What is Nanotechnology?
Nanotechnology is the science, engineering, and application of materials and devices at the nanoscale — typically between 1 and 100 nanometers (nm).
One nanometer is one-billionth of a meter (10⁻⁹ m), roughly the width of 3–5 atoms lined up or about 1/80,000th the diameter of a human hair.
At this scale, materials exhibit unique physical, chemical, optical, electrical, and mechanical properties that differ from their bulk counterparts (quantum effects and extremely high surface-area-to-volume ratios dominate behaviour).
Key Concepts
- Nanomaterials: Particles, tubes, sheets, or wires with at least one dimension <100 nm Examples: carbon nanotubes, graphene, quantum dots, gold nanoparticles, titanium dioxide nanoparticles.
- Bottom-up vs. Top-down approaches:
- Bottom-up: Building structures atom-by-atom or molecule-by-molecule (self-assembly, chemical synthesis).
- Top-down: Carving smaller features from larger materials (lithography, etching).
Major Application Areas
- Medicine & Healthcare
- Targeted drug delivery (nanoparticles carry drugs directly to cancer cells)
- Diagnostic tools (quantum dots for imaging, nanosensors for early disease detection)
- Tissue engineering and regenerative medicine
- Electronics & Computing
- Smaller, faster transistors (current chips already use features <5 nm)
- Flexible displays, high-density memory, spintronics
- Energy
- More efficient solar cells (perovskite and quantum-dot solar cells)
- Advanced batteries and supercapacitors (silicon nanowires, graphene electrodes)
- Hydrogen storage and fuel cells
- Materials & Manufacturing
- Stronger, lighter composites (carbon-nanotube-reinforced polymers)
- Self-cleaning and scratch-resistant coatings
- Smart textiles with embedded nanoparticles
- Environment
- Water purification (nanofilters that remove viruses and heavy metals)
- Air filtration and pollution remediation
- Sensors for detecting contaminants at parts-per-billion levels