Nanotechnology

Nanotechnology is the science and technology of small things. Moreover it is the science , engineering, and technology conducted at the Nano Scale, which is about 1-100nm (nanometer) or a billionth of a meter.

For comparison,

• A human hair is about 60-80,000 nanometers wide.
• A sheet of newspaper is about 100,000 nanometers thick.
• If a marble were a nanometer, then one meter would be the size of the Earth.
• 1 inch = 25 400 000 nm.
• 10^-9 m is 3 atoms long.

It’s hard to imagine just how small nanotechnology is. The microscopes needed to see things at the Nano scale were invented relatively recently about 30 years ago.

But the idea and the concept behind nanotechnology started 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) on December 29, 1959, where he described a process in which scientists would be able to manipulate and control individual atoms and molecules. After that Professor Norio Taniguchi coined the term nanotechnology. Although modern nanotechnology are quite new, Nano scale materials were used for centuries.

E.g. Alternate-sized gold and silver particles created colors in the stained glass windows of medieval churches hundreds of years ago. The artists back then just didn’t know that the process they used to create these beautiful works of art actually led to changes in the composition of the materials they were working with.

Today's scientists and engineers are finding a wide variety of ways to deliberately make materials at the Nano scale to take advantage of their enhanced properties such as:

• Higher strength
• Lighter weight
• Increased control of light spectrum
• Greater chemical reactivity 

As a Sri Lankan I am very glad to say that Sri Lanka Institute of Nano Technology has launched a lot of researches focused on various areas such as:

• Agriculture
• Apparel
• Water Purification
• Healthcare
• Mineral Resources

Nanotechnology can be used across all the other science fields, such as chemistry, biology, physics, materials science, and engineering. And it is marvelous. Therefore many are predicting that nanotechnology is the next technical revolution and products resulting from it will affect all areas of our economy and lifestyle.  Therefore I invite you all to stay tuned to be in the workforce in the future keeping this exciting tech in your hand.

References: 

http://slintec.lk/
http://www.nnin.org/news-events/spotlights/what-nanotechnology
http://www.nano.gov/nanotech-101/what/definition