Nanotechnology & Energy

Introduction to Nanotechnology for Energy:

 The production and use of oil and other fossil fuels continues to rise on a yearly basis to record new levels. At the same time, fewer new oil fields are being identified which means that sometime over the next few decades oil production will not be able to satisfy demand.

Not only are we running out of oil, but our use of fossil fuels is putting an increasing burden on the environment in terms of greenhouse gases and global warming.

Alternative energy sources are known, but their efficiency based on cost is poor. Nanotechnology advances can improve this.

Nanotechnology for Energy - Insulation: 

    Humankind has used natural materials for insulation throughout its history. While traditional materials work well in settings where bulk application is possible, such as wall cavities, they are not suitable for applications such as glazing where significant amounts of heat can be lost or gained.

Nanotechnology offers enhanced insulation allowing thinner coatings or fillings to prevent heat loss or gain which would not be possible with conventional materials.

Nansulate is a patented nanotechnology coating which blocks heat transfer and reduced energy use.

for more: http://www.nanoforum.org/educationtree/energy/energy-insulation.htm

Nanotechnology for Energy - Solar :

    The efficiency of a solar cell depends on how much of the available spectrum of light it can absorb (the rest is simply reflected or lost as heat), and how effectively it converts this energy into electricity.

The problems with current methods are the expense of material and relatively low efficiency. This means that solar energy is several times more expensive than energy derived from burning fossil fuels.

   New nanomaterials have a higher efficiency than silicon used in existing solar panels. Nanotechnology can also offer new applications such as flexible panels.

http://www.nanoforum.org/educationtree/energy/energy-solar.htm

Nanotechnology for Energy - Hydrogen :

   Most of our energy needs are met by combustion - of coal, gas and oil. However this is not the most efficient way to extract energy from fuels. Fuel cells do so chemically by reacting hydrogen and oxygen gases together to make water, heat and electrical charge. The mechanism of generating energy varies between fuel cells, however in each case a charged ion (which is usually hydrogen or oxygen), is produced at one electrode and migrates to the other through a selectively permeable membrane, while the electrons produced as a result of this travel through an external circuit, powering devices.

Fuel cells fall into two groups: those with a high operating temperature (above 200°C) which are suitable for supplying power to whole buildings (such as solid oxide and molten carbonate fuel cells) and lower temperature units which are suitable for powering vehicles and mobile devices (such as direct methanol and polymer exchange membrane fuel cells). The high temperature units can use natural gas to form hydrogen, the lower temperature units, with the exception of direct methanol fuel cells, require hydrogen gas itself.

Hydrogen at the moment is largely produced from natural gas, however in the future it is hoped that renewable energy could be used to supply the necessary power to split (electrolyse) water into hydrogen and oxygen (i.e. the reverse of the reaction in a fuel cell).

Nanotechnology can offer solutions to material costs, fuel cell efficiency, and storage of hydrogen feedstock.

Click here to see how it works

http://www.nanoforum.org/educationtree/energy/energy-hydrogen.htm

Nanotechnology for Energy - Thermoelectricity :

    Thermoelectricity is the conversion of heat to electricity and vice versa. It relies on connecting two different electrically conducting materials, which conduct heat at different rates, at two junctions (thermocouples) in a closed loop. Applying heat at one thermocouple while keeping the other cool generates an electric current within the loop. Combining many such loops produces a thermopile which can be used to power devices e.g. radios and clocks. In contrast, if electricity is passed through the loop then the thermocouples will heat or cool (which can be used for heaters or fridges). Both metals and semiconductors can be used to generate this effect.

   

   Thermoelectric generators have advantages over those using conventional materials as they have a smaller size, and no mechanical parts that can fail or deteriorate over time.

 for more : http://www.nanoforum.org/educationtree/energy/energy-thermoelectricity.htm

Nanotechnology for Energy - Portable Power :

    Portable devices are commonplace in modern society, from consumer products such as mobile phones and MP3 players, to medical diagnostic equipment, to environmental and chemical sensor equipment. In all cases increased functionality, smaller size and longer operating times are desired. This can include improvements to existing systems such as rechargeable batteries to supply more power and energy. It can also include new technologies such as fuel cells which generate electricity from hydrogen .

    Increases in the energy and power output of portable supplies can not only affect portable devices, but at the other end of the scale could offer breakthroughs for all-electric vehicles, for off-grid power systems and for high-technology applications such as aeronautics. The global battery market is worth some 30 billion USD and is increasing dramatically.

New battery technologies from MIT.

Nanotechnology in Electronics

Introduction to Nanotechnology for Electronics :

     

      Nanotechnology has already reached the electronics industry with features in microprocessors now less     than 100 nanometres (nm) in size (Intel’s Prescott processor uses 90 nm size features). Smaller sizes allow faster processing times and also more processing power to be packed into a given area. However, these advances are really only a continuation of existing microelectronics, and will reach their limit sometime around the end of the next decade (2018 or so) when it will be both physically impossible to “write” or “etch” smaller features in silicon, and also because at extremely small sizes (less than 20 nm) silicon becomes electrically “leaky” causing short circuits.

   Nanoelectronics on the otherhand offer a new approach for the electronics industry in the form of new circuit materials, processors, information storage and even ways of transferring information such as optoelectronics.

Nanotechnology for Electronics - Computers

     Computers and the industries around them are set to be advanced a further giant step with the application of nanotechnology. The limits of current technologies are quickly being reached, as memory and processor speeds hit their present theoretical maximums. Nanotechnology gives scope to develop new ideas and methods of running super-fast processors, storing data, and many other computational advances. It also allows for new applications which require more processing power, or to be smaller, or less energy intensive.

   The current method of etching (lithography) smaller components each time has almost reached its limit; and will no longer be able to produce the required accuracy. Also, at these sizes silicon-based components are more likely to fail (or not operate properly). That is where nanotechnology, and the bottom up building approach comes into play.

Faster Processors :

     As a result of the limitations of current technology, manufacturers are turning to nanotechnology to produce the next generation of processors and computer components. A bottom up approach is required, as etching techniques can only take features so far – anything below 22nm is just not feasible.

   Chipmakers in the computing industry are already working at the nanoscale. Many companies are now in the late development stages of processor chipsets of around 60nm, with Intel being close to market with their 65nm products. The Intel chipsets feature greater performance as a result of a 10-15% improved drive current through the application of nanotechnology. At this nanosize, the chipsets also suffer from less 'leakage', therefore offering large power savings. 

   IBM researchers have developed transistors from carbon nanotubes. These have shown vast improvements on the more conventional silicon transistors. The carbon nanotubes are long, thin strands of carbon molecules. In the lab, they delivered more than double the amount of electrical current compared to the top-performing transistors currently on the market.

A brief video explaining what a carbon nanotube is and what they might bring to future technologies. Audio

from Earth & Sky, produced for Too Small To See. www.earthsky.org www.toosmalltosee.org

CNT has been prepared by fusing carbon rods at high temperature.

for more : http://www.nanoforum.org/educationtree/electronics/electronics-computers.htm

Nanotechnology for Electronics-Telecommunications and Handheld Devices :

     More and more in modern life, people are working on the move, which means taking their laptop, phone, and other electronic equipment everywhere they go. There is a need to combine all these functions in one device so that people can communicate with colleagues and clients, whilst continuously having access to their files regardless of their location.

   Nanotechnology can offer improved versatility through faster data transfer, more mobile processing power and larger data storage.

for more : http://www.nanoforum.org/educationtree/electronics/electronics-telecommunications.htm

 for more info : http://research.nokia.com/morph

Nanotechnology for Electronics-Optics :

An area of electronics in which nanotechnology can make a significant difference is in optics; specifically displays and lighting.

It is true that displays have been becoming lighter and of a much higher standard in recent years, but the limits of current technology are fast being reached. Displays are still not very portable, and usually take up a lot of space. Imagine if a crystal-clear display existed that could be rolled up or folded away when not in use? Or a lightbulb that wasted no energy and saved the user vast amounts of money? Traditional light bulbs waste about 90% of their electricity use by turning it into heat.

*New Lighting :

     Incandescent light bulbs are extremely inefficient converting only about 10% of the electricity they use into light (the rest is lost as heat). Although energy saving bulbs are more efficient, they too lose a significant amount of energy as heat.

Light emitting diodes ( LEDs ) lose very little energy as heat and also last up to 20 times longer than conventional light bulbs. With advances in their nanocrystalline structure in recent years, they are now emitting more light per watt of power consumed than incandescent bulbs and about the same as fluorescent bulbs.

    Using different semiconductor materials, different colours of LED are possible (note this is the opposite effect as that described for solar cells which absorb different spectrums of light)

*New Displays :

     Nanotechnology will bring about a new era of displays in a number of ways.

  

    Organic Light Emitting Diodes (or OLEDs ) are cheaper and easier to manufacture than LEDs. These consist of thin layers of electrically conducting organic molecules which are approximately 100 nanometres (nm) thick. The convenience of these is that they can be applied to different materials using a process similar to ink-jet printing (as is the case for organic dye-based solar cells). The downside is that OLEDs have a much shorter life-span and are also much less efficient than LEDs. The main applications of OLEDs are in small video screens (such as mobile phones).

    

Carbon nanotubes (pictured above) are now being prepared for use in displays. Companies such as Rosseter in Cyprus are already producing them for commercial use because of their amazing chemical, physical and mechanical properties. Carbon nanotubes are up to 100 times stronger than steel, yet only 1/6 of the weight. They can even be flexible as the image below shows. In addition, they conduct electricity better than copper.

   

    Finally, this method may be looking quite far into the future, but MIT researchers have created a quantum dot OLED (QD-OLED). Quantum dots generate their own light - unlike traditional LCDs which are lit from behind - and the dots can be manipulated to emit absolutely any colour imaginable, with no range limit as seen with traditional devices.

http://www.sonyinsider.com/2010/05/26/sony-develops-a-rollable-oled-display/

 

Nanotechnology in Medicine

     The use of nanotechnology in medicine offers some exciting possibilities. Some techniques are only imagined, while others are at various stages of testing, or actually being used today.

   Nanotechnology in medicine involves applications of nanoparticles currently under development, as well as longer range research that involves the use of manufactured nano-robots to make repairs at the cellular level (sometimes referred to as nanomedicine).

   Whatever you call it, the use of nanotechnology in the field of medicine could revolutionize the way we detect and treat damage to the human body and disease in the future, and many techniques only imagined a few years ago are making remarkable progress towards becoming realities.

Nanotechnology in Medicine Application: Drug Delivery

     One application of nanotechnology in medicine currently being developed involves employing nanoparticles to deliver drugs, heat, light or other substances to specific types of cells (such as cancer cells). Particles are engineered so that they are attracted to diseased cells, which allows direct treatment of those cells. This technique reduces damage to healthy cells in the body and allows for earlier detection of disease.

   For example, nanoparticles that deliver chemotherapy drugs directly to cancer cells are under development.

                                                        

Nanotechnology and drug delivery

Nanotechnology in Medicine Application: Therapy Techniques

     Buckyballs may be used to trap free radicals generated during an allergic reaction and block the inflammation that results from an allergic reaction.

   Nanoshells may be used to concentrate the heat from infrared light to destroy cancer cells with minimal damage to surrounding healthy cells .

Nanoshells as Cancer Therapy

     The following figure, supplied by the National Cancer Institute, illustrates the uses of nanoparticles such as the AuroShell™ developed by Nanospectra Biosciences to destroy cancer cells.

Source: The Web site of the National Cancer Institute (www.cancer.gov)

                                   

   Nanoparticles, when activated by x-rays, that generate electrons that cause the destruction of cancer cells to which they have attached themselves. This is intended to be used in place radiation therapy with much less damage to healthy tissue.  Nanobiotix has released preclinical results for this technique.

Micro and nanotechnologies are revolutionising medicine
'Almost invisible' tools are being developed by European researchers to discover diseases earlier and to treat patients better. The miniaturisation of instruments to micro and nano dimensions promises to make our future lives safer and cleaner. A team of European researchers from the Fraunhofer Institute for Biomedical Technologies Institute near Saarbruecken is using nanotechnology to improve diagnostic capabilities. In the "Adonis"-project, nano-sized gold particles are used to detect prostate cancer cells at an early stage

for more about nano's application in medicin :

http://www.understandingnano.com/medicine.html

What is Nanotechnology ?!

       Nanotechnology, shortened to "nanotech", is the study of manipulating matter on an atomic and molecular scale. Generally nanotechnology deals with structures sized between 1 to 100 nanometer in at least one dimension, and involves developing materials or devices within that size. Quantum mechanical effects are very important at this scale.


 Nanotechnology is very diverse, ranging from extensions of conventional device physics to completely new approaches based upon molecular self-assembly, from developing new materials with dimensions on the nanoscale to investigating whether we can directly control matter on the atomic scale.
   
   There is much debate on the future implications of nanotechnology. Nanotechnology may be able to create many new materials and devices with a vast range of applications, such as in medicine, electronics, biomaterials and energy production.

This video was made available by the European Commission. January 2002

How Nanotechnology Works

What is nanotechnology?