TNT Immersion Essay - What is nanotechnology and what implications does it have for the future?
Nanotechnology is technology at the nano scale, 10-9 meters (That’s a billionth of a meter). This technology cannot be seen by the human eye, or with a normal microscope. An electron microscope must be used instead, as light is too big to reflect off material that is this small. To put this in perspective, a human hair at its smallest is usually 17 micrometers, which is still 1000 times larger than nanotechnology (Micrometers being 1 millionth of a meter). Now you might be thinking that something of this size is impossible to create, and only exists in science fiction. This is where you are wrong, nanotechnology is being used today, in zinc, windows and even cloths.
Nanotechnology is used in cloths to repel stains, chemicals and even water! This technology is called Nano fabrics, and is done by fusing 3 chemicals together through a chemical reaction, then fusing the produced chemical to the fabric by heating it up. The three chemicals have special properties, the first has “hooks” to grab the fabric, the second has “whiskers” to trap air and the third is used to hold the other two together. When a fourth is added, the three bind together into one nano particle. The Nano particles are placed on the fabric, and then heated, the heating causes the “hooks” to curl and take hold of the fabric. This works because the “Whiskers” trap air under them, stopping stains and water from making contact. Other nano particles have different reactions when heated, like the particles used in “Self Cleaning Glass”.
Self Cleaning Glass uses only two chemicals, one that's hydrophilic (loves water) and one that’s photocatalytic (Stimulated by UV Light) which reacts with organic material on the glass, turning it into carbon and water. This loosens the material on the window. Then when it rains the water sticks to the window better, and increases the surface area of each... [continues]
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(2012, 05). What Is Nanotechnology?. StudyMode.com. Retrieved 05, 2012, from http://www.studymode.com/essays/What-Is-Nanotechnology-992622.html
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