From the clothes and sunglasses you wear to computer hard drives and even cleaning products, nanotechnology – often inspired by the natural world – plays a big part in the manufacture of many familiar products
You're going on holiday. Off the plane and checked into your hotel, you don the wrinkle-free shirt you packed so you wouldn't have to do any ironing. Grabbing your scratch-resistant sunglasses and your sunscreen you dash to the hotel pool, not forgetting to pick up your camera phone so you can send that boastful photo home. Poolside, you relax listening to summery tunes on your MP3 player, before taking a plunge into the cool refreshing water.
As you soak up the sun, nanotechnology is probably the furthest thing from your mind. Yet throughout every step of your trip you've unknowingly encountered it. From the nanoparticles that coated the surface of your plane to reduce drag, to the way the hotel pool was cleaned, nanotechnology was there. It boosted your sunscreen's ability to reflect harmful ultraviolet radiation, rendered your shirt with that just-ironed look and armoured your designer shades against unwanted scratches. Your gadgets also used nanotechnology to store your snaps and songs on their respective hard-drives and flash memory.
Nanotechnology is an inescapable part of modern everyday life, both on holiday and at home. "There are things we've been using for a long time which contain nanosize components, like the lasers in DVD and CD players," says Milo Shaffer, head of the London Centre for Nanotechnology. Yet most of the time it goes unnoticed. "On the whole people aren't very aware of the nanotechnology all around them," Shaffer explains.
So if you stretch out an arm you'll almost certainly be able to grab something that employs nanotechnology. But you might also be breathing in nanoparticles that have been around for many years. Ultrafine particles (UFPs) are airborne nanoscale materials that originate from many sources, including traffic pollution. UFPs can deposit in your lungs with the potential to cause respiratory problems including asthma and lung disease.
Although not all nanotech is the result of human activity, evolution has had at least a 3bn-year head-start when it comes to manipulating materials on the smallest scales. "Nature is all about nanoscale structures. It starts with the cell," explains Julian Vincent, a former biologist and now professor of mechanical engineering at the University of Bath. "Biology plays around with the molecular scale all the time, it's the level at which all biological reactions occur," he adds.
Silk is a prime example of naturally occurring nanotechnology. "Silk is strong because of the way its molecules are aligned into a set of cross-links," says Vincent. Kevlar, used in everything from flak-jackets to frying pans, was constructed by engineering its constituent molecules in a similar fashion.
Mimicking nature's nanotech is becoming big business. Teams of researchers have turned to geckos and mussels in order to develop adhesives that bind to dry and wet surfaces alike. They've drawn inspiration from nanofibres in the geckos' foot hairs, which allow the lizards to cling upside down on inclined surfaces, and the nanoscale structures used by mussels to "glue" themselves to rocks despite being underwater.
Similarly, non-reflective materials have been improved by imitating the nanostructures found in the wings of cicada insects. Their wings contain small projections, spaced about 200 nanometres (a nanometre is equivalent to one billionth of a metre) apart, which allow 98% of light to pass through them. Nanostructures are also responsible for the brilliant white colouring of the cyphochilus beetle. The arrangement of molecules within the beetle's scales scatter almost all incoming light. Mimicking this molecular arrangement in made-made materials would eliminate the need for potentially toxic pigments, which are often currently used to create white paint and paper.
Plants too are big exploiters of natural nanotech. Nanostructures on the surface of lotus leaves repel water which carries away dirt as it rolls off the leaf, allowing the lotus to remain spotless despite growing in muddy water. This "lotus effect" is the basis behind self-cleaning windows. But rather than shedding water, beetles in the Namib desert are using a series of alternating waxy and non-waxy nanostructures to capture precious moisture from the early morning fog. Applying the idea to buildings could allow them to trap moisture for use inside.
Whether in your office, home or while sunning yourself on holiday, it is impossible not to encounter technology based on the manipulation of the very small. Many technologies in the modern world rely on nanostructures, often inspired by evolution in the natural world. But there is much untapped potential left to explore. "The overlap between the way nature solves these problems and the way we do, using technical solutions, is only 10-20%," Vincent explains. "I'd like to see a world where we can truly utilise the tried and tested methods nature has employed," he says.
As you soak up the sun, nanotechnology is probably the furthest thing from your mind. Yet throughout every step of your trip you've unknowingly encountered it. From the nanoparticles that coated the surface of your plane to reduce drag, to the way the hotel pool was cleaned, nanotechnology was there. It boosted your sunscreen's ability to reflect harmful ultraviolet radiation, rendered your shirt with that just-ironed look and armoured your designer shades against unwanted scratches. Your gadgets also used nanotechnology to store your snaps and songs on their respective hard-drives and flash memory.
Nanotechnology is an inescapable part of modern everyday life, both on holiday and at home. "There are things we've been using for a long time which contain nanosize components, like the lasers in DVD and CD players," says Milo Shaffer, head of the London Centre for Nanotechnology. Yet most of the time it goes unnoticed. "On the whole people aren't very aware of the nanotechnology all around them," Shaffer explains.
So if you stretch out an arm you'll almost certainly be able to grab something that employs nanotechnology. But you might also be breathing in nanoparticles that have been around for many years. Ultrafine particles (UFPs) are airborne nanoscale materials that originate from many sources, including traffic pollution. UFPs can deposit in your lungs with the potential to cause respiratory problems including asthma and lung disease.
Although not all nanotech is the result of human activity, evolution has had at least a 3bn-year head-start when it comes to manipulating materials on the smallest scales. "Nature is all about nanoscale structures. It starts with the cell," explains Julian Vincent, a former biologist and now professor of mechanical engineering at the University of Bath. "Biology plays around with the molecular scale all the time, it's the level at which all biological reactions occur," he adds.
Silk is a prime example of naturally occurring nanotechnology. "Silk is strong because of the way its molecules are aligned into a set of cross-links," says Vincent. Kevlar, used in everything from flak-jackets to frying pans, was constructed by engineering its constituent molecules in a similar fashion.
Mimicking nature's nanotech is becoming big business. Teams of researchers have turned to geckos and mussels in order to develop adhesives that bind to dry and wet surfaces alike. They've drawn inspiration from nanofibres in the geckos' foot hairs, which allow the lizards to cling upside down on inclined surfaces, and the nanoscale structures used by mussels to "glue" themselves to rocks despite being underwater.
Similarly, non-reflective materials have been improved by imitating the nanostructures found in the wings of cicada insects. Their wings contain small projections, spaced about 200 nanometres (a nanometre is equivalent to one billionth of a metre) apart, which allow 98% of light to pass through them. Nanostructures are also responsible for the brilliant white colouring of the cyphochilus beetle. The arrangement of molecules within the beetle's scales scatter almost all incoming light. Mimicking this molecular arrangement in made-made materials would eliminate the need for potentially toxic pigments, which are often currently used to create white paint and paper.
Plants too are big exploiters of natural nanotech. Nanostructures on the surface of lotus leaves repel water which carries away dirt as it rolls off the leaf, allowing the lotus to remain spotless despite growing in muddy water. This "lotus effect" is the basis behind self-cleaning windows. But rather than shedding water, beetles in the Namib desert are using a series of alternating waxy and non-waxy nanostructures to capture precious moisture from the early morning fog. Applying the idea to buildings could allow them to trap moisture for use inside.
Whether in your office, home or while sunning yourself on holiday, it is impossible not to encounter technology based on the manipulation of the very small. Many technologies in the modern world rely on nanostructures, often inspired by evolution in the natural world. But there is much untapped potential left to explore. "The overlap between the way nature solves these problems and the way we do, using technical solutions, is only 10-20%," Vincent explains. "I'd like to see a world where we can truly utilise the tried and tested methods nature has employed," he says.
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