nanotechnology

The branch of technology that deals with dimensions and tolerances of less than 100 nanometres, especially the manipulation of individual atoms and molecules.

https://www.nano.gov/nanotech-101/what/definition 

One nanometre is a billionth of a meter, or 1X10^-9 of a meter

There are 25,400,000 nanometres in an inch

A sheet of newspaper is 100,000 nanometres thick

Carbon Nanotubes 

Fullerenes and Buckyballs 

Dendrimers 

Fine and Ultrafine Particulates in Air

Quantum Dots and Nanocrystals 

Titanium Dioxide nanoparticles 

Silver nanoparticles

Silver nanowire

 

 

We are able to manipulate individual atoms due to the use of STM (Scanning Tunnelling Microscopy) and AFM (Atomic Force Microscopy)

STM: http://www.nanoscience.com/technology/scanning-tunneling-microscopy/how-stm-works/#sthash.rKuinwlk.dpuf 

“STM works by scanning a very sharp metal wire tip over a surface. By bringing the tip very close to the surface, and by applying an electrical voltage to the tip or sample, we can image the surface at an extremely small scale.”

AFM: http://www.nanoscience.com/technology/afm-technology/how-afm-works/#sthash.L9Fk55AG.dpuf 

“Similar to how an STM works, a sharp tip is raster-scanned over a surface using a feedback loop to adjust parameters needed to image a surface. Unlike STM, the AFM does not need a conducting sample. Instead of using the quantum mechanical effect of tunnelling, atomic forces are used to map the tip-sample interaction.” 

 

http://www.understandingnano.com/nanotech-applications.html 

-          Screen display technology can be improved thought the use of Nanotechnology to increase clarity, whilst decreasing size, weight and power consumption

-          Increasing the density of memory chips on the Nano-scale level would allow for advancements in the total storage capacity of devices, Researchers are currently developing a memory chip to store 1 terabyte per square inch of electrical data

-          Solar cells would be able to be increased in surface area and efficiency by manipulating the component materials through nanotechnology, increasing the electricity generated per square inch of solar cells 

-          Nanotechnology can help to improve battery safety by modifying the electrode materials and conductive mediums

-          Increasing the shelf-life of batteries by using nanotechnology to separate the fluids from solid components inside the battery, allowing the charge to be maintained over a far longer time duration

-          Carbon nanotubes have been developed to replace anodes within lithium ion batteries which can improve the capacity by 10 fold

-          Nano technology is able to produce super-conductive materials allowing for more efficient electricity conduction and faster data transfer over these mediums

-          Increased the speed of re-charge to allow for faster battery regeneration and faster continued use

-          Battery technology advancements through the use of nanotechnology have the potential to allow new devices to be designed without the need for recharging

http://futureforall.org/nanotechnology/nanobots.html 

“Nanorobotics is the technology of creating machines or robots at or close to the microscopic scale of a nanometer (10−9 meters). More specifically, nanorobotics refers to the still largely hypothetical nanotechnology engineering discipline of designing and building nanorobots, devices ranging in size from 0.1-10 micrometers and constructed of nanoscale or molecular components.”

 

https://dzone.com/articles/meet-the-nanobots-that-could-combat-cancer 

“nanobots could be inserted into the bloodstream of the patient, from which they can administer a cancer drug with extreme precision.

The team believes that this approach would enable medicine to be applied to cancerous cells, and thus both increases the likelihood of success while also reducing the risk to other organs and healthy tissue surrounding the tumor.”