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Nanotechnology is interesting information. Research work "nanotechnology in our lives". Computers and microelectronics

It's hard to imagine a future without nanotechnology. The control of matter at the level of atoms and molecules paved the way for most of the most incredible discoveries in chemistry, biology and medicine. But the possibilities of nanotechnology are much broader and have not yet been fully explored.

10. Making films

If it had not been for the invention of the scanning tunneling microscope (STM) in 1980, the field of nanotechnology would have remained a mere fantasy for scientists. Using a microscope, scientists were able to study the structure of matter in a way that would not be possible with conventional optical microscopes, which could not provide atomic precision.
The amazing power of the scanning microscope was demonstrated by researchers at IBM when they created A Boy and His Atom, the world's smallest animated film. It was created by moving individual atoms of matter across a copper surface. For 90 seconds, a boy of carbon monoxide molecules could play with a ball, dance and bounce on a trampoline. The entire plot of the film, consisting of 202 frames, took place on an area measuring 1/1000 of the thickness of a human hair. The scientists moved the atoms using an electrically charged and very sharp stylus, at the tip of which was one atom as a tip. Such a stylus is not only able to separate the molecule, but also move it to the desired place and position.

Over the past decade, the cost of producing oil around the world has increased, but efficiency has not increased. The fact is that when oil production is conserved by an oil company in a certain place, a little less than half of the previously produced oil remains in the bowels of the earth. But these deposits are difficult and expensive to get to. Fortunately, scientists from China have come up with a way to solve this problem by improving the existing drilling method. The originality of the method lies in the fact that water is pumped into the pores of the oil-bearing rock, which pushes the oil out under pressure. But this technique has its own difficulties, since after the oil is displaced, the previously injected water will begin to come out. And so, in order to prevent such an effect, Chinese scientists Peng and Ming Yuan Li proposed the idea of mixing water with nanoparticles that could close the pores in the rock, allowing water to choose narrower passages to push oil out.

The image on a computer screen is rendered in pixels - tiny dots. The number of such dots, rather than their size or shape, affects the image quality. If you increase the number of pixels on traditional monitors, then it is automatically necessary to increase the size of the screen itself. Leading manufacturers are just busy selling large screens to the consumer.
Understanding the promise of nanopixels, researchers at the University of Oxford came up with a way to create pixels several hundred nanometers in diameter. During the experiment, when scientists sandwiched between transparent electrodes several layers, 300 by 300 nanometers each, of the GST material as a pixel, they received an image of high quality and high contrast. Nanopixels, due to their tiny size, will be much more practical than traditional ones and can become the basis for the development of optical technologies, for example, smart glasses, artificial retina and a folding screen. In addition, nanotechnology is not energy-intensive, since it is capable of updating only part of the screen to transmit an image, which requires less energy.

Experimenting with gold nanoparticles, scientists at the University of California noticed that when stretched or squeezed, the color of the gold thread changes in an amazing way from bright blue to purple and red. They came up with the idea to create special sensors made of gold nanoparticles to indicate certain processes that will affect the particles in one way or another. For example, if you install such a sensor on furniture, it will be possible to determine whether a person is sitting or sleeping.
To create such sensors, scientists added gold nanoparticles to a plastic film. The moment the film was exposed, it stretched, and the gold nanoparticles changed color. When pressed lightly, the sensor turned purple, and when pressed hard, it turned red. Silver particles, for example, can also change color, but to yellow. Such sensors, despite the use of precious metals, will not be expensive, since their size is negligible.

6. Charge your phone

Whatever model or brand the phone or smartphone, iPhone or Samsung is, each of them has a significant drawback - battery life and charging time. Israeli scientists have managed to create a battery that lasts 30 seconds thanks to a discovery in the field of medicine. The fact is that while studying Alzheimer's disease at the University of Tel Aviv, scientists discovered the ability of peptide molecules that cause disease to accumulate an electric charge. StoreDot is interested in this discovery as it has long been working in the field of practical applications of nanotechnology, and its researchers have developed NanoDots technology for efficient and longer battery life of smartphones. During a demonstration at Microsoft's ThinkNext Achievements Showcase, a Samsung Galaxy S3 phone battery was charged from 0 to 100% in less than a minute.

5. Smart drug delivery

Some medical companies, realizing the threat of the spread of diseases such as cancer, the treatment of which often becomes ineffective and untimely, have started researching cheap and effective ways to combat them. One such company, Immusoft, has become interested in developing methods for delivering drugs to the body. Their revolutionary approach is based on the principle that the human body, with the help of the immune system, is able to produce the desired drug itself, thereby saving billions of dollars in the production of drugs by pharmaceutical companies and therapies. The human immune system will be "reprogrammed" at the level of genetic information using a special nano-sized capsule, as a result, the cells will begin to produce their own medicine. The method has so far been presented only in the form of theoretical developments, although experiments on mice have been successful. If effective, the method will accelerate recovery and reduce the cost of treating serious diseases.

Electromagnetic waves, the basis of modern communication technologies, are not a reliable means, since any electromagnetic impulse can not only disrupt the operation of a communication satellite, but also disable it. An unexpected solution to this problem was proposed by scientists from the University of Warwick, England, and the University of York, Canada. The solution was prompted by scientists from nature itself, namely, how animals communicate at a distance using the smell with which they encode a message. Scientists also tried to code the molecules of the evaporating alcohol using revolutionary communication technology, and sent a message that read: "Oh, Canada."
To encode, transmit and receive such a message, you need a transmitter and a receiver. A text message is typed on the transmitter using the Arduino One (microcontroller for encoding), which converts the text through binary code. This message is recognized by an electronic spray with alcohol, which it replaces "1" with one injection, and "0" - as a space. A chemical sensor receiver then picks up the alcohol in the air and decodes it into text. The message covered a distance of several meters in open space. If the technology is improved, then a person will be able to transmit messages to hard-to-reach places, for example, tunnels or pipelines, where electromagnetic waves are useless.

Computer techologies over the past decade have made a huge leap forward in terms of capacity and storage capacity. At one time, 50 years ago, such a leap was predicted by James Moore. The corresponding law was even named after him. But modern physicists, namely Michio Kaku, declare that the law will cease to work, since the power and capacity of computing technology does not match existing production technologies.
Scientists are now forced to look for alternative solutions to this problem. For example, researchers at RMIT University in Melbourne, led by Sharata Srirama, are already on their way to creating devices that will mimic the work of the human brain, namely the storage department. The role of the "brain" is played by a nanofilm chemically programmed to store electric charges according to the "on" or "off" principle. Film 10,000 times thinner than a human hair will be a key factor in the development of revolutionary storage devices.

2. Nanotechnology in the service of art

The prospects associated with the application of nanotechnology in science have long fascinated society, but the possibilities are so great that they cannot be limited to such areas as medicine, biology and technology. The use of nanotechnology in art will lead to the emergence of nano-art - the creation of a tiny world under a microscope that humans will perceive in a completely different way. Nano art implies a link between science and art. A striking example of this connection is the portrait of the US president called "Nanobama", created in 2008 by a mechanical engineer at the University of Michigan. The portrait is made of 150 nanotubes, and his face is less than 0.5 millimeters.

1. New records

The man worked hard to create something bigger, fastest in speed, and strongest in strength and power. When you need to create something very small, then you cannot do without nanotechnology. For example, thanks to nanotechnology, the world's smallest book, Teeny Ted From Turnip, has been printed. Its dimensions are 70x100 micrometers. The book itself consists of 30 pages, on which are placed letters of crystalline silicon. The cost of the book is estimated at 15,000 dollars, and to read it you will need an equally expensive microscope.

Nanotechnology is a field of fundamental and applied science and technology that deals with a set of theoretical substantiation, practical methods of research, analysis and synthesis, as well as methods of production and use of products with a given atomic structure by means of controlled manipulation of individual atoms and molecules.

History

Many sources, primarily English-speaking, associate the first mention of the methods, which will later be called nanotechnology, with the famous speech of Richard Feynman "There's Plenty of Room at the Bottom", made by him in 1959 at the California Institute of Technology at the annual meeting of the American Physical Society. Richard Feynman suggested that it is possible to mechanically move single atoms using a manipulator of the appropriate size, at least such a process would not contradict the physical laws known to date.

The last stage - the resulting mechanism will assemble its copy from individual atoms. In principle, the number of such copies is unlimited; it will be possible to create an arbitrary number of such machines in a short time. These machines will be able to assemble macro things in the same way, by atomic assembly. This will make things an order of magnitude cheaper - such robots (nanorobots) will need to be given only the required number of molecules and energy, and write a program to assemble the necessary items. So far, no one has been able to refute this possibility, but no one has yet succeeded in creating such mechanisms. In the course of a theoretical study of this possibility, hypothetical doomsday scenarios appeared, which suggest that nanorobots will absorb the entire biomass of the Earth, carrying out their self-reproduction program (the so-called "gray slime" or "gray slime").

The first assumptions about the possibility of studying objects at the atomic level can be found in the book "Opticks" by Isaac Newton, published in 1704. In the book, Newton expresses the hope that the microscopes of the future will someday be able to explore the "mysteries of corpuscles."

For the first time the term "nanotechnology" was used by Norio Taniguchi in 1974. He called this term the production of products several nanometers in size. In the 1980s, the term was used by Eric K. Drexler in his books Engines of Creation: The Coming Era of Nanotechnology and Nanosystems: Molecular Machinery, Manufacturing, and Computation.

What is nanotechnology capable of?

Here are just some of the areas where nanotechnology is promising breakthroughs:

Medicine

Nanosensors will provide advancements in the early diagnosis of diseases. This will increase your chances of recovery. We can defeat cancer and other diseases. Old cancer drugs killed not only diseased cells, but also healthy ones. With the help of nanotechnology, the drug will be delivered directly to the diseased cell.

DNA-nanotechnology- use specific bases of DNA molecules and nucleic acids to create well-defined structures on their basis. Industrial synthesis of molecules of drugs and pharmacological preparations of a well-defined form (bis-peptides).

At the beginning of 2000, thanks to the rapid progress in the technology of manufacturing nanosized particles, an impetus was given to the development of a new field of nanotechnology - nanoplasmonics... It turned out to be possible to transmit electromagnetic radiation along a chain of metal nanoparticles using the excitation of plasmon oscillations.

Construction

Nanosensors of building structures will monitor their strength and detect any threats to their integrity. Objects built using nanotechnology will be able to last five times longer than modern structures. The houses will adapt to the needs of the residents, keeping them cool in the summer and keeping them warm in the winter.

Energy

We will be less dependent on oil and gas. Modern solar panels have an efficiency of about 20%. With the use of nanotechnology, it can grow 2-3 times. Thin nanofilms on the roof and walls can provide energy to the entire house (if, of course, there is enough sun).

Mechanical engineering

All bulky equipment will be replaced by robots - easily controlled devices. They will be able to create any mechanisms at the level of atoms and molecules. For the production of machines, new nanomaterials will be used that can reduce friction, protect parts from damage, and save energy. These are far from all areas in which nanotechnology can (and will!) Be applied. Scientists believe that the emergence of nanotechnology is the beginning of a new Scientific and technological revolution, which will greatly change the world already in the 21st century. It is worth noting, however, that nanotechnology does not enter real practice very quickly. Not many devices (mainly electronics) work with nano. This is partly due to the high cost of nanotechnology and the low return on nanotechnology products.

Probably, already in the near future, with the help of nanotechnology, high-tech, mobile, easily controllable devices will be created that will successfully replace today's automated, but difficult to control and cumbersome technology. So, for example, over time, biorobots controlled by a computer will be able to perform the functions of today's bulky pumping stations.

DNA computer- a computing system using the computational capabilities of DNA molecules. Biomolecular Computing is a collective name for various techniques that are somehow related to DNA or RNA. In DNA computing, data is not presented in the form of zeros and ones, but in the form of a molecular structure built on the basis of a DNA helix. Role software special enzymes are used to read, copy, and manipulate data.
Atomic Force Microscope- scanning probe microscope high resolution based on the interaction of the tip of the cantilever (probe) with the surface of the sample under study. Unlike a scanning tunneling microscope (STM), it can examine both conductive and non-conductive surfaces even through a layer of liquid, which makes it possible to work with organic molecules (DNA). The spatial resolution of an atomic force microscope depends on the size of the cantilever and the curvature of its tip. The resolution reaches atomic horizontally and significantly exceeds it vertically.
Antenna-oscillator- On February 9, 2005, an antenna-oscillator with dimensions of the order of 1 micron was obtained at the laboratory of Boston University. This device has 5,000 million atoms and is capable of oscillating at a frequency of 1.49 gigahertz, which allows it to transmit huge amounts of information.

10 nanotechnologies with amazing potential

Try to remember some canon invention. Probably, someone now imagined a wheel, someone an airplane, and someone and an iPod. How many of you have thought about a completely new generation invention - nanotechnology? This world is poorly understood, but it has incredible potential to give us really fantastic things. Amazing thing: the direction of nanotechnology did not exist until 1975, even though scientists began working in this area much earlier.

The human naked eye is able to recognize objects up to 0.1 millimeter in size. Today we will talk about ten inventions that are 100,000 times smaller.

Electrically conductive liquid metal

Using electricity, you can make a simple alloy of liquid metal, consisting of gallium, iridium and tin, form complex shapes, or wind circles inside a Petri dish. We can say with some degree of probability that this is the material from which the famous cyborg of the T-1000 series, which we could see "Terminator 2", was created from.

“Soft alloy behaves like a smart shape that can deform on its own, if necessary, taking into account the changing environment in which it moves. Just as I could make a cyborg from a popular sci-fi movie, ”says Jin Li of Tsinghua University, one of the researchers involved in the project.

This metal is biomimetic, that is, it mimics biochemical reactions, although it is not itself a biological substance.

This metal can be controlled by electrical discharges. However, he himself is able to move independently, due to the emerging load imbalance, which is created by the difference in pressure between the front and back of each drop of this metal alloy. And although scientists believe that this process may be the key to converting chemical energy into mechanical energy, the molecular material is not going to be used to build evil cyborgs in the near future. The whole process of "magic" can only take place in sodium hydroxide solution or saline solution.

Nanoplastics

Researchers at the University of York are working on the creation of special patches that will be designed to deliver all the necessary drugs inside the body without the need for needles and syringes. Patches of quite normal size are glued to your hand, delivering a certain dose of nanoparticles of the drug (small enough to penetrate the hair follicles) into your body. Nanoparticles (each less than 20 nanometers in size) will themselves find harmful cells, kill them and will be excreted from the body along with other cells as a result of natural processes.

Scientists note that in the future, such nanoplastics can be used in the fight against one of the most terrible diseases on Earth - cancer. Unlike chemotherapy, which in such cases is most often an integral part of treatment, nanoplastics can individually find and destroy cancer cells while leaving healthy cells intact. The nanoplaster project was named "NanJect". It is being developed by Atif Sayed and Zakaria Hussein, who in 2013, while still students, received the necessary sponsorship through a crowdsourcing fundraising campaign.

Nanofilter for water

When this film is used in combination with a fine stainless steel mesh, the oil is repelled and the water in this place becomes pristine.

Interestingly, nature itself inspired scientists to create nanofilms. Also known as water lily, lotus leaves have opposite properties to nanofilm: instead of oil, they repel water. It is not the first time that scientists have been looking at these amazing plants for their no less amazing properties. This resulted, for example, in the creation of superhydrophobic materials in 2003. As for the nanofilm, the researchers are trying to create a material that mimics the surface of water lilies and enrich it with molecules of a special cleaning agent. The coating itself is invisible to the human eye. Manufacturing will be inexpensive at about $ 1 per square foot.

Submarine air purifier

Hardly anyone thought about what kind of air submarine crews have to breathe, except for the crew members themselves. Meanwhile, air purification from carbon dioxide must be carried out immediately, since in one voyage through the light crew of the submarine, the same air has to pass hundreds of times. To clean the air from carbon dioxide use amines, which have a very unpleasant odor. To address this issue, a purification technology called SAMMS (an abbreviation for Self-Assembled Monolayers on Mesoporous Supports) was created. It proposes the use of special nanoparticles embedded within ceramic granules. The substance has a porous structure due to which it absorbs excess carbon dioxide. Different types of SAMMS purification interact with different molecules in air, water and earth, however, all of these purification options are incredibly effective. Just one tablespoon of these porous ceramic granules is enough to clean an area the size of a soccer field.

Nanoconductors

Researchers at Northwestern University (USA) have figured out how to create an electrical conductor at the nanoscale. This conductor is a solid and tough nanoparticle that can be tuned to transmit electric current in various opposite directions. Research shows that each such nanoparticle is capable of emulating the operation of a "rectifier, switches and diodes." Each particle, 5 nanometers thick, is coated with a positively charged chemical and surrounded by negatively charged atoms. Applying an electrical discharge reconfigures negatively charged atoms around the nanoparticles.

The potential of the technology, scientists say, is unprecedented. On its basis it is possible to create materials "capable of independently changing for certain computer computational tasks." The use of this nanomaterial will actually "reprogram" the electronics of the future. Hardware upgrades will be as easy as software upgrades.

Nanotechnology charger

Once this thing is created, you no longer need to use any wired chargers. The new nanotechnology works like a sponge, only it does not absorb liquid. It sucks kinetic energy from the environment and directs it directly into your smartphone. The technology is based on the use of a piezoelectric material that generates electricity while under mechanical stress. The material is endowed with nanoscopic pores that turn it into a flexible sponge.

The official name of this device is "nanogenerator". Such nanogenerators may one day become part of every smartphone on the planet, or part of the dashboard of every car, and possibly part of every pocket of clothing - gadgets will be charged right there. In addition, the technology has the potential to be used on a larger scale, for example, in industrial equipment. At least that's what the researchers at the University of Wisconsin in Madison, who created this amazing nano-sponge, think.

Artificial retina

The Israeli company Nano Retina is developing an interface that will directly connect to the neurons of the eye and transmit the result of neural modeling to the brain, replacing the retina and returning vision to people.

An experiment on a blind chicken showed hope for the success of the project. The nanofilm allowed the chicken to see the light. True, the final stage of the development of an artificial retina for returning sight to people is still far away, but the progress in this direction cannot but rejoice. Nano Retina is not the only company that is engaged in such developments, but it is their technology that is currently seen as the most promising, efficient and adaptable. The last point is the most important, since we are talking about a product that will integrate into someone's eyes. Similar developments have shown that solid materials are unsuitable for such applications.

Since the technology is being developed at the nanotechnological level, it eliminates the use of metal and wires, as well as avoids low resolution of the simulated image.

Glowing clothes

Scientists in Shanghai have developed reflective threads that can be used in garments. The basis of each filament is a very thin stainless steel wire, which is coated with special nanoparticles, an electroluminescent polymer layer, and a protective sheath made of transparent nanotubes. The result is very light and flexible threads that can glow under the influence of their own electrochemical energy. At the same time, they work at a much lower power than conventional LEDs.

The disadvantage of this technology is that the threads have enough "light supply" for only a few hours. However, the developers of the material are optimistic that they will be able to increase the "resource" of their product at least a thousand times. Even if they succeed, the solution to another drawback is still in question. It will most likely not be possible to wash clothes based on such nanothreads.

Nano-needles for the restoration of internal organs

The nanoplastics we talked about above are designed specifically to replace needles. What if the needles themselves were only a few nanometers in size? If so, they could change the way we think about surgery, or at least significantly improve it.

More recently, scientists have conducted successful laboratory tests on mice. With the help of tiny needles, the researchers were able to inject nucleic acids into the organisms of rodents that promote the regeneration of organs and nerve cells and thereby restore the lost efficiency. When the needles perform their function, they remain in the body and are completely decomposed in a few days. At the same time, scientists did not find any side effects during operations to restore blood vessels of the muscles of the back of rodents using these special nano-needles.

If we take into account human cases, then such nano-needles can be used to deliver the necessary funds to the human body, for example, during organ transplantation. Special substances will prepare the surrounding tissues around the transplanted organ for quick recovery and exclude the possibility of rejection.

3D chemical printing

University of Illinois chemist Martin Burke is the real Willie Wonka from the world of chemistry. Using a collection of molecules of "building material" for various purposes, he can create a huge number of different chemical substances endowed with all sorts of "amazing and at the same time natural properties." For example, one such substance is ratanin, which can only be found in the very rare Peruvian flower.

The potential for synthesizing substances is so enormous that it will make it possible to produce molecules that are used in medicine to create LED diodes, solar cells and those chemical elements that even the best chemists on the planet took years to synthesize.

The capabilities of the current prototype 3D chemical printer are still limited. He is only able to create new drugs. However, Burke hopes that one day he will be able to create a consumer version of his amazing device that will be much more powerful. It is possible that in the future, such printers will act as a kind of home pharmacists.

Is nanotechnology a threat to human health or the environment?

There is not so much information on the negative effects of nanoparticles. In 2003, a study showed that carbon nanotubes can damage the lungs in mice and rats. A 2004 study showed that fullerenes can accumulate and cause brain damage in fish. But both studies used large doses of the substance under unusual conditions. According to one of the experts, chemist Kristen Kulinovski (USA), "it would be advisable to limit the exposure of these nanoparticles, despite the fact that currently there is no information about their threat to human health."

Some commentators have also argued that the widespread use of nanotechnology can lead to social and ethical risks. So, for example, if the use of nanotechnology initiates a new industrial revolution, it will lead to the loss of jobs. Moreover, nanotechnology can change the perception of a person, since their use will help prolong life and significantly increase the body's stability. “No one can deny that the widespread adoption of mobile phones and the Internet has brought about tremendous changes in society,” says Kristen Kulinovski. "Who will dare to say that nanotechnology will not have a stronger impact on society in the coming years?"

Russia's place among countries developing and producing nanotechnology

The world leaders in terms of total investment in nanotechnology are the EU countries, Japan and the United States. Recently, Russia, China, Brazil and India have significantly increased investments in this industry. In Russia, the amount of funding under the program "Development of the infrastructure of the nanoindustry in Russian Federation for 2008 - 2010 "will amount to 27.7 billion rubles.

The latest (2008) report by the London-based research firm Cientifica, called the Nanotechnology Outlook Report, reads literally the following about Russian investment: "Although the EU still ranks first in terms of investment, China and Russia have already overtaken the United States."

There are areas in nanotechnology where Russian scientists became the first in the world, having obtained results that laid the foundation for the development of new scientific trends.

Among them, one can single out the production of ultrafine nanomaterials, the design of one-electron devices, as well as work in the field of atomic force and scanning probe microscopy. Only at a special exhibition held as part of the XII St. Petersburg Economic Forum (2008), 80 specific developments were presented at once. Russia already produces a number of nanoproducts that are in demand on the market: nanomembranes, nanopowders, nanotubes. However, according to experts, in the commercialization of nanotechnological developments, Russia lags behind the United States and other developed countries by ten years.

Nanotechnology in art

A number of works by the American artist Natasha Vita-Mor are related to nanotechnology.

In contemporary art, a new direction “nanoart” (nano art) has emerged - an art form associated with the creation of sculptures (compositions) of micro- and nano-sizes (10-6 and 10-9 m, respectively) by an artist under the influence of chemical or physical processes of material processing , photographing the obtained nano-images using an electron microscope and processing black-and-white photographs in a graphics editor.

In the well-known work of the Russian writer N. Leskov "Levsha" (1881) there is a curious fragment: on each horseshoe a master's name is displayed: what Russian master did that horseshoe. " Magnification of 5,000,000 times is provided by modern electron and atomic force microscopes, which are considered the main tools of nanotechnology. Thus, the literary hero Lefty can be considered the first "nanotechnologist" in history.

Feynman's ideas on how to create and use nanomanipulators outlined by Feynman in his 1959 lecture “There's a lot of space down there” coincide almost textually with the fantastic story “Mikroruki” by the famous Soviet writer Boris Zhitkov, published in 1931. Some of the negative consequences of the uncontrolled development of nanotechnology are described in the works of M. Crichton ("The Roy"), S. Lem ("Inspection in Place" and "Peace on Earth"), S. Lukyanenko ("Nothing to Divide").

The protagonist of the novel "Transman" by Yuri Nikitin is the head of a nanotechnology corporation and the first person to experience the effects of medical nanorobots.

In the sci-fi series Stargate SG-1 and Stargate Atlantis, one of the most technologically advanced races is the two races of "replicators" that emerged from unsuccessful experiments using and describing various applications of nanotechnology. In The Day the Earth Stood Still, starring Keanu Reeves, an alien civilization pronounces humanity a death sentence and almost destroys everything on the planet with the help of self-replicating nanoreplikant-beetles devouring everything in its path.

Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation

Municipal educational institution

general education school - boarding school № 1 secondary (complete)

general education of Tomsk

ESSAY

on this topic: Nanotechnology in modern world

Performed: student of grade 8A

Sakhnenko Maria

Supervisor: Pahorukova D.P.

Physics teacher

Tomsk 2010

INTRODUCTION

Currently, few people know what nanotechnology is, although the future lies behind this science. The main goal of my work is to get acquainted with nanotechnology. I also want to find out the application of this science in various industries and find out if nanotechnology can be dangerous to humans.

The field of science and technology called nanotechnology appeared relatively recently. The prospects for this science are immense. The particle "nano" itself means one billionth of any value. For example, a nanometer is one billionth of a meter. These sizes are similar to those of molecules and atoms. The precise definition of nanotechnology is as follows: nanotechnology is technologies that manipulate matter at the level of atoms and molecules (therefore, nanotechnology is also called molecular technology). The impetus for the development of nanotechnology was a lecture by Richard Feynman, in which he scientifically proves that from the point of view of physics there are no obstacles to creating things directly from atoms. To denote a means of efficiently manipulating atoms, the concept of an assembler was introduced - a molecular nanomachine that can build any molecular structure. An example of a natural assembler is the ribosome, which synthesizes protein in living organisms. Obviously, nanotechnology is not just a separate piece of knowledge; it is a large-scale, comprehensive area of research related to the fundamental sciences. We can say that almost any subject, of those that are studied at school, one way or another will be associated with the technologies of the future. The most obvious is the connection of “nano” with physics, chemistry and biology. Apparently, it is these sciences that will receive the greatest impetus for development in connection with the approaching nanotechnical revolution.

1. NANOTECHNOLOGY IN THE MODERN WORLD

1.1 The history of the emergence of nanotechnology

The grandfather of nanotechnology can be considered the Greek philosopher Democritus. He first used the word “atom” to describe the smallest particle of matter. For more than twenty centuries, people have been trying to penetrate the secret of the structure of this particle. The solution to this problem, unbearable for many generations of physicists, became possible in the first half of the twentieth century after the creation of an electron microscope by German physicists Max Knoll and Ernst Ruska, which made it possible for the first time to study nanoobjects.

Many sources, primarily in English, the first mention of the methods, which will later be called nanotechnology, are associated with the famous speech of Richard Feynman "There's a lot of space down there" (English "Plenty of Roo at the Bottom"), made by him in 1959 in California Institute of Technology at the annual meeting of the American Physical Society. Richard Feynman suggested that it is possible to mechanically move single atoms using a manipulator of the appropriate size, at least such a process would not contradict the physical laws known to date.

He suggested doing this manipulator in the following way. It is necessary to build a mechanism that would create its own copy, only an order of magnitude smaller. The created smaller mechanism must again create its own copy, again an order of magnitude smaller, and so on until the dimensions of the mechanism are commensurate with the size of the order of one atom. In this case, it will be necessary to make changes in the structure of this mechanism, since the forces of gravity acting in the macroworld will exert less and less influence, and the forces of intermolecular interactions will more and more affect the operation of the mechanism. The last stage - the resulting mechanism will assemble its copy from individual atoms. In principle, the number of such copies is unlimited; it will be possible to create an arbitrary number of such machines in a short time. These machines will be able to assemble macro things in the same way, by atomic assembly. This will make things an order of magnitude cheaper - such robots (nanorobots) will need to be given only the required number of molecules and energy, and write a program to assemble the necessary items. So far, no one has been able to refute this possibility, but no one has yet succeeded in creating such mechanisms. The fundamental disadvantage of such a robot is the impossibility of creating a mechanism from one atom.

Here is how R. Feynman described his alleged manipulator:

I think about creating an electrically controlled system , which uses conventionally manufactured "service robots" in the form of four times reduced copies of the "hands" of the operator. Such micro-mechanisms will be able to easily perform operations at a reduced scale. I'm talking about tiny robots equipped with servo motors and small “hands” that can tighten equally small bolts and nuts, drill very small holes, etc. In short, they can do all the work on a 1: 4 scale. To do this, of course, you first need to make the necessary mechanisms, tools and manipulator arms in one fourth of the usual size (in fact, it is clear that this means a reduction in all contact surfaces by a factor of 16). As a final step, these devices will be equipped with servo motors (16 times reduced in power) and connected to a conventional electrical control system. After that, it will be possible to use the manipulator arms, reduced by 16 times! The scope of application of such microrobots, as well as micromachines, can be quite wide - from surgical operations to transportation and processing of radioactive materials. I hope that the principle of the proposed program, as well as the unexpected problems and brilliant opportunities associated with it, are understood. Moreover, one can think about the possibility of a further significant reduction in the scale, which, of course, will require further structural changes and modifications (by the way, at a certain stage, it may be necessary to abandon the "hands" of the usual form), but will make it possible to manufacture new, much more advanced devices of the described type. Nothing prevents you from continuing this process and creating as many tiny machines as you like, since there are no restrictions associated with the placement of machines or their material consumption. Their volume will always be much less than the volume of the prototype. It is easy to calculate that the total volume of 1 million machine tools reduced by a factor of 4000 (and therefore the mass of materials used for manufacturing) will be less than 2% of the volume and mass of a conventional machine of normal dimensions. It is clear that this immediately removes the problem of the cost of materials. In principle, it would be possible to organize millions of identical miniature factories, on which tiny machines would continuously drill holes, stamp parts, etc. As we decrease in size, we will constantly encounter very unusual physical phenomena. Everything that you have to meet in life depends on large-scale factors. In addition, there is also the problem of "sticking" of materials under the action of intermolecular forces (the so-called van der Waals forces), which can lead to effects unusual for macroscopic scales. For example, the nut will not separate from the bolt after loosening, and in some cases will stick tightly to the surface, etc. There are several physical problems of this type to keep in mind when designing and building microscopic mechanisms.

1.2. What is nanotechnology

Having appeared quite recently, nanotechnology is increasingly entering the field scientific research, and from it into our daily life. The developments of scientists are increasingly dealing with objects of the microworld, atoms, molecules, molecular chains. Artificially created nanoobjects constantly surprise researchers with their properties and promise the most unexpected prospects for their application.

The main unit of measurement in nanotechnology research is the nanometer - a billionth of a meter. These units are used to measure molecules and viruses, and now the elements of a new generation of computer chips. It is at the nanoscale that all basic physical processes that determine macrointeractions take place.

Nature itself pushes a person to the idea of creating nanoobjects. Any bacteria, in fact, is an organism consisting of nanomachines: DNA and RNA copy and transmit information, ribosomes form proteins from amino acids, mitochondria produce energy. It is obvious that at this stage in the development of science, it occurs to scientists to copy and improve these phenomena.

Introduction 3

1. The emergence and development of nanoscience 4

2. Natural nanoobjects and nanoeffects 6

3. Fundamental provisions 9

3.1 Scanning Probe Microscopy -

3.2 Scanning tunnel microscopy -

4. Nanomaterials 11

4.1 Fullerenes -

4.2 Fullerites -

4.3 Carbon nanotubes -

4.4 Heavy-duty materials 12

4.5 Highly conductive materials -

4.6 Nanoclusters -

4.7 Graphene 13

5. Applied Nanotechnology 14

5.1 Incremental nanotechnology -

5.2 Evolutionary nanotechnology 17

5.3 Radical nanotechnology -

6. Prospects for the development of nanoscience 18

7. Criticism of nanotechnology 19

Conclusion 20

References 21

Introduction

According to the Encyclopedic Dictionary, a technology is a set of methods of processing, manufacturing, changing the state, properties, form of raw materials, materials or semi-finished products carried out in the process of manufacturing products.

The peculiarity of nanotechnology lies in the fact that the processes under consideration and the actions performed take place in the nanometer range of spatial dimensions. "Raw materials" are individual atoms, molecules, molecular systems, and not micron or macroscopic volumes of material that are customary in traditional technology, containing at least billions of atoms and molecules. Unlike traditional technology, nanotechnology is characterized by an "individual" approach, in which external control reaches individual atoms and molecules, which makes it possible to create from them both "defect-free" materials with fundamentally new physicochemical and biological properties, and new classes of devices with characteristic nanometer dimensions. The concept of "nanotechnology" has not yet become established. Apparently, the following working definition can be followed.

Nanotechnology is an interdisciplinary field of science in which the laws of physical and chemical processes in spatial regions of nanometer sizes are studied in order to control individual atoms, molecules, molecular systems when creating new molecules, nanostructures, nano-devices and materials with special physical, chemical and biological properties.

Analysis of the current state of the rapidly developing region allows us to single out a number of the most important areas in it.

Molecular design. Dissection of existing molecules and synthesis of new molecules in highly inhomogeneous electromagnetic fields.

Materials Science. Creation of "defect-free" high-strength materials, materials with high conductivity.

Instrumentation. Creation of scanning tunneling microscopes, atomic force microscopes, magnetic force microscopes, multipoint systems for molecular design, miniature supersensitive sensors, nanorobots.

Electronics. Design of nanometer element base for next generation computers, nanowires, transistors, rectifiers, displays, acoustic systems.

Optics. Creation of nanolasers. Synthesis of multipoint systems with nanolasers.

Heterogeneous catalysis. Development of catalysts with nanostructures for classes of selective catalysis reactions.

Medicine. Designing nano-instrumentation for the destruction of viruses, local "repair" of organs, high-precision delivery of doses of drugs to specific places in a living organism.

Tribology. Determination of the relationship between the nanostructure of materials and friction forces and the use of this knowledge for the manufacture of promising friction pairs.

Controlled nuclear reactions. Nano particle accelerators, non-statistical nuclear reactions.

1. The emergence and development of nanoscience

Many sources, primarily in English, the first mention of the methods, which will later be called nanotechnology, are associated with the famous speech of Richard Feynman "There's a lot of space down there" (English "Plenty of Room at the Bottom"), made by him in 1959 in California Institute of Technology at the annual meeting of the American Physical Society. Richard Feynman suggested that it is possible to mechanically move single atoms using a manipulator of the appropriate size, at least such a process would not contradict the physical laws known to date.

He suggested doing this manipulator in the following way. It is necessary to build a mechanism that would create its own copy, only an order of magnitude smaller. The created smaller mechanism must again create its own copy, again an order of magnitude smaller, and so on until the dimensions of the mechanism are commensurate with the size of the order of one atom. In this case, it will be necessary to make changes in the structure of this mechanism, since the forces of gravity acting in the macroworld will exert less and less influence, and the forces of intermolecular interactions and van der Waals forces will more and more affect the operation of the mechanism. The last stage - the resulting mechanism will assemble its copy from individual atoms. In principle, the number of such copies is unlimited; it will be possible to create an arbitrary number of such machines in a short time. These machines will be able to assemble macro things in the same way, by atomic assembly. This will make things an order of magnitude cheaper - such robots (nanorobots) will need to be given only the required number of molecules and energy, and write a program to assemble the necessary items. So far, no one has been able to refute this possibility, but no one has yet succeeded in creating such mechanisms. Here is how R. Feynman described his alleged manipulator:

“I am thinking of creating an electrically controlled system that uses conventionally manufactured 'service robots' in the form of four times smaller replicas of the operator's 'hands'. Such micro-mechanisms can easily perform operations at a reduced scale. I'm talking about tiny robots equipped with servo motors and small “hands” that can tighten equally small bolts and nuts, drill very small holes, etc. In short, they can do all the work on a 1: 4 scale. To do this, of course, you first need to make the necessary mechanisms, tools and manipulator arms in one fourth of the usual size (in fact, it is clear that this means a reduction of all contact surfaces by a factor of 16). As a final step, these devices will be equipped with servo motors (16 times reduced in power) and connected to a conventional electrical control system. After that, it will be possible to use the manipulator arms, reduced by 16 times! The scope of application of such microrobots, as well as micromachines, can be quite wide - from surgical operations to the transportation and processing of radioactive materials. I hope that the principle of the proposed program, as well as the unexpected problems and brilliant opportunities associated with it, are understood. Moreover, one can think about the possibility of a further significant reduction in the scale, which, of course, will require further structural changes and modifications (by the way, at a certain stage, it may be necessary to abandon the "hands" of the usual form), but will make it possible to manufacture new, much more advanced devices of the described type. Nothing prevents you from continuing this process and creating as many tiny machines as you like, since there are no restrictions associated with the placement of machines or their material consumption. Their volume will always be much less than the volume of the prototype. It is easy to calculate that the total volume of 1 million machine tools reduced by a factor of 4000 (and therefore the mass of materials used to manufacture) will be less than 2% of the volume and mass of a conventional machine of normal dimensions. It is clear that this immediately removes the problem of the cost of materials. In principle, millions of identical miniature factories could be organized, on which tiny machines would continuously drill holes, stamp parts, etc. As we decrease in size, we will constantly encounter very unusual physical phenomena. Everything that you have to meet in life depends on large-scale factors. In addition, there is also the problem of "sticking" of materials under the action of intermolecular forces (the so-called van der Waals forces), which can lead to effects unusual for macroscopic scales. For example, the nut will not separate from the bolt after loosening, and in some cases will stick tightly to the surface, etc. There are several physical problems of this type that should be kept in mind when designing and building microscopic mechanisms. "

In the course of a theoretical study of this possibility, hypothetical doomsday scenarios appeared, which suggest that nanorobots will absorb the entire biomass of the Earth, performing their self-reproduction program (the so-called "gray slime" or "gray slime").

For the first time the term "nanotechnology" was used by Norio Taniguchi in 1974. He called this term the production of products several nanometers in size. In the 1980s, the term was used by Eric K. Drexler in his books: Machines of Creation: The Era of Nanotechnology is Coming. Central to his research was mathematical calculations, with the help of which it was possible to analyze the operation of a device several nanometers in size.

2. Natural nano-objects and nano-effects

How a great artist nature knows how

and with little money

achieve great effects.
(G. Heine, German poet, publicist, critic)

The world around us is filled with a variety of biological nanoobjects and nanoeffects, the nanometric essence of which we sometimes don’t even think about. For example, if the size of bacteria is measured in micrometers, then most viruses have sizes from 10 to 200 nm. Thus, the H3 N2 influenza virus, which caused an epidemic in 1957, which resulted in the deaths of 1 to 4 million people, is a sphere with a diameter of 80 to 120 nm.

Viruses are a unique natural product of nanobiotechnology. The core of the virus contains one negative ribonucleoprotein (RNP) chain in eight parts that encode ten viral proteins. Fragments of RNP have a common protein envelope that unites them and forms a nucleoprotein. On the surface of the virus there are protrusions (glycoproteins) - hemagglutinin (so named because of the ability to agglutinate red blood cells) and neuraminidase (an enzyme). Hemagglutinin provides the ability of the virus to attach to the cell.

The size of amino acids is about 1 nm, and the proteins themselves occupy a size niche in the range of 4-50 nm.

An object	Substance	Size, nm
Amino acid	Glycine (the smallest of the amino acids)
Amino acid	Tryptophan (the largest of the amino acids)
Nucleotide	Cytosine (the smallest amino acid found in DNA)
	Guanine Phosphate (the largest amino acid found in DNA)
	Adenosine Triphosphate (ATP, the energy source of the cell)
Molecule	Plant chlorophyll
	Human insulin (polypeptide hormone)
	Elastin (building material of cells)
	Hemoglobin (oxygen carrier)	7,0mira and RB ……………………………… 21-30 4. Practical application nanotechnology………………………………………...31-55 4.1 Nanotechnology... development directions modern materials science are nanomaterials and nanotechnology... TO nanotechnology can... Modern trends and new directions in polymer science Abstract >> Chemistry Without use nanotechnology... The nanoparticles used in the light-sensing film helped create modern prototype ..., in modern the world it is innovative sciences that are gaining more and more weight, in particular nanotechnology... In all the world ... Modern innovation policy of Russia Abstract >> Political Science This work deals with the topic " Modern innovation policy of Russia. "State ... the field of electronics and space. However, in modern the world the speed with which this stock is melting ... the level of world leaders. On nanotechnology(and this is one of ... Modern economic relations of the Russian Federation with European countries Abstract >> Economics Relations and Europe 3.2. Peculiarities modern international economic relations in ... monetary and financial relations. V modern the world especially relevant is globalization and ... -production center based on nanotechnology... In turn, noticeably ... Nanoindustry concept. Her role in modern society Abstract >> Economics Races of leading economies the world in research programs in the field nanotechnology... Russian market nanotechnology is on ... global competitiveness. V modern conditions for leading positions in the development nanotechnology China is also actively making claims ...

Medicine is the most exciting area for nanotechnology applications. Many cancer treatments that are currently being developed are based on fighting cancer at the cellular level. Researchers are showing very promising results from using gold nanoparticles in the treatment of various types of cancer. The particles are sent directly to the cancer cells and are heated using an infrared beam.

Delivery of nanoparticles is the biggest problem associated with their use in medicine. It is necessary to deliver nanoparticles to the affected cells without damaging healthy ones. Once the delivery system is defined (which is no longer easy in itself), the particles should help create a range of new non-invasive therapies that deal with the tumor without surgical trauma.

One solution for the delivery of nanoparticles could be tiny gold stars, which are being developed at Northwestern University. The stellate particles are coated with a drug called a DNA aptamer (a DNA molecule that can attach to desired molecular targets). Nanostars target proteins in cancer cells. The proteins helpfully deliver the stars to the core, and as soon as they attach to the target, a shot from the laser releases the drug from the nanostar, and it begins its core healing. The cell has no chance.

Whatever the delivery mechanism, nanotechnology could enable doctors to stop brain cancer without physically interfering with a patient's skull, or heal lung cancer without opening someone's chest.

You may be touching them right now

Regardless of what type of computer or device you use to read this article, you are most likely dealing with nanotechnology. Processors and memory components are made using nanomaterials, which are abundant on the market, and you can find antimicrobial coating on keyboards and mice.

In the near future, we may well see photonic crystals that will make it easier for us to read from tablet screens in the daytime, changing the color of the reflected sunlight rather than relying on the light emitted by the device. Organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) are already in the queue to surely replace LCDs as the universal standard for smartphone screens. In addition, a thin layer of nanoparticles would be a simple solution to protect your smartphone from death from accidentally dropping into water.

Soon, electronics will last three times longer on a single charge, just because tiny hairs in the form of filamentary nanocrystals are embedded in batteries. Not so long ago, we wrote that graphene batteries will completely solve the problem of charging smartphones, while graphene is a direct consequence of nanotechnology research.

You may already be wearing them

Since the early 2000s, the fashion industry has taken an interest in nanotechnology. And despite the fact that the public is not particularly interested in the possibility of charging smartphones directly from T-shirts, this direction is also developing. The idea of piezoelectric generators makes sense. Imagine a tent that could generate electricity from the slightest breezes of wind to charge your flashlight. How about a boat that draws electricity from every piece of its sail? Nanotechnology sewn into fabric makes sense.

However, not all ideas for using nanotechnology have been well received. Many questions and outrage have generated proposals to use nanoparticles to kill bacteria that cause unpleasant odors in clothes. Designers of sportswear rushed to implement this method, when they suddenly discovered that nanosilver particles kill not only harmful, but also beneficial bacteria (and therefore cannot be used in water purification, for example), and also causes birth defects in fish and other organisms.

At the end of 2011, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) authorized the use of nanosilver products only if their safety was clear - a decision that followed targeted public outrage. And if you are not intimidated by the fact that nanosilver is used as a pesticide, the EPA asks you to think twice about wearing clothes with these elements. Still, washing your clothes every couple of days is not so difficult.

Much of this is already in nature.

Want to pants that do not absorb water? Or how about an adhesive that allows you to climb up a glass wall? It is not difficult to buy these pants in the store, but to reveal the spider-man inside you, you will have to sweat a lot. And these two examples of nanotechnology already exist in nature.

Call it a dashing rider safety suit. Over the years, the textile industry has tried to develop waterproof fabrics. But this only happened when they started using whiskers. If you've ever seen raindrops dripping down a lotus flower - or other examples from under your nose - this is the work of natural whiskers. The leaf is covered with nanofibers that support the water droplets, preventing them from absorbing or wetting the leaf surface. By adding nanotubes to clothing fibers, manufacturers can create cotton, wool, or synthetic fabrics that won't absorb water.

When it comes to glass climbing, this product was born thanks to the development of Roberta Full(Robert Full) from Berkeley. By studying the gecko's fingers, the researchers found that each of the creature's toes is covered in nanofibers, which are so small and numerous that they use the force of van der Waals (intermolecular cohesion) to hold onto a smooth surface. Biologist Full, along with other engineers, replicated the leg-like mechanism of the gecko's toes that allowed the climber to climb buildings.

An important lesson here is that we have just started studying nanotechnology, which has long been used in nature. Now you need to learn how to make products that complement the living world, and do not damage it.

They can be in your food and other foods

Food is a zone that many people deliberately leave inaccessible to nanotechnology. Many people pay specifically to ensure that the meat they eat grazes in alpine meadows and breathes only clean air. Therefore, it is not surprising that they are enraged by the idea that they will eat food created with the participation of some artificial microparticles. But before you get worried, let's take a look at the practical applications of nanotechnology in the food industry.

Packaging and storage... Nanotechnology packaging will allow you to store food for longer, either by creating hermetically sealed walls, or by killing harmful bacteria that encroach on your lunch altogether. Look around. The market is full of refrigerators that use a silver nanoparticle coating that kills bacteria, and reusable containers do the trick too.

Color, smell and taste... Imagine that the taste, smell and color of food could be changed at the molecular level. This will create incredibly healthy food in a nice shell (imagine McDonald's food is healthier than oatmeal). Nevertheless, skeptics do not even want to hear about the fact that food will be artificially modified. But in vain.

Improving drugs... Take diabetics, for example. One day, nanotubes can be injected only once, and nanoparticles will independently monitor blood sugar levels, releasing a portion of insulin when needed. Until medicine has reached such heights, but one fine day, just imagine, just one injection stabilizes the condition of chronic patients, from HIV-infected people to people with migraines.

After all, remember these wonderful smartphones of yours. Would you like not to hug them, but to get rid of them? After all, with the same fingers you take the cookies and put them in your mouth. Together with the living creatures. Brr.