, and quantum dots. Most of these materials are
used to produce electronics and telecommunications devices.
The fabrication of nanomaterials, or simply nanotechnology, is divided into two
categories: top-down and bottom-up
Top-Down [From top (great) to down (small)]: Mechanisms and structures are
miniaturized to the nanoscale. This has been the most common application of nanotechnology to
date. In particular, this miniaturization is predominant in the field of electronics. One of the
processes most used in this category is lithography, where materials such as silicon, a
semiconductor, are processed for electronic devices.One disadvantage of this process is the loss
of material during the various stages.
Bottom-Up [From bottom (small) to top (large)]: In this category we start with
nanometric structures, such as atoms or molecules, and through a process of selfassembly or
assembly, mechanisms or devices greater than the initial ones are created. This category is
considered the true nanotechnology and is beyond the limits of miniaturization, allowing
control of matter with extreme precision. Some of the production methods used in this category
are sol-gel, chemical vapor deposition, and laser pyrolysis. As we shall see, some of these
methods are used for the manufacture of carbon nanotubes (CNTs).

5. Applications of nanotechnology
The new nano world opens the door to more creative and, why not, unusual applications
making use of the new features and phenomena observed at the nanoscale.Scientists around the
world are constantly working on new ideas, mechanisms,and technologies that promise to
effectively make the next industrial revolution a reality.
The applications cover many areas, from the simplest such as food to the most
complex such as space. Several products based on nanotechnology are already available
on the market. In this section, we present some of the existing and envisioned
applications in various areas.

5.1. Aviation and space

Using CNTs, researchers plan to build a space elevator, a space transportation system that
extends from the Earths surface into space via a cable of length between 40,000 and 96,000 km .
In space, the cable will be attached to a counterweight. The idea of building a space elevator was
presented in a 1960 article by Yuri N. Artsutanov. It is believed that the technology that will
eventually make this visionary idea possible is the use of CNTs, one of the most resistant
materials known to humans. The main purpose of the space elevator is to reduce the cost of
shipping (launching) materials to the low earth orbit.

5.2. Medicine
While most applications of nanotechnology in medicine are still under development,
nano-silver crystals are already used as anti-microbial agents for the treatment of wounds.
Studies have shown that quantum dots (QD), particles with interesting optical and electronic
properties, are able to selectively bind to cancer cells and mark them. In this case the QD act as
fluorescent tags. To transport the QD to diseased cells, researchers use a nanostructure that easily
attaches to the plasma membrane of cells, known as dendrimer.
In future, the use of dendrimers and QD coupled with other molecules such as folic acid
could be used for the early diagnosis of cancer and also could be used as carriers for specific
drugs against the disease itself, revolutionizing the early diagnosis and treatment that currently
exist for this disease. The use of nanoparticles to deliver chemotherapy drugs directly into tumor
cells minimizes damage to healthy cells . Following this same logic, the goal is the synthesis of
nanocapsules that concentrate the energy of infrared light and X-rays to destroy cancer cells with
minimal damage to the surrounding cells. Yet, scientists are working on the preparation of
nanoparticles that can bind to cells infected with various diseases.
The healing process of a broken bone is long and tedious. The average time for healing a
bone is six weeks. Scientists in Japan have found that CNTs can help to speed this
process.During the experiments, CNTs were placed in contact with fractured bones of rats, and
the results show that CNTs help to regenerate bone tissue and reduce inflammation during
healing
Some research groups have focused on developing hemo-static materials based on
functionalized nanoparticles capable of aggregating platelets from blood flow.Hemostatic agents
are being increasingly used in variousprocedures such as hepatic, cardiovascular, spinal,
andorthopedic surgeries where hemorrhage control is essential to avoid severe blood loss.
Mineral zeolite materials absorb liquid in the wound area, thereby increasing the
concentration of coagulants to induce hemostasis. The activity of zeolite materials leads to an
exothermic reaction in wound bed, which has been addressed by embeddin gzeolite. in a surgical
mesh so it can be used as a compress to absorb water less exothermically by using ion exchange
technique and prehydration

5.3. Food
Some of the applications of nanotechnology are already being used in the food industry.
Reinforced clay nanocomposites are used in bottles, packages, and films for obtaining
impermeable barriers to gases such as oxygen, carbon dioxide, or moisture, reducing the
possibility of food spoilage.Boxes used to store foods are being enhanced with silver
nanoparticles. These nanoparticles eliminate bacteria from any food that was previously stored in
boxes, minimizing health risks due to bacterial infection. This technology is already a reality in
refrigerators manufactured in Europe.
In agriculture, researchers are studying the possibility of manufacturing pesticides
encapsulated in nanoparticles that will be released only in the stomach of insects, minimizing the
contamination of plants.

5.4. Electronics
One of the research efforts in this area involves the development of electrodes from
nanowires that allow the fabrication of flexible displays thinner than the current ones. This
technology involves using transistors made from transparent nanowires that are grown on glass
or thin films of flexible plastic. The use of these nanowires allowed the creation of active-matrix
displays similar to those in televisions and computer monitors.
An active-matrix display is able to precisely direct the flow of electricity to produce the
image since each pixel has its own control circuit . A unique aspect of these new displays is that
they are transparent until pixels are activated. The fabrication of integrated circuits with
components such as nanosized nanotransistors will increase the density of transistors in
integrated circuits . In addition, there is ongoing work on the development of self-aligned
nanostructures for the manufacture of nanoscale integrated circuits. All future applications of
nanotechnology in electronics, mentioned above, will provide us with electronics such as cell
phones, MP3s, laptops, etc., that are smaller, lighter, and modern

5.5 Energy
Sectors related to energy such as fuel cells, solar cells, batteries, and fuel are now being
enhanced by nanotechnology. A major option for power generation is the use of fuel cells.
Platinum, a very expensive material, is the most widely used catalyst in fuel cells. The use of
platinum nanoparticles reduces the amount of material needed due to a large increase in the
surface area and consequently reactivity.
Studies show that increase in the surface area and catalytic efficiency can be obtained
by depositing platinum on alumina pores. Furthermore, catalysts will be incorporated into CNTs.
Another way to increase the efficiency of fuel cells is through the use of nano-projected
hydrocarbon membranes. Fuel cells became lowcost and high efficient.

5.6.Ecology
Nanotechnology can be used to optimize materials,for example plastics or metals with
carbon nanotubes(CNTs),will make airplanes and vehicles lighter and therefore make a
reduction in the fuel consumption.
When nano-scale carbon will be added to modern automobile tires lead store inforce
thematerial and reduce rolling resistance. This makes a fuelsaving of up to 10%.
Nanomaterial protection products such as fuel or motor oil additives can reduce fuel
consumption of vehicles and extend engine life.
Nanotechnology may help to increase the efficiency and decrease the cost of tapping
solar energy.

6.Implementing Nanotechnology Solutions to Water Issues in Africa

Africa is the most water-stressed continent in the world and it has already been predicted
that there will be a water crisis by 2025 on the continent.The implementation of nanotechnology
in the improvement of water quality will generally be based on a study that was carried out in
South Africa .The researchers used nanostructured membranes whose pore sizes were less than
two nanometers. They tested a nanomembrane technology unit for the removal of nitrate,
chloride, fluoride, sulphate, calcium, and magnesium ion pollutants from groundwater, and
monitored rural consumer knowledge and attitude to water purification
Two famous scientists successfully implemented a nanomembrane brackish groundwater
treatment project in the North West Province of South Africa at Madibogo village (a settlement
where there is a very poor infrastructure and very little economic activity).The successful
implementation of a nanotechnology for the improvement of water quality can be achieved by
addressing four factors: community involvement, community need, infrastructure, and capacity
development.

7.Summary
As a result, many materials sometimes start to display surprising properties. The strength
of nanomaterials, their ability to conduct electricity and rate of reactivity increase dramatically.
For example,silver shows increased anti-microbial properties,inert materials like platinum and
gold become catalysts,while stable materials like aluminum become combustible. These new
discovered properties of nanoscale materials have opened an exciting fields of study and
applications in areas that can improve the quality of human life in both fields of energy and
health.
We live in a rapidly changing world. Technological advances are increasing productivity
and income, quality of life, and life expectancy, in the developed world, that is. The truth is that
technological development is focused on meeting the wants of rich consumers. Scant attention is
paid to the vital needs of people in the developing world.

,,Theres plenty of room at the bottom

Richard Feynman

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