orriak

2011(e)ko otsailaren 26(a), larunbata

NANOGUNEtik NANOTEKNOLOGIAri buruzko erantzunak ekarri ditugu

ALex Bittner Autoantolaketa ("self assembly") taldearen liderrak gure galdereei emandako erantzunak:


Where and how is nanotechnology used today?

E.g. computer chip interconnects, < 100 nm wide copper-plated wires since 2009 (?)
E.g. computer chip transistors, < 50 nm wide doped silicon structures since ?
E.g. in paint (colored ceramic particles or white TiO2) since >50 years


- Which are the best materials for nanotechnology?

For these examples, metals and semiconductors and oxides (solids).
Generally, all materials we already know. On this primitive level, rather solids.
More advanced level: Nearly everything inside a living cell, which is the highest level of nanotech that we know (proteins, DNA, RNA, sugars, lipids in water)


- Is it possible to design new materials through nanotechnology? Which should be the charactersitic of the material?

E.g. gold is very noble, so chemically not reactive. Very small nanopieces of gold are good catalysts, so they are chemically quite reactive. Here the characteristics should be catalysis. For the examples above, high electrical conductivity (copper), and fast switching of currents (silicon), and durable colour (paint). For the cell, nature designed all.


- Related to their project, is it possible to design new materials for sport-shoes with the desired friction characteristics?

Surely yes. For most materoials, one will find they are more micro than nano, and they may not be stable. My trekking shoe's rubber peeled off after ten years, without damage to the rubber. The friction was still OK. This material, rubber, has been developed and improved for >50 years. Nanomaterials might take some while, too. A recent trend in research is nanostructures (pillars) for adhesion. Maybe good for shoes, too, but short-lived (yet).


- Is it true that nanomaterials could be dangerous for people or the environment?

Sure, asbestos is a natural nanomaterial that is very dangerous when inhaled. Its use is forbidden today.
An artificial material is Tobacco smoke. Spain has run a long-term experiment with millions of volunteers in bars, whose results we will see in the Onkologia.....
One of the worst is probably Diesel exhaust (soot nanoparticles).


- To what extent can change material's properties with size?

See the example with the gold. Another example is a metal such as iron. A powder that consists only of nanoballs of iron oxidises (gets rusty) so fast that it burns in air.

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