Nanotechnology

• A Nanometre is a unit of length in the metric system, equal to one billionth of a

metre(10-9).

• Technology is the making, usage, and knowledge of tools, machines and

techniques, in order to solve a problem or perform a specific function.

• Nanotechnology is the study of manipulating matter on an atomic scale.

• Nanotechnology refers to the constructing and engineering of the functional

systems at very micro level or we can say at atomic level.

• A Nanometer is one billionth of a meter, roughly the width of three or four atoms.
The average human hair is about 25,000 nanometers wide.

• The first ever concept was presented in 1959 by the famous professor of physics
Dr. Richard P.Feynman.

History of nanotechnology
• 2000 Years Ago – Sulfide nanocrystals used by Greeks and Romans to dye hair.

• 1000 Years Ago (Middle Ages) – Gold nanoparticles of different sizes used to
produce different colors in stained glass windows.

• 1974 – “Nanotechnology” - Taniguchi uses the term nanotechnology for the first
time.

• 1981 – IBM develops Scanning Tunneling Microscope. This microscope evolved to

allow the manipulation of individual atoms and molecules in the field of Nano
technology.

• 1985 – “Buckyball” - Scientists at Rice University and University of Sussex

discover C60

• 1991 – Carbon nanotube discovered by S. Iijima

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• Atomic force microscopy (AFM) or scanning force microscopy (SFM) is a very high-
resolution type of scanning probe microscopy(SPM), with demonstrated resolution on the
order of fractions of a nanometer, more than 1000 times better than the optical diffraction
limit.
• What can atomic force microscopy do?
• Using an atomic force microscope (AFM), it is possible to measure a roughness of a sample
surface at a high resolution, to distinguish a sample based on its mechanical properties (for
example, hardness and roughness) .
• In a field of semiconductor physics, for example, (a) an identification of atoms at a surface,
(b) evaluation of an interaction between a specific atom and its neighboring atoms and (c)
a change in physical properties arisen from a change in an atomic arrangement thorough
the atomic manipulation have been studied.
• In a field of a cellular biology, for example, (a) an attempt to distinguish cancer cells and
normal cells based on a hardness of cells and (b) an attempt to evaluate of an interaction
between a specific cell and its neighboring cells in a competitive culture system have been
made.
• A scanning tunneling microscope (STM) is an instrument for imaging surfaces at the
atomic level. Its development in 1981 earned its inventors, Gerd Binnig and Heinrich
Rohrer (at IBM Zürich), the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1986.[1][2] For an STM, good
resolution is considered to be 0.1 nm lateral resolution and 0.01 nm depth
resolution.[3] With this resolution, individual atoms within materials are routinely imaged
and manipulated. The STM can be used not only in ultra-high vacuum but also in air, water,
and various other liquid or gas ambients, and at temperatures ranging from near zero
kelvin to a few hundred degrees Celsius.[4]
 Carbon nanotubes
Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) are tubular cylinders of carbon atoms that have extraordinary
mechanical, electrical, thermal, optical and chemical properties. Carbon nanotubes are allotropes
of carbon with a cylindrical nanostructure.

They have length-to-diameter ratio of upto 132,000,000:1.

Nanotubes are members of the fullerene structural family. Their name is derived from their long,
hollow structure with the walls formed by one-atom-thick sheets of carbon, called graphene.

• Properties

▫ Highest strength to weight ratio, helps in creating light weight spacecrafts.

▫ Easily penetrate membranes such as cell walls. Helps in cancer treatment.

▫ Electrical resistance changes significantly when other molecules attach

themselves to the carbon atoms. Helps in developing sensors that can detect
chemical vapours.

Application

▫ Easton-Bell Sports officially changed its name to BRG Sports, using CNT in
making bicycle component.

▫ Zyvex Technologies using CNT for manufacturing of light weight boats.

▫ Replacing transistors from the silicon chips as they are small and emits less heat.

▫ In electric cables and wires

▫ In solar cells

▫ In fabrics

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Nanorods
▫ In nanotechnology, nanorods are one morphology of nanoscale objects. Each
of their dimensions range from 1–100 nm. They may be synthesized from
metals or semiconducting materials. Standard aspect ratios (length divided by
width) are 3-5.
▫ Nanorods are produced by direct chemical synthesis. A combination of
ligands act as shape control agents and bond to different facets of the nanorod
 with different strengths. This allows different faces of the nanorod to grow at
different rates, producing an elongated object.

▫ One potential application of nanorods is in display technologies, because the

reflectivity of the rods can be changed by changing their orientation with an
applied electric field.
▫ Another application is for microelectromechanical systems (MEMS).
▫ Nanorods, along with other noble metal nanoparticles, also function as
theragnostic agents. Nanorods absorb in the near IR, and generate heat when
excited with IR light. This property has led to the use of nanorods as cancer
therapeutics. Nanorods can be conjugated with tumor targeting motifs and
ingested. When a patient is exposed to IR light (which passes through body
tissue), nanorods selectively taken up by tumor cells are locally heated,
destroying only the cancerous tissue while leaving healthy cells intact.

Bottom-up approaches
In the bottom up approach different materials and devices are constructed from molecular
components of their own. These seek to arrange smaller components into more complex
assemblies.
Top-down approaches

▫ In top down approach nano objects and materials are created by larger entities without
bouncing its atomic reactions.

▫ Usually top down approach is practiced less as compared to the bottom up approach.

These seek to create smaller devices by using larger ones to direct their assembly.