Nanofoundry

Last updated

A nanofoundry is considered to be a foundry that performs on a scale similar to nanotechnology. This concept makes it similar to the role that the nanofactory would play because it is considered to be a factory that operates on that same scale model. The closest thing that nature has to a nanofoundry is the simple biological cell. [1]

Contents

Summary

General information

In silico biology attempts to duplicate nature by creating a virtual cell with the complete cycle of metabolism. [1] The idea of creating an artificial cell along with working nanofoundries is highlighted in the phenomena of bioconvergence; which may advance us from the Information Age to the "Nanotechnology Age. [1] " Nanofoundries and artificial cells are creating a world where health care, the very definition of "medicine", along with life itself is entering a state of transition. [1] This phenomenon is directly in parallel with changes in the procedures used in agriculture, managing our bioresources, ultimately leading up to the de facto equivalent of bio-engineering entire ecosystems from scratch. [1]

As of 2011 the latest area of research involved using both micro- and nano-focused ion beams is found using nanomachining. [2] Preliminary studies have indicated that tissues can be successfully grown on three-dimensional structures while using ion beams on a substrate. [2]

On a larger scale, materials that appear to be smooth still have an abrasive appearance to them. [3] Using the nanoscale, however, atoms rub off one a time. [3] This creates new challenges for researchers who build their devices that are only 10 atoms wide. [3]

Current progress

One of the first nanofoundries has been set up at the University of Madras in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India. [4] Knowledge about nanotechnology would be converted into useful consumer goods through the usage of nanofoundries. [4] Scientists do not want nanotechnology to be confined to publishing research papers in journals when it could be useful for creating nanotechnology-enhanced consumer products that would be beneficial in our 21st century society. [4] By converting the nanotechnology curriculum of the major universities into a more industry-oriented format, it makes the technology more practical for employers as well as consumers. [4]

The ability to grow more complex structures with a high ratio allows for drug release devices, biosensors, nanoreactors, and other countless discoveries. [2] During the following decades to come, researchers will scramble to construct the world's first nuclear nanobeam complex. [2] This facility would offer state-of-the-art facilities to a wide range of disciplines; including the conventional sciences. [2]

Commercial manufacturing could easily be scaled up thanks to nanofoundries. [3] Nanofactories will most likely use metal nanoparticles instead of glass, plastic or rare earth minerals that are currently used to make most of our products. [5]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Molecular nanotechnology</span> Technology

Molecular nanotechnology (MNT) is a technology based on the ability to build structures to complex, atomic specifications by means of mechanosynthesis. This is distinct from nanoscale materials. Based on Richard Feynman's vision of miniature factories using nanomachines to build complex products, this advanced form of nanotechnology would make use of positionally-controlled mechanosynthesis guided by molecular machine systems. MNT would involve combining physical principles demonstrated by biophysics, chemistry, other nanotechnologies, and the molecular machinery of life with the systems engineering principles found in modern macroscale factories.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nanotechnology</span> Field of science involving control of matter on atomic and (supra)molecular scales

Nanotechnology is the manipulation of matter with at least one dimension sized from 1 to 100 nanometers (nm). At this scale, commonly known as the nanoscale, surface area and quantum mechanical effects become important in describing properties of matter. This definition of nanotechnology includes all types of research and technologies that deal with these special properties. It is common to see the plural form "nanotechnologies" as well as "nanoscale technologies" to refer to research and applications whose common trait is scale. An earlier understanding of nanotechnology referred to the particular technological goal of precisely manipulating atoms and molecules for fabricating macroscale products, now referred to as molecular nanotechnology.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Molecular engineering</span> Field of study in molecular properties

Molecular engineering is an emerging field of study concerned with the design and testing of molecular properties, behavior and interactions in order to assemble better materials, systems, and processes for specific functions. This approach, in which observable properties of a macroscopic system are influenced by direct alteration of a molecular structure, falls into the broader category of “bottom-up” design.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Molecular assembler</span> Proposed nanotechnological device

A molecular assembler, as defined by K. Eric Drexler, is a "proposed device able to guide chemical reactions by positioning reactive molecules with atomic precision". A molecular assembler is a kind of molecular machine. Some biological molecules such as ribosomes fit this definition. This is because they receive instructions from messenger RNA and then assemble specific sequences of amino acids to construct protein molecules. However, the term "molecular assembler" usually refers to theoretical human-made devices.

Mechanosynthesis is a term for hypothetical chemical syntheses in which reaction outcomes are determined by the use of mechanical constraints to direct reactive molecules to specific molecular sites. There are presently no non-biological chemical syntheses which achieve this aim. Some atomic placement has been achieved with scanning tunnelling microscopes.

Nanosensors are nanoscale devices that measure physical quantities and convert these to signals that can be detected and analyzed. There are several ways proposed today to make nanosensors; these include top-down lithography, bottom-up assembly, and molecular self-assembly. There are different types of nanosensors in the market and in development for various applications, most notably in defense, environmental, and healthcare industries. These sensors share the same basic workflow: a selective binding of an analyte, signal generation from the interaction of the nanosensor with the bio-element, and processing of the signal into useful metrics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nanorobotics</span> Emerging technology field

Nanoid robotics, or for short, nanorobotics or nanobotics, is an emerging technology field creating machines or robots, which are called nanorobots or simply nanobots, whose components are at or near the scale of a nanometer. More specifically, nanorobotics refers to the nanotechnology engineering discipline of designing and building nanorobots with devices ranging in size from 0.1 to 10 micrometres and constructed of nanoscale or molecular components. The terms nanobot, nanoid, nanite, nanomachine and nanomite have also been used to describe such devices currently under research and development.

Nanolithography (NL) is a growing field of techniques within nanotechnology dealing with the engineering of nanometer-scale structures on various materials.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nanobiotechnology</span> Intersection of nanotechnology and biology

Nanobiotechnology, bionanotechnology, and nanobiology are terms that refer to the intersection of nanotechnology and biology. Given that the subject is one that has only emerged very recently, bionanotechnology and nanobiotechnology serve as blanket terms for various related technologies.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Focused ion beam</span> Device

Focused ion beam, also known as FIB, is a technique used particularly in the semiconductor industry, materials science and increasingly in the biological field for site-specific analysis, deposition, and ablation of materials. A FIB setup is a scientific instrument that resembles a scanning electron microscope (SEM). However, while the SEM uses a focused beam of electrons to image the sample in the chamber, a FIB setup uses a focused beam of ions instead. FIB can also be incorporated in a system with both electron and ion beam columns, allowing the same feature to be investigated using either of the beams. FIB should not be confused with using a beam of focused ions for direct write lithography. These are generally quite different systems where the material is modified by other mechanisms.

Nanomanufacturing is both the production of nanoscaled materials, which can be powders or fluids, and the manufacturing of parts "bottom up" from nanoscaled materials or "top down" in smallest steps for high precision, used in several technologies such as laser ablation, etching and others. Nanomanufacturing differs from molecular manufacturing, which is the manufacture of complex, nanoscale structures by means of nonbiological mechanosynthesis.

The history of nanotechnology traces the development of the concepts and experimental work falling under the broad category of nanotechnology. Although nanotechnology is a relatively recent development in scientific research, the development of its central concepts happened over a longer period of time. The emergence of nanotechnology in the 1980s was caused by the convergence of experimental advances such as the invention of the scanning tunneling microscope in 1981 and the discovery of fullerenes in 1985, with the elucidation and popularization of a conceptual framework for the goals of nanotechnology beginning with the 1986 publication of the book Engines of Creation. The field was subject to growing public awareness and controversy in the early 2000s, with prominent debates about both its potential implications as well as the feasibility of the applications envisioned by advocates of molecular nanotechnology, and with governments moving to promote and fund research into nanotechnology. The early 2000s also saw the beginnings of commercial applications of nanotechnology, although these were limited to bulk applications of nanomaterials rather than the transformative applications envisioned by the field.

Nanotechnology is impacting the field of consumer goods, several products that incorporate nanomaterials are already in a variety of items; many of which people do not even realize contain nanoparticles, products with novel functions ranging from easy-to-clean to scratch-resistant. Examples of that car bumpers are made lighter, clothing is more stain repellant, sunscreen is more radiation resistant, synthetic bones are stronger, cell phone screens are lighter weight, glass packaging for drinks leads to a longer shelf-life, and balls for various sports are made more durable. Using nanotech, in the mid-term modern textiles will become "smart", through embedded "wearable electronics", such novel products have also a promising potential especially in the field of cosmetics, and has numerous potential applications in heavy industry. Nanotechnology is predicted to be a main driver of technology and business in this century and holds the promise of higher performance materials, intelligent systems and new production methods with significant impact for all aspects of society.

Nanoelectronics refers to the use of nanotechnology in electronic components. The term covers a diverse set of devices and materials, with the common characteristic that they are so small that inter-atomic interactions and quantum mechanical properties need to be studied extensively. Some of these candidates include: hybrid molecular/semiconductor electronics, one-dimensional nanotubes/nanowires or advanced molecular electronics.

As the world's energy demand continues to grow, the development of more efficient and sustainable technologies for generating and storing energy is becoming increasingly important. According to Dr. Wade Adams from Rice University, energy will be the most pressing problem facing humanity in the next 50 years and nanotechnology has potential to solve this issue. Nanotechnology, a relatively new field of science and engineering, has shown promise to have a significant impact on the energy industry. Nanotechnology is defined as any technology that contains particles with one dimension under 100 nanometers in length. For scale, a single virus particle is about 100 nanometers wide.

In 2007, productive nanosystems were defined as functional nanoscale systems that make atomically-specified structures and devices under programmatic control, i.e., performing atomically precise manufacturing. As of 2015, such devices were only hypothetical, and productive nanosystems represented a more advanced approach among several to perform Atomically Precise Manufacturing. A workshop on Integrated Nanosystems for Atomically Precise Manufacturing was held by the Department of Energy in 2015.

Wet nanotechnology involves working up to large masses from small ones.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nanoscale plasmonic motor</span>

A nanoscale plasmonic motor is a type of nanomotor, converting light energy to rotational motion at nanoscale. It is constructed from pieces of gold sheet in a gammadion shape, embedded within layers of silica. When irradiated with light from a laser, the gold pieces rotate. The functioning is explained by the quantum concept of the plasmon. This type of nanomotor is much smaller than other types, and its operation can be controlled by varying the frequency of the incident light.

Nanoreactors are a form of chemical reactor that are particularly in the disciplines of nanotechnology and nanobiotechnology. These special reactors are crucial in maintaining a working nanofoundry; which is essentially a foundry that manufactures products on a nanotechnological scale.

This glossary of nanotechnology is a list of definitions of terms and concepts relevant to nanotechnology, its sub-disciplines, and related fields.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Bioconvergence - Progenitor of the Nanotechnology Age at Historian of the Future
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Nanofoundry at University of Surrey (United Kingdom)
  3. 1 2 3 4 Nano-foundry technique yields ultra-durable probes from diamond at Physorg.com
  4. 1 2 3 4 DRDO to set up nano foundry in Madras varsity at India Times
  5. Six USC Research Teams Complete Startup Boot Camp and Receive Nearly $500K to Commercialize Technologies at Michigan Live