Module 9: Nanotechnology and its Impacts on our Society

Question 1

the study and application of extremely small things and can be used across all other science fields as chemistry, biology, physics, material science, and engineering.

Answer 1

Nanotechnology

Question 2

Where did the ideas and concepts behind nanoscience and nanotechnology start?

Answer 2

1959, with a talk entitled “There’s Plenty of Room at the Bottom” by physicist Richard Feynman at an American Physical Society meeting at the California Institute of Technology (CalTech)

Question 3

He described a process in which scientists would be able to manipulate and control individual atoms and molecules.

Answer 3

Richard Feynman

Question 4

When where was the term nanotechnology first used?

Answer 4

The term nanotechnology was used first by the Japanese scientist Norio Taniguchi (1912-1999) in a 1974 paper on production technology that creates objects and features in the order of a nanometer.

Question 5

credited with the development of molecular nanotechnology, leading to nanosystems machinery manufacturing.

Answer 5

An American engineer, K. Eric Drexler (1955)

Question 6

Type of Nanotechnology:
Mechanisms and structures are miniaturized at the nanometric scale - from 1 to 100 nanometres in size. It is the most frequent to date, especially in electronics.

Answer 6

Descending (top-down)

Question 7

Type of Nanotechnology:

You start with a nanometric structure - a molecule, for example - and through a mounting or self-assembly process, you create a larger mechanism than the one you started with.

Answer 7

Ascending (bottom-up)

Question 8

Types of Nanotechnology:

It is used to manufacture structures in coal, silicon, inorganic materials, metals, and semiconductors that do not work with humidity.

Answer 8

Dry nanotechnology

Question 9

Types of Nanotechnology:

It is based on biological systems present in an aqueous environment - including genetic material, membranes, enzymes, and other cellular components.

Answer 9

Wet nanotechnology

Question 10

Examples and Applications of Nanotechnology:

• Carbon nanotubes are close to replacing silicon as a material for making smaller, faster, and more efficient microchips and devices, as well as lighter, more conductive, and stronger quantum nanowires. Graphene’s properties make it an ideal candidate for the development of flexible touchscreens.

Answer 10

Electronics

Question 11

Examples and Applications of Nanotechnology

A new semiconductor developed by Kyoto University makes it possible to manufacture solar panels that double the amount of sunlight converted into electricity. Nanotechnology also lowers costs, produces stronger and lighter wind turbines, improves fuel efficiency and, thanks to the thermal insulation of some nanocomponents, can save energy.

Answer 11

Energy

Question 12

Types of Nanotechnology:

The properties of some nanomaterials make them ideal for improving the early diagnosis and treatment of neurodegenerative diseases or cancer. They are able to attack cells selectively without harming other healthy cells. Some nanoparticles have also been used to enhance pharmaceutical products such as sunscreen.

Answer 12

Biomedicine

Question 13

Examples and Applications of Nanotechnology

Air purification with ions, wastewater purification with nanobubbles, or nanofiltration systems for heavy metals are some of its environmentally-friendly applications. Nanocatalysts are also available to make chemical reactions more efficient and less polluting

Answer 13

Environment

Question 14

In this field, nanobiosensors could be used to detect the presence of pathogens in food or nanocomposites to improve food production by increasing mechanical and thermal resistance and decreasing oxygen transfer in packaged products.

Answer 14

Food

Question 15

Examples and Applications of Nanotechnology

Nanotechnology makes it possible to develop smart fabrics that don’t stain nor wrinkle, as well as stronger, lighter, and more durable materials to make motorcycle helmets or sports equipment.

Answer 15

Textile

Question 16

Applications of Nanotechnology

Nanoscale additives can provide lightweight ballistic energy deflection in personal body armor, or can help them resist wrinkling, staining, and bacterial growth.
Clear nanoscale films on eyeglasses, computer and camera displays, windows, and other surfaces can make them water- and residue-repellent, antireflective, self-cleaning, resistant to ultraviolet or infrared light, antifog, antimicrobial, scratch-resistant, or electrically conductive.

Answer 16

Everyday Materials and Processes

Question 17

Applications of Nanotechnology:

Ultra-high definition displays and televisions are now being sold that use quantum dots to produce more vibrant colors while being more energy efficient.
Nanoparticle copper suspensions have been developed as a safer, cheaper, and more reliable alternative to lead-based solder and other hazardous materials commonly used to fuse electronics in the assembly process.

Answer 17

 Electronics and IT Applications

Question 18

Applications of Technology:

Nanomedicine draws on the natural scale of biological phenomena to produce precise solutions for disease prevention, diagnosis, and treatment.
Better imaging and diagnostic tools enabled by nanotechnology are paving the way for earlier diagnosis, more individualized treatment options, and better therapeutic success rates.

Answer 18

 Medical and Healthcare Applications

Question 19

Application of Technology
Nanotechnology is improving the efficiency of fuel production from raw petroleum materials through better catalysis.
Nanotechnology is also being applied to oil and gas extraction through the use of nanotechnology-enabled gas lift valves in offshore operations or the use of nanoparticles to detect microscopic down-well oil pipeline fractures.

Answer 19

 Energy Applications

Question 20

Application of Technology:
Nanotechnology could help meet the need for affordable, clean drinking water through rapid, low-cost detection and treatment of impurities in water.
Nanoparticles are being developed to clean industrial water pollutants in ground water through chemical reactions that render the pollutants harmless.

Answer 20

 Environmental Remediation

Question 21

Applications of Technology:

Nanotechnology offers the promise of developing multifunctional materials that will contribute to building and maintaining lighter, safer, smarter, and more efficient vehicles, aircraft, spacecraft, and ships.
Nano-engineering of aluminum, steel, asphalt, concrete and other cementitious materials, and their recycled forms offers great promise in terms of improving the performance, resiliency, and longevity of highway and transportation infrastructure components while reducing their life cycle cost.

Answer 21

Future Transportation Benefits

Question 22

ADVANTAGES
Nanotechnology can now provide new innovated materials and instruments for the sectors or field of manufacturing. Main example for this is the nanotubes and nanoparticles which could be very helpful and useful in constructing novel materials for it has its insulating properties.

Answer 22

Revolutionize Manufacturing Advantage

Question 23

ADVANTAGES
Nanotechnology could be the material in conserving energy in an economical way by the means of reduction of costs in constructing solar panels. Nanotechnology could also make more solar power for its energy storage devices.

Answer 23

Conservation of Energy

Question 24

ADVANTAGES

Nanotechnology is to innovate or revolutionized electronics in the means of illumination and construction of circuits on atomic level. It could also help in technological advancement in the means of quantum dots and display screens. This also provides faster technology (gadgets, computers, processors, LED displays)

Answer 24

Electronics and technological advantages

Question 25

ADVANTAGES

Nanotechnology could provide the medical field a nanobots which are designed to be helpful for inner body operations especially in clearing away arteries’ blockages and surgical purposes. It also helps in the medical field such as delivering the medicine directly to the body and target the viruses or tumors leaving the healthy tissue alone- also called bioavailability. Smart drugs - better imaging and diagnostics

Answer 25

Medical Advancement

Question 26

DISADVANTAGES

Nanotechnology could negatively and badly effect the environment in the means of creating pollutions and toxins due as well of their created and highly advanced inventions which are self-replicating nanobots which is now considered as a threat to humanity and especially environment. This could also be a risk to the health such as inhaling aerosols, the size particle which can be a factor of being ingested. And it has high free energy which causes them aggregation and agglomeration

Answer 26

Environmental effects

Question 27

Disadvantages
Nanotechnology is part of many sectors of technology and it is widely known to have a huge and major economic changes. It could negatively affect the economic by the means of resulting to unemployment and even closing of business for when the availability of nanotechnology rises it could be obsolete.

Answer 27

Economic disruption

Question 28

Disadvantages:

Since nanotechnology is the main source for microscopic materials, it could create enormous problems in the means of the microscopic recording devices which could not be easily seen by anyone and in this case private audios and actual actions could be recorded and could be used for others as a threat.

Answer 28

Invasion of privacy and security

Question 29

Disadvantages:

Nanotechnology could create deadly weapons due to the advancement of technology it possesses. This could lead to severe worldwide destruction, affecting lives and infrastructures.

Answer 29

Rise and development of atomic weapons

Question 30

True or False:

Nanotechnology, the manipulation of matter at the atomic and molecular scale to create materials with remarkably varied and new properties, is a rapidly expanding area of research with huge potential in many sectors, ranging from healthcare to construction and electronics. In medicine, it promises to revolutionize drug delivery, gene therapy, diagnostics, and many areas of research, development and clinical application.

Answer 30

True

Question 31

Meanwhile chemists at New York University (NYU) have created a nanoscale robot from DNA fragments that walks on two legs just 10 nm long. In a 2004 paper published in the journal Nano Letters, they describe how their ________ with the help of psoralen molecules attached to the ends of its feet, takes its first baby steps: two forward and two back.

Answer 31

nanowalker

Question 32

One of the researchers, ________, said he envisages it will be possible to create a molecule-scale production line, where you move a molecule along till the right location is reached, and a nanobot does a bit chemisty on it, rather like “spot-welding” on a car assembly line. Seeman’s lab at NYU is also looking to use DNA nanotechnology to make a biochip computer, and to find out how biological molecules crystallize, an area that is currently fraught with challenges.

Answer 32

Ned Seeman