Nanotech entry makes a quantum changeNanotech entry makes a quantum change
TIMES NEWS NETWORK[ MONDAY, JANUARY 01, 2007 03:04:36 AM]
While you will keep hearing about the new moves (and the misses) that Google, Microsoft, IBM, Intel, Oracle, Infosys, TCS, Wipro and others of the ilk make, it will be ‘nanotech’ that people will add to their tech vocabulary in 2007. That’s because nanotech (engineering materials at less than one billionth of a metre or the size of three to five atoms), isn’t just a lab experiment anymore but is spreading fast, in some exciting ways.
Early in 2007 IIT Delhi is holding a workshop to throw light on nanotech’s progress. Globally, about $18 billion has been invested in various nanotech related projects. The US-based National Science Foundation predicts the global market for nanotechnology-related products and services will be $1 trillion in 2015.
You have probably heard about nano materials and nano fibres being used in sun screen lotions, quick-drying paints, car bumpers or even in your pants. There are many new dazzling applications set to take off commercially.
Canada-based Nucryst Pharmaceuticals has engineered silver particles into infection-fighting bandages for burn victims. The US-based Nano-Tex makes cotton pants that repel water, now sold by Gap.
Companies are talking about engineering diapers that never smell. Nano-materials are already being used, in a small way, in computers, stain-resistant fabrics, sports equipment and medical diagnostic tests. Nano-material use in such products will become bigger in 2007. Scientists hope to use nano-materials to help clean up polluted sites.
Another interesting application will be in improving LCD computer monitors. LCD monitors are replacing old, bulky, cathode-ray-tube (CRT) screens. But people still like CRTs for their excellent colour rendition, wide viewing angles, and fast response time.
These features are now coming to the flat screen in the form of CRT-like field-emission displays, which, rather than using an electron gun a foot-and-a-half behind the screen, light up pixels with millions of electron emitters placed within millimeters of the screen. Canon, Toshiba and Motorola are using these to make better LCD screens for computers and TVs.
Nanotech is enabling other types of displays as well. The US-based QD Vision, is developing ultra-thin and potentially flexible displays based on nanoscale semiconductor crystals called quantum dots. These would require much less
energy than LCDs and feature more-vivid colours.
Even as LCD screens get better, nano tech will also ensure that you don’t need to carry chargers for portable music players and cell phones. Researchers have developed zinc-oxide nanowires that can generate electricity from body movements. Guess what can this do?
You could be wearing iPod (or any other MP3 player) charging sneakers in 2007. When the nanowires flex in response to jolts from walking or other movements, electronic charges shift in the material, creating electric potential, or voltage. This leads to an electrical current once the nanowire is connected to a circuit. And that’s just the beginning of nanotech in our daily lives.