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Few industries will not be affected by the influence of nanotechnology. It is about new ways of making things. It promises more for less: smaller, cheaper, lighter and faster devices with greater functionality, using less raw material and consuming less energy. Faster computers, biocompatible materials, surface coatings, catalysts, sensors, telecommunications, magnetic materials and devices, are just some examples of where nanotechnology has been embraced.
Definition
Nanotechnology can be described as manipulating the attributes of matter at the nanoscale to create products with new functionalities at the macroscale. It can be defined in its simplest terms as ‘engineering at a very small scale’. Nanotechnology is a particularly exciting area of technology as it encompasses a whole range of activities from the creation of tiny structures with nanoscale features, to the manipulation of single atoms and molecules in order to produce novel materials and devices in new ways, and with entirely new properties. From Micro to Nano Nanotechnology, in one sense, is the natural continuation of the miniaturization revolution that we have witnessed over the last decade, where millionth of a metre (10-6m) tolerances (microengineering) were commonplace. This has been apparent in the scaling down of mobile phones, computers, cameras and even satellites, to cite a few examples. These products, as well as others such as CDs and CD-players, sensors (such as accelerometers in car airbags) and inkjet printers contain components with nanometre features. Nanotechnology is still at a very early stage. Its future impact on industrial processes is difficult to determine but progress is being made. For instance, nano carriers are used in medicine for delivering specific drugs to specific sites, new 'smart' coatings made up from nano size elements are beginning to be used for industrial applications, and Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems (MEMS), which are built up from nano size elements, are finding applications. Because of the opportunities nanotechnology opens up to create new features and functions, it is expected be a key factor in future global markets. New technologies are essential to economic success and may provide the solution to many medical, social and environmental problems. Early evaluation of nano-innovations and their future market potential is vital in order for industry to play an active role in shaping future markets. However, for emerging technologies to be adopted into the mainstream, they will need to demonstrate performance advantages as well as total cost performance benefits. This transition is beginning to occur. Nanotechnology offers smaller, cheaper, lighter and faster devices with greater functionality, using less raw material and consuming less energy. New applications Advances in nanotechnology are already ushering in new applications that are leading to improved products across a broad realm of sectors, from textiles to electronics. Few industries will escape the influence of nanotechnology in the medium term. It is likely to make an impact by providing methods to overcome well-understood and long-predicted barriers that stand in the way of the improvement of existing technologies. Nanotechnology is of global interest. It has attracted more public funding than any other single area of technology. It is the one area of R&D that is truly multidisciplinary. The contribution of nanotechnology will not be made in isolation from other rapidly developing areas of science. In particular, advances in biology and biotechnology, information technology and nanotechnology itself, are likely to reinforce each other in a synergistic way. Nanotechnology related R&D is increasingly looking to processes from the living world to provide solutions in the 'non-living' world (materials, processes, products) and finding ‘disruptive’ solutions to technological problems. A disruptive technology is one that completely replaces an existing technology, rather than merely taking it to a higher level. For example, when the printing press arrived, publishing was revolutionized, monks no longer had to labour to create books for a select few, they could be produced quickly, and consequently became widely available in a short time. Many of the companies currently working with nanotechnology are applying knowledge of the nanoscale to existing techniques, whether it is improving drug delivery mechanisms for the pharmaceutical industry, or producing clay nanoparticles for the plastics industry. At present, nanotechnology is an enabling technology, but with the potential to be highly disruptive. Nanotechnology depends on applying a fundamental understanding of how nature works at the atomic scale. New industries will be generated as a result of this understanding, just as the understanding of how electrons can be moved in a conductor by applying a potential difference led to electric lighting, the telephone, computing, the internet and other industries. Nanoscale products themselves, such as a gram of nanotubes, have zero intrinsic value. The real value of the nanotubes is in their application, whether within an existing industry, or enabling the creation of a new one. The market for nanoscale materials is currently small, possibly only currently £20 million worldwide. However, the market for the products in which they are used is much larger, possibly £30 billion plus. It is the potential for nanotechnology to be disruptive in these and other markets that is generating such intense competition and interest.
Market Areas Automotive & Transportation >>
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"If you look at the genesis of lots of our technology - gas turbines, aircraft engines, stuff like that - we are the world's largest patent producer in material science and always have been. It's natural for us to begin work on nanotechnology because, in essence, that is going to be the next generation of materials science. So we spend a lot of money on that.” Jeffrey Immelt, chairman and chief executive officer of General Electric Co |
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