Understanding the Fundamentals and Applications of Nanotechnologies
Nanotechnologies are the design, characterisation, production and application of structures, devices and systems by controlling shape and size at the nanometre scale.The nanometre scale is conventionally defined as 1 to 100 nm. A nanomaterial is an object that has at least one dimension in the nanometre scale (approximately 1 to 100 nm).
Nanomaterials can be of two types:
• non-intentionally-made nanomaterials; which refers to nano-sized particles or materials that belong naturally to the environment or that are produced by human activity without intention,
• intentionally-made nanomaterials; which refers to nanomaterials produced deliberately through a defined fabrication process.
Nanomaterials are larger than single atoms but smaller than bacteria and cells.
There are various reasons why nanoscience and nanotechnologies are so promising in materials, engineering and related sciences. First, at the nanometre scale, the properties of matter, such as energy, change. This is a direct consequence of the small size of nanomaterials, physically explained as quantum effects. The consequence is that a material when in a nano-sized form can assume properties which are very different from those when the same material is in a bulk form. The second exceptional property of nanomaterials is that they can be fabricated atom by atom by a process called bottomup. The information for this fabrication process is embedded in the material building blocks so that these can self-assemble in the final product.
Nanoscience is an ‘interdisciplinary science’, which means that it involves concepts of more than one discipline, such as chemistry, physics, etc. There are other disciplines that are inherently interdisciplinary, such as materials science , which cover, at the same time, concepts of chemistry and physics. Nanoscience further expands the borders of material science by adding biology and biochemistry to the mix.
The application of nanoscience to ‘practical’ devices is called nanotechnologies. Nanotechnologies are based on the manipulation, control and integration of atoms and molecules to form materials, structures, components, devices and systems at the nanoscale. Nanotechnologies are the application of nanoscience especially to industrial and commercial objectives. All industrial sectors rely on materials and devices made of atoms and molecules thus, in principle, all materials can be improved with nanomaterials, and all industries can benefit from nanotechnologies.
