IDFuel, the Industrial Design Weblog - Post details: Tech Thursday: Know Your Nano

Tech Thursday: Know Your Nano

08/19/04

Take a second to dream of the good old days. Your products were made of plastic, wood, metal, ceramic, and maybe some paint. Only those super-perfectionist modelmakers used microscopes to put their models together. And you could count on the fact that, no matter what piece of your model you dropped in the shop, you could find it by doing a good sweeping.
Snap out of it. These days "nano" isn't something Mork says to Mindy. Engineered molecules and materials are more than just for computers. They could be the next big thing for your design. And your little Tech Thursday fairy is going to smooth out the wrinkles from all those times you fell asleep in chemistry.
Bucky Ball

You've been hearing about nanotechnology for what seems like an eternity. It's going to cure cancer. It's going to make cheap power. It's going to bring peace to the world. Well, it's probably not any of those things yet, but it is shaping up to be a serious killer app. Lets get down to business.

Macro, Micro, Nano

The nano in nanotech refers to the order of magnitude of the particle size that these technologies work with. One nano-meter is one billionth of a meter. Nanotechnology uses components which range from 1/10th to 100 nanometers across.
Most current products take one of three forms. Engineered molecules, like nanotubes or buckyballs were some of the first nano-objects created. Nano-particles, like the tiny bits of zinc oxide used in the sunscreen described below, are the same chemicals as their macro-sized counterparts, but have much different properties - Nano-zinc, for example is clear to visible light, while blocking UV. Lastly, coatings and sinterings made of nano-particles look like regular bulk materials, but can have highly controlled properties, and even some which seem contradictory, like stretchable, translucent conductors.

Far Out Man

Engineering the very small was originally proposed in 1959 by Richard Feynman, in a lecture at Caltech. In the years following that realization, many of the proposed applications were so outlandish that you might have wondered if it was all just hype. Molecular Assemblers were imagined that could build anything we could possibly imagine, molecule-by-molecule. Space elevators were proposed which could make space travel as inexpensive as a one hour plane flight. And, rearing it's ugly head was the prospect of a grey goo of micro-machines that would self-replicate and eventually consume every piece of matter on earth. Luckily, the reality which is developing is nowhere near this far-fetched. You might even be able to use some of it.

The Real Stuff

Most of the exciting new real-life nano-materials proposed things designers will welcome. High-density digital memory may soon be a reality, using many strategies, including minute melt spots on polymer plates, and flexing nanotube switches. These new memory chips will be super high data density, while using much less power, allowing for consumer electronics that we can't even imagine because of memory constraints. Metal rubber is an interesting material created with a novel nano-fabrication process. It is transparent, super flexible, and conducts electricity almost like metal. Imagine the jackets and who knows what else you could make out of that stuff. Nano-coatings, are being used to make no-wash glass, Anti-microbial fabrics, and electronic paper. What are some of the things you can expect from this new technology?

Pros:

Faster Reactions - This makes the silver anti-microbial coating mentioned above super potent.
Custom Tailored Properties - combine two sets of nano-particles to get the best of both worlds.
Super-Properties - High strength, conductivity, elasticity, chemical and fade resistance, and even semi-conducting can all be achieved, and magnified by the uniformity of the engineered material.

Cons:

Untested Human Health Risks - Very little research into the potential health risks of nano-particles has been done. Doctors and Scientists fear nano-particles' small size also would cause them to react more quickly in the body, and if they are carcinogenic or toxic, the effects would be magnified
Environmental Hazards - Besides having production methods similar to silicon chips, which are already causing environmental stress, there is a fear that the potential longevity of buckyballs and other nano-molecules could cause them to accumulate in the environment. If toxic, this could lead to problems like those attributed to Heavy metals and PCBs.

Learn more:

On the Web

Scientific American
Nanotech Wire
Nanotech-Now
The Forsight Institute

In the Books

Nano - This is not a real textbook, nor is it a real...anything. But, if you like pseudo-science thrillers like The DaVinci Code you might get a kick out of this, and maybe some ideas.

The Next Big Thing is Really Small; How Nanotechnology Will Change the Future of Your Business - A futurist's perspective on how nanotech will be relevant in the next decades. Lots of speculations about environmental implications.

Nanotechnology: A Gentle Introduction to the Next Big Idea - another simple read, to help you talk the talk a little.

Introduction to Nanotechnology - For those of you who want a little extra smartness, this is a survey-style textbook of the materials and processes of nanotech.

Permalink • 8 comments

Previous post: The Star of Onstar

Next post: Tripping the Apartment Fantastic

Tech Thursday: Know Your Nano

08/19/04

Search

Categories

Archives