Facts and Figures
Top Five Global Investors in Nanotechnology Research 2009
Region
EU States
Russia
USA
Japan
China
•By the end of 2008 nearly $40 billion had been invested by governments in nanotechnology research. And
in 2009 alone global government funding of nanotechnologies reached $9.75 billion (www.cientifica.eu).
• About �500 million funding a year is provided by the European Commission for nanotechnology projects.
•Ireland was ranked 6th in the world by Nature in their Nanotechnology Study (October, 2006).
•The market for nanotechnology-based products is expected to reach $3.1 trillion by 2015, up from $147
billion in 2007 (Lux Research).
•However, spending on nanotech research is predicted to only grow by 9.3 percent from 2008-2012
compared with the 130% increase witnessed from 2004-2008.
•Several multinational companies with an Irish base are progressing in nanotechnology research and
development. These include Intel, IBM and Hewlett-Packard. Two nanotech companies have successfully
spun-out of Irish Universities, NTera from University College Dublin and Allegro Technologies from
Trinity College Dublin.
•Knowledge and improved manufacturing efficiency have decreased the cost of 1 gram of low-grade
nanotubes from $1000 five years ago to $30 today. High purity nanotubes are now available at cost for
$400 per gram (www.nanotechireland.com).
•The European Commission estimates that nanomaterials are now used in around 5% of the cosmetic
products – including sunscreen, lipsticks and anti-ageing creams – that are already widely available. In
March 2009, the European Parliament voted to back tougher rules on the use of nanotechnology in
cosmetics. (www.euractiv.com)
Precentage of total globalfunding
27%
23%
19%
12%
10%
Commercial nanotechnology products (Source: UNESCO 2006)
Healthcare: Nucryst wound dressings for burn victims, coated with ‘nanosilver’; Envirosystems EcoTrue
nanoemulsive ‘military grade’ disinfectant; Nanofilm’s ClarityDefender window spray; Flex Power joint
and muscle pain cream; 3M dental adhesive.
Clothing: Cerax nanowax for snow skis; Franz Ziener waterproof ski jacket (NanoTex); Wrinkle and stain
resistant nano-care clothing; Shockjock Aerogel footwarmers; Simmons washable bed mattress (NanoTex).
Coatings: Performance sunglassed nanofilm anti-reflective coating; BASF’s Mincor superhydrophic spray
for coating building materials to make them water-resistant.
Skin care: L’Oréal deep penetrating skin cream; Bionova ‘personalized skin care’; Z-COTE sunscreen.
Photography: Kodak’s Organic Light Emitting Diodes camera.
Leisure: Babolat nanotube tennis racket; InMat’s nanotech tennis balls; Maruman & Co. golf clubs using
‘titanium fullerenes’; Nanodynamics golf balls.
Legislation and There is currently a lack of international standards and regulations. In view of the new conceptual nature of
Regulatory Authorities nanotechnology and unknown risks, the EC recommends new standards, tools, nomenclatures, and systems
of measurement specific to the nanoscale and new kinds of nanoparticles. A new Registration, Evaluation and
Authorisation of Chemicals (REACH) regulation effective in the EU since June 2007 is expected to have farreaching effects on the chemical industry and manufacturers of nanoparticles (UNESCO 2006). The EU and US
have decided to work within existing regulations rather than draft nano-specific legislation and are working to fill
gaps in current regulations.
Sources and For a collection of relevant news stories and references, visit the website of one of the DSI co-ordinating centres:
Further Reading
www.remedi.ie http://apc.ucc.ie www.bdi.ie www.rcsi.ie www.cit.ie
www.w5online.co.uk
www.crossborder.ie www.crann.tcd.ie
www.clarity-centre.org
The content of this information fact sheet does not necessarily reflect the views of the centres involved in the DSI programme
www.debatingscienceissues .com
Nanotechnology
Debate Motion
Nanotechnology has significantly contributed to our well-being and environmental sustainability.
Nanotechnologies
Nanoscience refers to scientific processes in which matter is manipulated at the nanoscale to control size and
properties. Nanotechnology is the application of nanoscience. Nanotechnology is manipulation of entities below
100 nm and taking advantage of the fact that they show physical, chemical or biological effects specific to that
size. The nanoscale is anything less than 100 nanometres. A nanometre is a billionth of a metre, and is therefore
not visible to the human eye, even using a traditional microscope. At the nanoscale, materials experience different
properties and we can manipulate individual atoms, or make tiny motors.
Unit
Nanometre (nm)
Micrometre (µm)
Millimetre (mm)
Value
Billionth of a metre
Millionth of a metre
Thousandth of a metre
Examples of nanoscale (Source: www.arizona.edu 2004)
Approximate Size
Example in biology
0.1 nm
Hydrogen atom
1 nm
Small molecule, Carbon nanotube, Buckyball
100 nm
Virus, Nanoshell
400 nm
Visible colour
1 µm
Bacterium
10 µm
Animal cell, Human vision
100 µm
Plant cell
Scale
Nanoscale
Nanoscale
Nanoscale
Microscale
Microscale
Microscale
Nanoscience is a new way of doing science for us, but it’s what nature has been doing for a long time;
nanotechnology is using that science and applying it. For example, using high-resolution electronic microscopy,
hollow cylinders of carbon with a diameter of a few nanometres, called carbon nanotubes, have been detected
in a genuine Damascus sabre produced in the 17th century. Using special blacksmithing techniques and ‘recipes’,
craftsmen were thus removing the brittleness in steel by making carbon nanotubes more than 400 years ago!
Another example is the stained-glass windows made in medieval times, which relied on size-dependent
light scattering properties of metal nanoparticles. Gold nanoparticles of 25nm reflect red in glass, and silver
nanoparticles measuring 100nm reflect yellow. Tiny varying amounts of silver and gold in glass were used to make
yellow and red colours in stained glass windows.
It is this control and the applications which are relatively new. However, Feynman was discussing the concepts
of atomic engineering as early as 1959, Binnig and Rohrer at IBM created the scanning tunnelling microscope
for seeing and manipulating atoms in 1981, and Curl, Kroto and Smalley discovered carbon soccer ball shaped
molecules measuring 0.7nm (called buckyballs) in 1985.
Nanotechnology can occur in almost any area of science and engineering. It is relevant to biotechnologists, physicists,
chemists, electrical and mechanical engineers and materials scientists. Nanotechnology can occur in almost any area
of science and engineering. It is relevant to biotechnologists, physicists, chemists, electrical and mechanical engineers
and materials scientists. It is estimated that 50 per cent of new products by 2050 will use nanoscience and engineering.
(Source: Dr. M.C. Roco, Senior Advisor for Nanotechnology at the National Science Foundation, USA).
Stakeholders
Parties with different interests in nanotechnologies include:
• Scientific researchers.
• Global and national policy makers, concerned with legislation and regulation of nanotechnologies.
• Industries, which stand to gain financially from manufacturing products.
• Consumers of products using nanotechnology.
• General population: environmental safety is important to everyone.
• Developing countries with specific needs, which nanotechnologies have the potential to address.
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Applications
There are so many potential applications of nanotechnologies that we can only list a few examples here.
Manufacturing, IT, Communications & Security
•Light weight, but extremely strong products have potential applications for safer vehicles for road and rail, spacecraft,
shape-shifting wings for airplanes, earthquake-proof buildings, lightweight bullet proof vests, which deflect bullets
rather than absorbing their force, and lightweight sports gear, such as tennis rackets and golf clubs.
• Sunscreens and other skin products use ultraviolet-light absorbing properties of nanoparticles.
•Fire resistant coatings will be used to protect building materials, and liquid repellent coatings to keep
water off cars and windows etc.
•Quantum cryptography will provide unbreakable security for businesses, government and military;
quantum computers will be used to simulate natural disasters and for pattern recognition to make
biometrics such as face recognition possible (Booker and Boyson 2005).
•Nanotechnology chemical sensors will have security applications such as drug or explosive detection in airports, and
chemical detection in warfare. For example, the Defence Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) has been
researching a wearable biosensor which alerts soldiers if they have been in contact with anthrax (Malsch 2002).
•Nanotechnologies will be used to improve existing technologies, for example to make computers faster and
smaller, to increase memory capacity in less space using less energy. Computer transistors less than 100nm
already exist. Since 2000 every transistor produced by Intel has used nanotechnology. Some companies
are producing nanoscale layers on disk drives for higher density data storage, and manufacturing carbon
nanotubes to be used for conductors and microscopic probes (Scholze 2007).
Key terms
Biomedical applications
•The nanometre size of carbon buckyballs, nanotubes and nanoshells gives them potential to help deliver drugs
inside the body. Drugs or other substances can be inserted in a nanotube or bonded to the surface.
•It is hoped that nanoparticles will aid in the treatment of cancer and avoid many of the debilitating side
effects of chemotherapy and radiation treatment.The field of therapeutic nanoparticles began with
tiny drug-encapsulated fat bubbles called liposomes, now commonly used in cancer clinics worldwide.
Another technique uses gold nanoshells, with antibodies specific to cancer cells attached to them. The
nanoshells float through the body and the antibodies attach to cancer cells. When a specific wavelength
of light is shone through the body, the nanoshells give off heat to destroy the tumour (UNESCO 2006).
•Nanostructured materials also hold promise for prostheses and implants to replace damaged or missing
tissue. Nanoscale modifications to the surfaces of implants could improve implant durability through
better bonding (Scholze 2007).
•Diagnostic sensors and “lab-on-a-chip” nanotechnologies will analyse blood and other samples at the
point of care. In a ‘lab-on-a-chip’, tiny amounts of liquids or gases are mixed in small channels, where they
react. The reaction product is analysed on the spot (Malsch 2002).
•A home pregnancy test uses gold nanoparticles. Presence of a certain hormone in pregnancy causes the
nanosized particles to clump together and reflect a distinctive colour on the test device.
•Special healing plasters, now available widely, use silver as an antiseptic. Nanoscopic silver ions block
microbes’ cellular respiration [source: Burnsurgery.org].
• Quantum dots are being investigated for use in biomedical imaging (UNESCO 2006).
Environment
•Developing countries, where water is scarce or impure, will be able to use nanotechnologies for water
purification or salt removal. Today one person in five worldwide has no access to safe drinking water.
•To save energy, cars will have lighter and stronger engines and frames, and use new additives to make fuel
more efficient. House lighting will use quantum dots (nanocrystals with electric charges) to transform
electricity into light rather than heat.
•In agriculture, nanotechnology will be used for the slow release of water and fertilizers, or for herbicide
delivery; nanosensors will monitor soil quality and plant health, and nanomagnets will be used to remove
soil contaminants.
•The incorporation of nanotechnology into larger systems, such as the hydrogen based economy, solar
power technology or next generation batteries, potentially could have a profound impact on energy
consumption and hence greenhouse gas emissions (www.ias.unu.edu).
Key terms
Buckyballs (buckminsterfullerenes) are soccer ball shaped molecules made of carbon, about 0.7nm wide.
Carbon nanotubes (CNT): nanotubes (discovered in 1991 by S. Lijima) are hollow cylinders of carbon with a
diameter of a few namometres and are organic superconductors.
Fullerene is a hollow carbon sphere similar to a nanotube.
A Nanometre is a billionth of a metre, (1/80,000 of a human hair thickness).
The Nanoscale is anything less than 100 nanometres.
Nanoscience refers to scientific processes in which matter is manipulated at the nanoscale to control size and properties.
A Nanoshell is a tiny bead of glass coated with gold in different thicknesses. The optical absorption of gold varies with
the thickness of the shell, so that only certain wavelengths of light are absorbed and certain wavelengths reflected.
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Nanotechnology is the application of nanoscience. Nanotechnology is manipulation of entities below 100 nm
and taking advantage of the fact that they show physical, chemical or biological effects specific to that size.
Nanomedicine is the medical application of nanotechnology and related research. It covers areas such
as nanoparticle drug delivery and possible future applications of molecular nanotechnology (MNT) and
nanovaccinology..
A nanowire is a wire of diameter of the order of a nanometer.
Quantum dots, also known as nanocrystals, are a special class of materials known as semiconductors, ranging
from 2-10 nanometers (10-50 atoms) in diameter.
Ethical Questions
Prioritizing and regulating
The enormous potential of nanotechnology for manufacturing, medical and environmental applications raises the
question of what kind of nanoscience and nanotechnology do we most need to invest in and focus our research
on. Like all technology, nanotechnology can be used for the benefit and detriment of mankind. How should we
decide on science policy issues and to whom should the decision fall?
Implications for developing countries?
Nanotechnology may have the potential to solve urgent problems for the 5 billion people in the developing world.
Developing countries have specific needs that nanotechnology may be able to deliver for water treatment, energy
and agriculture. Their participation in the advance of nanotechnology is therefore particularly important.
New nanoproducts will be largely manufactured in developed countries, while mineral resources are in developing countries
such as China (tungsten and aluminium), southern Africa (platinum and gold), Brazil (aluminium) and Chile (copper). A
new type of ‘knowledge divide’ may therefore emerge between the countries with mineral resources needed to create
nanotechnologies, and those who own the intellectual property (or know-how). This may lead to unequal opportunities for
developing countries. China, India and Brazil have recognized this risk and are already investing in Research and Development
(see table). South Africa, Argentina, Chile and Mexico are also initiating national programmes (Scholze 2007).
A second issue related to knowledge sharing is the danger created by excessive patenting in technology. There
are already 86,000 patent documents worldwide related to nanotechnology. If basic nanoparticles and processes
using nanoparticles become patented in great detail, applying for new patents or to use patented technologies
may become difficult. The complexity of so many overlapping and competing patents will mean that legal
expertise is needed before even beginning any research. Secondly, developing countries may be disadvantaged,
if they have to pay high licensing fees for parts of the technologies they need to use, such as for a water filtration
system that uses carbon nanotubes to produce clean drinking water (UNESCO 2006).
Health & Safety issues
Nanotechnology brings some new concepts, which sometimes prompt unusual fears. One of these is the (small)
nanoscale: it’s always harder to trust in something you can’t actually see. The second is the man-machine interface
potentials with nanotechnology, such as a DNA controlled computer, or the idea of nanoshells traversing our bodies in
search of cancer cells. In particular, the concept of developing hybrids of living and non-living things at the nanoscale
seems quite scary. Another concept is the idea that nanobots could produce unlimited copies of themselves consuming
all the materials on the planet. This was referred to as ‘grey goo’ in Eric Drexler’s book: grey because they are machines
and goo because they’re so small they would look like a thick liquid. Many experts have dismissed these theories and
we know that many nanotechnologies pose no new threats to health or safety, e.g. computer chips.
Indeed, free nanoparticles have always existed. For example, ‘incidental’ nanoparticles (e.g. welding fumes, cooking
and diesel exhaust) and ‘naturally’ occurring nanoparticles (salt spray from the ocean or forest fire combustion)
are part of everyday life. We inhale millions of pollutant nanoparticles produced from combustion per breath.
We could also consider viruses as existing nano-biotechnological enemies. Understanding them is crucial to our
survival. Monitoring the potential effects of newly designed and defabricated nanomaterials goes hand in hand with
increasing our understanding and potential to fight ‘natural’ nanotechnologies, such as viruses (Malsch 2002).
Nanotechnology materials, however, like other chemicals, need to be treated with caution. The Royal Society
and Royal Academy of Engineering (UK) recommends that free nanoparticles are labelled as new chemicals, be
further researched, and that exposure levels in work environments are regulated and monitored.
Despite this, it is being increasingly recognised that nanotechnology research is no longer like delving into the
great unknown – the huge amount of intense basic research carried out in the past decade means that scientists
are now applying their immense knowledge of nanotechnology in order to create or enhance products.
Further problems in communicating about nanotechnology arise when stakeholders work with different
definitions. The industry currently defines nanoparticles as being smaller than 100 nanometres, while some
consumer groups include particles of less than 300nm.
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