Charging Ahead With Nanotechnology
David Tanguay asked:
With all of the technology that is being continuously introduced and used, it would only seem logical in our quest for a green world to apply some of the renewable energy efforts to this spectrum. That is exactly what some scientists are looking into with their research on how nanotechnology can be used with lithium batteries.
According to Science News, a report that will be published in International Journal of Nanomanufacturing asserts that “carbon nanotubes can prevent such batteries from losing their charge capacity over time.” The batteries they are speaking of are the lithium-based batteries that are found in commonly used devices such as MP3 players, laptop computers, and cell phones.
As any of us who partake of these various technologies are quite aware of, with continued use, the battery power just seems to lose its life. As the news story reports, elements such as hot and cold temperatures help this reduction process along even more. Scientists have been researching this degradation process for awhile, and have looked into silicon to replace the universally used lithium-ion batteries. However, due to the fast rate that silicon also degrades, they have had to search even further.
This is where nanotechnology comes into play. As Science News states, “Shengyang’s Hui-Ming Cheng and colleagues have turned to carbon nanotubes (CNTs) to help them use silicon (Si) as the battery anode but avoid the problem of large volume change during alloying and de-alloying.” By introducing the carbon nanotubes to the silicon, they seem to be solving some of the problems that previously existed.
The whole process is quite amazing. “The researchers grew carbon nanotubes on the surface of tiny particles of silicon using a technique known as chemical vapor deposition in which a carbon-containing vapor decomposes and then condenses on the surface of the silicon particles forming the nanoscopic tubes. They then coated these particles with carbon released from sugar at a high temperature in a vacuum. A separate batch of silicon particles produced using sugar but without the CNTs was also prepared.”
The scientists used these two diverse batches and compared them. What they found was remarkable – the batch using the carbon produced a discharge capacity twice that of the one which only contained the silicon particles.
There seems to be many reasons that have prompted research into better material used to create batteries. Reports of fires found to be ignited by lithium-ion batteries, although rare, seem to have caused much attention to be placed on safer materials. The general complaint many have regarding the increased reduction of device batteries after continued use is likely another reason that prompted the research. Whatever the likely combination was, this new research could be monumental in how users of technological devices power up their gadgets.
Nanotechnology is not the only material researchers are using in their quest for a better battery, but it does seem to be one of the options that show much promise.
MicroElectroMechanical System
With all of the technology that is being continuously introduced and used, it would only seem logical in our quest for a green world to apply some of the renewable energy efforts to this spectrum. That is exactly what some scientists are looking into with their research on how nanotechnology can be used with lithium batteries.
According to Science News, a report that will be published in International Journal of Nanomanufacturing asserts that “carbon nanotubes can prevent such batteries from losing their charge capacity over time.” The batteries they are speaking of are the lithium-based batteries that are found in commonly used devices such as MP3 players, laptop computers, and cell phones.
As any of us who partake of these various technologies are quite aware of, with continued use, the battery power just seems to lose its life. As the news story reports, elements such as hot and cold temperatures help this reduction process along even more. Scientists have been researching this degradation process for awhile, and have looked into silicon to replace the universally used lithium-ion batteries. However, due to the fast rate that silicon also degrades, they have had to search even further.
This is where nanotechnology comes into play. As Science News states, “Shengyang’s Hui-Ming Cheng and colleagues have turned to carbon nanotubes (CNTs) to help them use silicon (Si) as the battery anode but avoid the problem of large volume change during alloying and de-alloying.” By introducing the carbon nanotubes to the silicon, they seem to be solving some of the problems that previously existed.
The whole process is quite amazing. “The researchers grew carbon nanotubes on the surface of tiny particles of silicon using a technique known as chemical vapor deposition in which a carbon-containing vapor decomposes and then condenses on the surface of the silicon particles forming the nanoscopic tubes. They then coated these particles with carbon released from sugar at a high temperature in a vacuum. A separate batch of silicon particles produced using sugar but without the CNTs was also prepared.”
The scientists used these two diverse batches and compared them. What they found was remarkable – the batch using the carbon produced a discharge capacity twice that of the one which only contained the silicon particles.
There seems to be many reasons that have prompted research into better material used to create batteries. Reports of fires found to be ignited by lithium-ion batteries, although rare, seem to have caused much attention to be placed on safer materials. The general complaint many have regarding the increased reduction of device batteries after continued use is likely another reason that prompted the research. Whatever the likely combination was, this new research could be monumental in how users of technological devices power up their gadgets.
Nanotechnology is not the only material researchers are using in their quest for a better battery, but it does seem to be one of the options that show much promise.
MicroElectroMechanical System
Future Dentistry – Graphene Teeth Coatings For Kids Considered
Lance Winslow asked:
Due to all the food additives and junk food that Americans eat, our teeth are simply not holding up. Humans are living longer now and their teeth do not seem to last for their natural lifetime. This is getting to be a huge issue and probably means the dentistry industry is a growth industry and a good place to hang ones hat.
Nevertheless, there are some great new technologies on the horizon, namely graphene coatings, which will revolutionize the dentistry industry. How so you ask? Well, first you need to know a little bit about what graphene coatings are. The Foresight Nano-Technology Institute describes Graphene as;
A sheet of sp2-bonded carbon atoms one atom thick-increasingly shows promise for nanotech applications, but ultimately it would be useful to be able to control the edges of the planar sheet to atomic precision. In one step toward the goal of atomically precise graphene nanostructures, researchers have demonstrated atomically precise cuts through a few graphene layers.. .. ..”
In theory, the Online Think Tank stated that kids of adolescent age would have their teeth coated with graphene, or perhaps it could wait until age 25 when they were no longer growing. With such a robust coating the teeth would be protected and the enamel would stay intact, no matter what you ate. Including such things as soda, citric acid laced foods and sugar or sugar substitutes. Would anything get through the graphene coatings, asks one skeptic?
Well, it’s certainly not likely and that means that these coatings might indeed last you until the rest of your life, so think on that.
Nanotech Websites
Due to all the food additives and junk food that Americans eat, our teeth are simply not holding up. Humans are living longer now and their teeth do not seem to last for their natural lifetime. This is getting to be a huge issue and probably means the dentistry industry is a growth industry and a good place to hang ones hat.
Nevertheless, there are some great new technologies on the horizon, namely graphene coatings, which will revolutionize the dentistry industry. How so you ask? Well, first you need to know a little bit about what graphene coatings are. The Foresight Nano-Technology Institute describes Graphene as;
A sheet of sp2-bonded carbon atoms one atom thick-increasingly shows promise for nanotech applications, but ultimately it would be useful to be able to control the edges of the planar sheet to atomic precision. In one step toward the goal of atomically precise graphene nanostructures, researchers have demonstrated atomically precise cuts through a few graphene layers.. .. ..”
In theory, the Online Think Tank stated that kids of adolescent age would have their teeth coated with graphene, or perhaps it could wait until age 25 when they were no longer growing. With such a robust coating the teeth would be protected and the enamel would stay intact, no matter what you ate. Including such things as soda, citric acid laced foods and sugar or sugar substitutes. Would anything get through the graphene coatings, asks one skeptic?
Well, it’s certainly not likely and that means that these coatings might indeed last you until the rest of your life, so think on that.
Nanotech Websites
What is Nanotechnology?
Najib Altawell asked:
The idea behind Nanotechnology is that by manipulating atoms and/or molecules to build materials and structures directly, as well as by exploiting the unique properties of matter at the nanoscale (0.1 nm to 100 nm) then we are at a distinctive level where the name of Nanotechnology has been put forward to describe this kind of human engineering activity.
Obviously, here we are dealing with what we call nanostructures – a nanometre is one thousand million times smaller than a metre, about 3 – 4 atoms in width. To give you an example how small this scale is, well just imagine we blew up an orange to the size of the earth, the atoms of the orange would become visible, and the size of each atom would be about the size of a single cherry.
Another definition I came across several times concerning Nanotechnology is that – it is the result of a marriage between chemistry and engineering. It has been likened to traditional chemistry but without chemical reactions. Here we can envisage building things one atom or molecule at a time, using programmed nanoscopic robotic arms or equivalent methods. The question therefore arises …. is it possible to move one atom (or one molecule) from one location and relocate it to the desired place without difficulty – simply using the present available technology?
The answer is “yes, but with difficulty”. At the same time, this process is limited at the present time. So transferring large numbers of atoms/molecules in a much faster way and on industrial scale is not yet possible – at least not with today’s technology.
Therefore, to understand the above process using more sophisticated technology, we may say that by treating atoms or molecules discretely in a way similar to the process of computers treating bits of information, it may become possible to build from the bottom up anything we desire – at very little cost.
This is of course is the theory. The practical task of how to apply it, to make nanoscale-based technology as common as any technical or engineering method used today for various products, is still largely in the realm of the future. But suppose we could apply this technology today! Then this could mean an automatic construction of consumer goods without traditional human labour, as we know it. Any number of copies could be produced at a very small cost. This is where self-assembly come into the picture.
A good example of self-assembly is what is taking place in nature itself around us, i.e., molecules in a vegetable cell manipulating the atoms of soil, air and water in order to produce more copies for the growth to continue.
Manufacturing, using the principles of Nanotechnology, is expected to undergo profound changes, in the not too distant future. Advances in miniaturization will reach the level of individual atoms, and it may become possible to design and build products to atomically precise specifications.
In the USA, the U.S. Department of Defence, the National Science Foundation and NASA have extensively funded research related to Nanotechnology. Though Nanotechnology is still largely within the domain of the research laboratory, such government funding for various researches in this field will pay off eventually and handsomely in various ways, sooner or later.
Quantum Computer News
The idea behind Nanotechnology is that by manipulating atoms and/or molecules to build materials and structures directly, as well as by exploiting the unique properties of matter at the nanoscale (0.1 nm to 100 nm) then we are at a distinctive level where the name of Nanotechnology has been put forward to describe this kind of human engineering activity.
Obviously, here we are dealing with what we call nanostructures – a nanometre is one thousand million times smaller than a metre, about 3 – 4 atoms in width. To give you an example how small this scale is, well just imagine we blew up an orange to the size of the earth, the atoms of the orange would become visible, and the size of each atom would be about the size of a single cherry.
Another definition I came across several times concerning Nanotechnology is that – it is the result of a marriage between chemistry and engineering. It has been likened to traditional chemistry but without chemical reactions. Here we can envisage building things one atom or molecule at a time, using programmed nanoscopic robotic arms or equivalent methods. The question therefore arises …. is it possible to move one atom (or one molecule) from one location and relocate it to the desired place without difficulty – simply using the present available technology?
The answer is “yes, but with difficulty”. At the same time, this process is limited at the present time. So transferring large numbers of atoms/molecules in a much faster way and on industrial scale is not yet possible – at least not with today’s technology.
Therefore, to understand the above process using more sophisticated technology, we may say that by treating atoms or molecules discretely in a way similar to the process of computers treating bits of information, it may become possible to build from the bottom up anything we desire – at very little cost.
This is of course is the theory. The practical task of how to apply it, to make nanoscale-based technology as common as any technical or engineering method used today for various products, is still largely in the realm of the future. But suppose we could apply this technology today! Then this could mean an automatic construction of consumer goods without traditional human labour, as we know it. Any number of copies could be produced at a very small cost. This is where self-assembly come into the picture.
A good example of self-assembly is what is taking place in nature itself around us, i.e., molecules in a vegetable cell manipulating the atoms of soil, air and water in order to produce more copies for the growth to continue.
Manufacturing, using the principles of Nanotechnology, is expected to undergo profound changes, in the not too distant future. Advances in miniaturization will reach the level of individual atoms, and it may become possible to design and build products to atomically precise specifications.
In the USA, the U.S. Department of Defence, the National Science Foundation and NASA have extensively funded research related to Nanotechnology. Though Nanotechnology is still largely within the domain of the research laboratory, such government funding for various researches in this field will pay off eventually and handsomely in various ways, sooner or later.
Quantum Computer News
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