1. Nanotechnology

Category Archives: Nanotechnology

Nanotechnology – Applications – OSHA – Occupational Safety …

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Nanotechnology involves the understanding, manipulation, and control of matter at dimensions of roughly 1 to 100 nanometers. Nanotechnology encompasses science, engineering and technology and involves imaging, measuring, modeling, and manipulating matter at the nanoscale. The development of unique nanoscale structures has the potential to revolutionize industry, including electronics, medicine, and consumer products.

Examples of materials developed with nanotechnology include the following engineered nanomaterials:

Although the development and application of nanotechnology is primarily still in the research phase, some engineered nanomaterials are produced and used in commercial applications today. Examples of products that are produced currently using nanotechnologies include:

Informational Resources

National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), Department of Commerce (DOC). NIST, a non-regulatory agency created to promote U.S. industrial innovation and competitiveness, enables science and industry by developing measurement methods, instrumentation, standards, and data to support all phases of nanotechnology development. NIST's Center for Nanoscale Science and Technology operates the Nanofab, a shared-use facility providing economical access to state-of-the-art nanotechnology-measurement tools and nanofabrication, and a research program. The NIST nanotechnology webpage contains information on nanotechnology activities, news, developments and accomplishments, including the work of the Center.

A Nanotechnology Consumer Products Inventory. Project on Emerging Nanotechnologies at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars maintains an inventory of nanotechnology-based consumer products currently on the market.

National Cancer Institute (NCI), Exploring Nanotechnology in Cancer. This webpage includes information on the use of nanotechnology in the fight against cancer, including the use of nanotechnology in developing unique approaches to the diagnosis and treatment of cancer.

The Institute for Nanoelectronics and Computing. The Institute, created by NASA, is an engineering, technology and research center developing new devices for computation and sensing as well as new assembly and systems for NASA missions. The Institute's webpage provides information on workshops and programs, presentations, and the latest news on nanoelectronics.

Communication from the Commission - Towards a European Strategy for Nanotechnology. Commission of the European Communities (2004, December 5), 94 KB PDF, 25 pages. The communication describes a strategy for responsible development of nanotechnology, including potential uses of nanomaterials, worldwide research and development activities, investment in nanotechnology, and the need to integrate public and environmental risk assessment into research and development activities.

Opportunities and risks of Nanotechnologies. 2.61 MB PDF, 46 pages. The Allianz Center for Technology and Allianz Global Risks, in cooperation with the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) International Futures Programme, has reviewed the likely economic impact, investment possibilities, and potential risks of nanotechnologies from their perspective. The report includes a discussion on present and future areas of nanotechnology application as well as nanotechnology market prospects and opportunities in areas such as medicine, food and agriculture and energy.

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Nanotechnology - Applications - OSHA - Occupational Safety ...

Nanotechnology Products for Industry, Retail & Trade …

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Nanotechnology Solutions offers a wide range of goods to protect surfaces using nanotechnology. The unique and multifunctional surface finishes provide a long lasting protection on a chemical nanotechnological basis.

We are one of the first companies to specialise on research and distribution of nano-based surface sealants We offer a wide range of nano sealing products for private and professional use. All of our products are easy to use and long lasting.

Close collaboration with the best researchers and developers throughout Europe enables us to respond to the wishes and needs of our customers and partner companies.

Industrial processing companies have the option of getting 200 or 1000 litre barrels. Processing our sealant products increases the resale price of your products and services. We can develop products based on your requirements for you so you have the opportunity to take care during the development process before optimization.

A lot of retailers and traders are interested in having their own brand. We as a wholesale and direct partner of one of the biggest development centres for nanotechnology can give you the opportunity to distribute your own branded goods.

Germany as a location for innovation in the field of nanotechnology is with the world leader. This leading position we must use to significantly develop our products. For this purpose we use, depending on the requirement, different laboratories.

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Nanotechnology Products for Industry, Retail & Trade ...

Nanotube-Infused Clothes Could Disable Nerve Gas

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Since the use of nerve gas in World War II, these chemical weapons did not seen much action until Iraqi President Saddam Hussein used mustard gas against the Kurds in the 1980s. But then Sarin nerve gas showed up in Syria and suddenly nerve gas was back as a threat.

How Sarin Gas Works

Unlike guns or bombs, nerve gases are invisible, which makes them harder to detect. Scientists are working on a few solutions, including Angela Hight Walker of the National Institute of Standards and Technology and her colleagues. Theyve combined carbon nanotubes with a copper-based catalyst that breaks apart a key chemical bond in the class of nerve agents called organophosphatesthat includes Sarin. Although deadly if inhaled, these agents are also quite dangerous if they come into contact with the skin. Even clothing that contains the gas has to be thoroughly decontaminated before it can be worn again.

But the copper catalyst breaks molecular bonds in the gas, essentially splitting the molecules apart and reducing their potency.

Its well known that carbon nanotubes can be woven into fabrics and Walker and her colleagues think it is not too far-fetched to weave the copper-laced nanotubes into fabrics that destroy organophosphates before they ever make contact with a persons skin.

Deadliest Poisons Known To Man: Photos

The team still has further research to conduct before such clothing becomes a reality, among them whether it would be better to add the catalyst to the nanotubes before or after theyre woven into the fabric.

Wed also like to find ways to make the catalytic reaction go faster, which is always better, Hight Walker said in a press release. But our research group has been focusing on the fundamental science of nanoparticles for years, so we are in a good position to answer these questions.

via Physorg

Image: Molecular model of Sarin nerve gas. Credit: PASIEKA/Science Photo Library/Corbis

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Nanotube-Infused Clothes Could Disable Nerve Gas

Leading cfaed scientists organize international workshop about DNA-based microchips

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PUBLIC RELEASE DATE:

7-May-2014

Contact: Birgit Holthaus birgit.holthaus@tu-dresden.de 49-351-463-42848 Technische Universitt Dresden

Dresden's scientists are internationally renowned in the field of biomimetic material synthesis which uses biological principles such as molecular recognition and self-assembling for the tailor-made synthesis of new materials and structures. Therefore, the international workshop 'DNA-Based Nanotechnology: Digital Chemistry (DNATEC14)' hosted by the Max Planck Institute for the Physics of Complex Systems is well received within the global community. The workshop takes place from 5 to 9 Mai and will be organized with the help of the Center for Advancing Electronics Dresden (cfaed) of TU Dresden and Kurt Schwabe Institute for Measure and Sensor Technology e.V. Meinsberg.

"This promising future nanotechnology uses the genetic material carrier Deoxyribonucleic Acid (DNA) as a basic element for future electronic devices and sensors. We expect that the efficiency of the traditional silicon-based semiconductor technologies cannot be furthered in about ten years", workshop coordinator Prof. Michael Mertig, also Leader of the cfaed research Path 'Biomolecular-Assembled Circuits' (BAC), explains. "Hence, such innovative approaches are very interesting." About one hundred scientists are expected to attend the conference. The lecturers visit from the USA, France, Denmark, Netherlands, India, Italy, Japan, UK, Israel, and Germany. Amongst them are Ned Seeman of New York University, the founder of the research area of structured DNA-Nanotechnology, and Hiroshi Sugiyama of Kyoto University, who uses the so-called DNA-origami structures in a fascinating way for the analysis of DNA-protein-interdependencies.

The workshop focuses on nano-photonic structures for the future use in microelectronics, the use of artificial DNA-structures in biology, new sensor mechanisms and functional systems. For example, the internationally renowned DNA-expert Prof. Itamar Willner of The Hebrew University in Jerusalem will talk about DNA-based functional materials. The Israeli scientist is also 'Grand Professor' of cfaed and, in this role, is coaching young highly-talented scientists, e.g., cfaed research group leader Dr. Thorsten-Lars Schmidt. Dr. Schmidt will present a polyamide-based glue for double-stranded DNA and enzymatically produced oligonucleotides for structural DNA nanotechnology. Further talks will be held by cluster coordinator Prof. Gerhard Fettweis, Technische Universitt Dresden and Prof. Frank Jlicher of cfaed partner and host of the workshop Max Planck Institute for the Physics of Complex Systems.

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The Center for Advancing Electronics Dresden (cfaed) is the Cluster of Excellence for Microelectronics of Technische Universitt Dresden. This research platform unites eleven partner institutes with about 300 scientists who are working in the fields of electrical engineering, computer science, material science, physics, chemistry, biology, and mathematics.

http://www.mpipks-dresden.mpg.de/~dnatec14/

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Leading cfaed scientists organize international workshop about DNA-based microchips

Will Food Spoilage Smart Tags Render Best-By Dates Obsolete?

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By Isaac Fletcher, contributing writer, Food Online

New nanotechnology could provide an effective replacement to best-by dates by gauging ambient temperature and accurately indicating when food has gone bad

A research team led by Chao Zhang of Peking University in Beijing, China has developed a color-coded smart tag that employs nanotechnology to indicate when packaged food is in danger of spoiling or already spoiled. The kind of technology would serve as an effective supplement or replacement to the current method of sell-by dates. While the sell-by date provides the consumer with some useful information, they operate on a good deal of guesswork. Although the guesses are highly informed and accurate in ideal storage conditions, if the storage conditions are worse than the determiners of the sell-by date intended, the system is thrown off. The smart tags are intended to address this since they are designed to react to the actual storage conditions rather than how the product might or should have been stored.

How Real Time Monitoring Can Improve Food Safety

Zhang states, A real advantage is that when manufacturers, grocery store owners, and consumers do not know if the food has been unduly exposed to higher temperatures which could cause unexpected spoilage the tag still gives a reliable indication of the quality of the product.

The tags are gel-like in texture, about the size of a corn kernel, safe, and even edible. They function by reacting to the ambient temperatures around them and change color to indicate when the product has become spoiled. Red indicates 100 percent fresh; green indicates 100 percent spoiled, and orange and yellow indicate the foods quality is beginning to deteriorate. The research lab uses gold nanorods that are red, which is why red is used for fresh instead of green. In the tag there is also silver chloride and vitamin C which interact with the nanorods over time. The nanorods become coated in silver and have their composition and shape changed, thereby altering their color. The tags can be programmed to mimic all ambient temperatures and display when the food has gone bad, regardless of what a sell-by date may indicate.

Since temperature is a variable in the way the tags function, the tags change color at different rates depending on how they have been stored. The current version of the tags was developed using E. coli bacteria in milk at various temperatures as a reference model. Zhang comments that similar models could easily be created for other products. The tags are also incredibly inexpensive to produce. Despite using precious metals in their manufacturing, each tag only costs about $0.002 to produce. Zhang says that the process has been patented in China and the next step is finding a manufacturer to make production more practical.

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Will Food Spoilage Smart Tags Render Best-By Dates Obsolete?

MIT building dedicated to nanotechnology

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CAMBRIDGE (AP) -- The Massachusetts Institute of Technology has announced a $350 million project to expand space on campus to study nanotechnology

The 200,000-square-foot building unveiled today, called MIT.nano, will house state-of-the-art cleanroom, imaging and prototyping facilities supporting research with nanoscale materials and processes -- in fields including energy, health, life sciences, quantum sciences, electronics, and manufacturing.

An estimated 2,000 MIT researchers may ultimately make use of the building.

MIT.nano will house two interconnected floors of cleanroom laboratories containing fabrication spaces and materials growth laboratories, greatly expanding the capacity for research involving components that are measured in billionths of a meter.

The new facility will be built at the heart of campus near the campus' signature great dome.

The building is scheduled to be completed by 2018

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MIT building dedicated to nanotechnology

Worlds Smallest Image 'Nano-Chiseled' from Polymer

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Kids will look through a microscope at the worlds smallest magazine cover at today and tomorrows USA Science & Engineering Festival in Washington, DC. When they do, they will see a fuzzy pair of panda twins on the March 2014 cover of National Geographic Kids, the defending champion of Guinness World Records for the smallest magazine cover.

This years is 11 by 14 micrometers (National Geographic video). Engineers and researchers looking through the microscope, however, might see the cover for what it really is: a demonstration of scanning probe nanolithographys growing prowess.

Researchers at IBM Research in Zurich, Switzerland, began developing a new method for etching polymers several years ago, as IEEE Spectrumreported in 2010 (IBM Develops Patterning Technique That Could Replace E-Beam Lithography).

That patterning method used a heated silicon probe to evaporate the material in the substrate, leaving behind the desired pattern in three dimensions. Part of the breakthrough was choosing the right chemistry for the substrate, so that the evaporated chemicals went into a less reactive phase, preventing them from sticking to nearby surfaces.

One of the researchers involved, Urs Duerig, says that was more elegant and cleaner than related lithographic methods, some of which left the excavated debris on nearby surfaces. At first, however, it was too slow for most applications. But by 2011, the team reported a 1000x increase in the speed of their system in the journal Nanotechnology. That speed brings the method on par with existing commercial nanolithography techniques.

The method has another advantage: built-in inspection. After a heated silicon tip evaporates the unwanted material, a second relatively cold tip inspects the results. Thats handier than the industry standard, electron-beam lithography, which requires a separate inspection process. Scanning probe nanolithography may also offer researchers greater control over the depth of the cavities they produce. Duerig claims that they can achieve 1-nm precision. That would enable researchers to create tiny optical cavities, for example, or to create curved structures such as lenses.

IBM licensed the technology to SwissLitho, a spinoff startup founded by researchers from the original team. That team set about creating a machine they could sell to other researchers, and shipped their first one a few weeks ago to a lab at McGill University, which promptly drew a micro-map of Canada.

Maybe for their next publicity stunt they should map the Vatican City.

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Worlds Smallest Image 'Nano-Chiseled' from Polymer


  1. Nanotechnology