Nanotechnology is the new black
Maryse de la Giroday
http:www.frogheart.ca
Where this talk is going
• Enabling technology
– Used with other technologies
– As an application
• Materials, definition, and scale
• Nano through the ages
• Robotics, artificial intelligence, regenerative medicine, organ-on-achip,
• Biomimicry
• Flights of imagination
• International situation
• Canada
• Environment, Health & Safety
• What does it mean?
Emerging technologies
• Nanotechnology (aka nanoscience) is an
enabling technology for other technologies
– Robotics
– Artificial life/intelligence
– Regenerative medicine
– Synthetic biology
• Hence the little black dress/black shirts &
pants designation, which carries on further:
Nano and daily life
• Applications for daily life
– Self-cleaning windows (hydrophobic properties of
nanostructures borrowed from the lotus, geckos, etc.)
– Anti-bacterial wound dressings and clothing (silver
nanoparticles)
– Your skin as a smartphonewearable technology technology
: iSkin (graphene; presentation at CeBit in Hannover,
March 16-20, 2015 and in Seoul at SIGCHI in April 2015;
University of Saarland)
– Energy-harvesting clothes and other objects such as
bicycle paths so you can charge devices and electric grid
– Cosmetics (sunscreens)
Your skin as a smartphone
Materials
• Carbon
– Buckminsterfullerene or fullerene or C60 or
buckyballs
– Carbon nanotubes or CNTs or buckytubes
• Can be single-walled or multi-walled and length takes it
from benign to concerning
– Graphene
• The new wonder material makes your skin as a
smartphone possible (flexible electronics)
Buckminsterfullerene (1985)
• Credit: Benjah-bmm2
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Buckminsterfull
erene-2D-skeletal.png]
Carbon nanotubes (1991)
• http://inhabitat.com/carbon-nanotubes-couldcreate-better-solar-cells/
Graphene (2004)
Graphene (2 of 2)
• 2-dimensional
• Graphene is an atomic-scale honeycomb
lattice made of carbon atoms.
• The ideal crystalline structure of graphene is a
hexagonal grid. Uploaded by AlexanderAlUS
Created: August 26, 2010
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Graphene#medi
aviewer/File:Graphen.jpg
Materials
• Metallic nanoparticles
–
–
–
–
Gold (biomedical applications, chemical catalyst)
Silver (anti-bacterial applications)
Platinum (solar cells and panels, chemical catalyst)
Titanium as in titanium dioxide (in Dunkin’ Donuts
powered sugar until March 2015; sunblocks)
– Zinc oxide (in sunblocks)
• Other nanoparticles
– quantum dots, lignin nanotubes, gelatin nanoparticles
Is nano all Greek to us?
• The prefix is derived from the Greek νᾶνος,
meaning "dwarf", and was officially confirmed
as standard in 1960.
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nano• From Latin nanus (“dwarf”), from Ancient
Greek νᾶνος (nânos).
• http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/nano-
Definition
• A billionth
– time as in nanosecond
– distance as in nanometre
– volume as in nanogram/nanolitre
• Nanotechnology is not a translation from the
Latin or the Greek and it is definitely not
‘dwarf technology’
Nano in English
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
tenth
1795 (deci)
hundredth
1795 (centi)
thousandth
1795 (milli)
millionth
1960 (micro)
billionth
1960 (nano)
trillionth
1960 (pico)
quadrillionth
1964 (femto)
quintillionth
1964 (atto)
sextillionth
1991 (zepto)
septillionth
1991 (yocto)
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nano-)
Lycurgus Cup
• Named after King Lycurgus of Thrace who’s
depicted on the cup
Lycurgus Cup
•
•
•
•
1600 years old
Made of gold and dichroic glass
Acquired by the British Museum in the 1950s
It took scientists decades to understand why the
colour of the glass changed (1990 according to
http://www.ancient-origins.net/news-historyarchaeology/1600-year-old-goblet-showsromans-used-nanotechnology-00793#!bjfuCU
Sept. 2, 2013 article
Lycurgus Cup
• In order to produce the dichroic effect on the
chalice, Roman artisans are believed to have
ground down particles of gold and silver to 50
nanometres in diameter, which is less than onethousandth the size of a grain of table salt, and
then laid these nanoparticles within the glass
before it set.
• When metals are the size of nanoparticles, they
are able to display iridescent colours, which is
what causes the colour to change in the Lycurgus
Cup.
Lycurgus Cup
• While there continue to be scientific debates
about whether the Romans discovered
nanotechnology by accident or whether they
deliberately calculated the size and quantity of
nanoparticles required to make dichroic glass, no
one has been able to replicate the effect, until
now.
• (http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/romans-usednanotechnology-turn-lycurgus-cup-green-red1600-years-ago-1468746 article dated Oct. 6,
2014)
Lycurgus Cup effect
• Researchers at the University of Cambridge & the
University of Birmingham made a ‘Lycurgus’
breakthrough
• Plasmonic nanoparticle scattering for color
holograms by Yunuen Montelongo, Jaime Oscar
Tenorio-Pearl, Calum Williams, Shuang Zhang,
William Ireland Milne, and Timothy David
Wilkinson. PNAS, Sept. 2, 2014 vol. 111 no. 35
12679–12683, doi: 10.1073/pnas.1405262111
Lycurgus effect 2013
• They [researchers University of Illinois at UrbanaChampaign] conducted a study last year in which
they created a plastic plate filled with gold or
silver nanoparticles, essentially creating an array
that was equivalent to the Lycurgus Cup. When
they applied different solutions to the plate, such
as water, oil, sugar and salt, the colours changed.
(http://www.ancient-origins.net/news-historyarchaeology/1600-year-old-goblet-showsromans-used-nanotechnology-00793#!bjfuCU )
History & nano
• Damascus steel blades (carbon nanotubes)
recipe lost in 1700
• Islamic pottery (glazes with copper and silver
nanoparticles)
• Stained glass in cathedral windows (e.g., gold
nanoparticles for red glass; theory that glass
acts as a photocatalyst, i.e. cleans the air)
• Japanese Namban paper screens (beaten to
nanoscale thickness; 1573 – 1868 roughly)
Robotics
• UK’s National Physical Laboratory reaches out to
‘BioTouch’ MIT and UCL
– haptic-enabled sensing and micromanipulation of
biological self-assembly – BioTouch
– The project will probe sensing and application of force
and related vectors specific to biological self-assembly
as a means of synthetic biology and nanoscale
construction
• Ultimately this is for a robot that can apply
sensitive touch and requires more than one
technology to enable it
Robotics
• Bio-inspired robotic sock from Singapore for
deep vein thrombosis or blood clots
• Equipped with soft actuators that mimic the tentacle
movements of corals, the robotic sock emulates natural
lower leg muscle contractions in the wearer’s leg,
thereby promoting blood circulation throughout the
wearer’s body.
Robotics
• For the first time, robotic prostheses controlled
via implanted neuromuscular interfaces have
become a clinical reality. A novel osseointegrated
(bone-anchored) implant system gives patients
new opportunities in their daily life and
professional activities.
• In January 2013 a Swedish arm amputee was the
first person in the world to receive a prosthesis
with a direct connection to bone, nerves and
muscles. …
Robotics
• Robert Downey Jr. (Iron Man 3 had a nano theme)
• RDJ delivered a gift to 7-year-old Alex: a very special
custom-made gift for the dapper looking boy with a
partially developed right arm.
• The prosthetic, created by non-profit company Limbitless
Solutions, demonstrates the power and cost-effectiveness
of 3D printing technology – but more than that, it’s pretty
darn cool looking. At only $350 (minus the cost of the Arc
Reactor!) … Normally a prosthetic of this kind would cost
upwards of $40,000, but with 3D printing dreams are being
made into reality at an affordable price.
(http://www.pressroomvip.com/robert-downey-jr-handdelivers-iron-man-prosthetic-to-7-year-old-boy/)
Nano & robotics
• Limbitless Solutions website
Artificial brains/intelligence
• Artificial brains (nanoscale devices)
– Memristor
– Nanoionic device (nanoionic atomic switch)
• Artificial intelligence (algorithms)
– Writing and AI or is a robot writing this blog? (my
July 16, 2014 post) about Associated Press &
Automated Insights deal
– AI, Robotics, and the Future of Jobs (Pew Research
Foundation)
Regenerative medicine
•
•
•
•
Andemariam Teklesenbet Beyene
Synthetic trachea transplant 2011
http://www.frogheart.ca/?p=4078
Student in Iceland, flown to Sweden for
transplant by surgeon, Paolo Macchiarini, who
has a double appt. Karolinska Institute in
Sweden and University College in London, UK
Regenerative medicine
• Alexander Seifalian (UCL Division of Surgery &
Interventional Science; professor of
nanotechnology and regenerative medicine at
University College London, UK),
• created a glass mold of the patient’s trachea
from X-ray computed tomography (CT) scans
of the patient.
Regenerative medicine
• Seifalian & associates manufactured a full size
y-shaped trachea scaffold
• Scaffold was built using a novel porous
nanocomposite polymer
• The composite has millions of little holes
(pores), providing a place for the patient’s
stem cells to grow roots
Regenerative medicine
• The team cut strips of the novel
nanocomposite polymer and wrapped them
around the glass mold creating to create
cartilage rings that confer structural strength
to the trachea
• Then off to Karolinska where stem cells are
harvested and grown in a bioreactor
Regenerative medicine
• During a 12-hour operation Professor Macchiarini
removed all of the tumour and the diseased
windpipe and replaced it with the tailor-made
replica [now covered with tissue grown from the
patient's bone marrow tricked into growing like
cells found in a trachea
• The nanocomposite was designed to disintegrate
over time leaving the organic trachea in place.
Organ-on-a-chip
• Definition: An organ-on-a-chip ... is a multichannel 3-D microfluidic cell culture chip that
simulates the activities, mechanics and
physiological response of entire organs and
organ systems. ... One day, they will perhaps
abolish the need for animals in drug
development and toxin testing.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Organ-on-achip)
Organ-on-a-chip
• While cells are conventionally cultured in a
culture flask or dish in an incubator, in the
Organ-on-Chip concept they are cultured
inside a so-called “chip”.
• This chip would not be a microprocessor or
integrated circuit such as on bank card
However, it can actually have been made
using the same type of microfabrication
process in a clean room.
Organ-on-a-chip
• The “chip” provides the basic housing for the cells
which will form the tissue or organ model. As
such it replaces the conventional culture dish.
• Chip is roughly the size of a microscope slide
– contains one or more closed chambers
– these chambers contain cells which multiply or
differentiate depending on the research
• Chip is made of a transparent material for
viewing through a microscope
Organ-on-a-chip
• The chambers on a chip (microchambers) can
have surfaces with different characteristics
– e.g., very thin, flexible and stretchable, similar to a
membrane (thickness in the range of microns for
example), they are non-toxic for the cells, allow
passage of, for example, oxygen or nutrients
– surface can be patterned, or for example designed
to contain pores of a defined diameter – all from
nanometer to micrometer sized
Human-on-a-chip
• International competition to get multiple
organs on a chip
– In particular, US & Germany in competition
– Dan Tagle (associate director of the NIH’s National
Center for Advancing Translational Sciences):
stated they would have human-on-a-chip by 2017
– Uwe Marx (TissUse): currently sells two organs on
a chip; says he has four organs on a chip
• This technique would bypass animal testing
Biomimicry
• aka, bioinspired engineering or biomimetics
• Examples:
– Human-on-a –chip
– Inquiry into chameleon skin and structural colour (Mar.
2015: http://www.frogheart.ca/?p=16247)
• Scientists found a two-step process where changes take place via
the active tuning of a lattice of nanocrystals present in a superficial
layer of dermal cells called iridophores.
• The researchers also reveal the existence of a deeper population
of iridophores with larger and less ordered crystals that reflect the
infrared light. … it allows the chameleons to rapidly shift between
efficient camouflage and spectacular display, while providing
passive thermal protection [http://www.frogheart.ca/?p=16247]
Biomimicry and structural colour
• Hard to believe those berries were collected more than
four decades ago, according to Cristina Luiggi in her Feb. 1,
2013 article, Color from Structure, for The Scientist
magazine. Her focus is on biological nanostructures and it is
a fascinating article which I urge you to read.
Biomimicry and sharks
• … researchers try to make materials that mimic a
process or ability observed in nature. They used
sharkskin as an example for making a ‘smarter’
material. Scientists have observed that nanoscale
structures on a shark’s skin have antibacterial
properties. This is especially important when we
have a growing problem with bacteria that are
antibiotic resistant. David Pogue’s (the program
host) interviewed scientists at Sharklet and
highlighted their work producing a plastic with
nanostructures similar to those found on
sharkskin for use in hospitals, restaurants, etc.
Biomimicry
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Blue morpho butterfly
Giant squid
Chameleons
Peacocks
Jewel beetles
Namib beetles
Lotus leaves
Flights of imagination
• Canadian military (commissioned two books from
science fiction writer Karl Schroeder; Crisis in
Zefra featuring nano as ‘smart dust’: 2005
[downloadable from author’s website] and Crisis
in Urlia (commissioned in 2010 and published in
2014 [Government of Canada document:
http://publications.gc.ca/collections/collection_2
014/mdn-dnd/D2-324-2013-eng.pdf]
• Iron Man 3 (Extremis)
• Deus Ex (Eidos in Montréal)
Origins of modern nano
• Origins of modern nano
– Robert Heinlein
– Richard Feynman
• Chris Toumey controversy
– K. Eric Drexler
• Goo (Bill Joy, co-founder of Sun Microsystems)
– Neal Stephenson
International situation
• Big race
– Research
– Commercialization
– Patents
• UK had an early lead in the 1990s
• US gets serious at the end of President Bill
Clinton’s term when he signed the National
Nanotechnology Initiative, as of 2015, 22B
cumulative investment
International situation
• European Union
– Flagship projects (1B Euros each over 10 years)
• Graphene
• Human brain
• China
– 50 year nano roadmap (co-published with
Springer in June 2010)
– Nanopolis (hub for nanotech and
commercialization) is being built in the Suzhou
Industrial Park
International situation
• Saudi Arabia
– Opens King Abdullah University of Science and
Technology in 2009
– Ted Sargent of the University of Toronto has a
collaborative relationship with researchers at
KAUST
– Focus on solar energy
International situation
• Russia
– RUSNANO lands on the scene in 2009
– Signing deals all over the place, e.g. 2011 $100M US with
Kazakhstan
– Putin gets upset in 2013 and Rusnano changes course
– Chinese invited to create a joint nano investment fund in Sept.
2014
• Chinese also want to supplant US dollar as a base currency with their
own
• Russians looking east in wake of Ukraine & Crimea situations
• Military build-up amongst China’s neighbours: Japan, Viet Nam &
Philippines
• When is an invitation for a joint nano investment fund
possibly something else?
Iran
• INIC (Iran Nanotechnology Initiative Council)
– Teeth
– Green chemistry
• Nanotechnology researchers from Tarbiat Modarres
University [Iran] produced a new drug capable of
detecting and removing cancer cells using turmeric …
• The compound is made of curcumin found in the
extract of turmeric, and has desirable physical and
chemical stability and prevents the proliferation of
cancer cells. (http://www.frogheart.ca/?p=13124)
Mexico
• ITS (Individuals Tending Towards Savagery) first
burst on the nano scene in 2011
– According to one account, there were two incidents
this week, one at Mexico’s National Polytechnical
Institute on Tuesday, August 9, 2011 (another account
notes that there were previous incidents in April and
May 2011 targeting the same professor but does not
mention an August 9 attempt) and a more serious one
(two professors were injured) at the Monterrey
Technological Institute (the campus on the outskirts of
Mexico City) on Monday, August 8, 2011.
Mexico
• I gather the group (ITS) has posted a
manifesto online which states that
nanoparticles could cause the planet earth to
turn into grey goo (a well worn and popular
‘end of the world because of nanotechnology’
scenario first posited by Eric Drexler who has
since repudiated it but taken up by any
number of science fiction writers).
• http://www.frogheart.ca/?p=4147
Mexico
• Mexico recently hosted (Feb. 7 – 8, 2013) a
pair of conferences focused on
nanotechnology and art conservation. The
country is part of an international consortium
in the European Commision’s Seventh
Framework Programme (FP7), NanoForArt
project. [http://www.frogheart.ca/?p=9387]
Canada
• National Institute of Nanotechnology (NINT)
– Joint federal-Alberta initiative
• Most active provinces
– Alberta
– Québec
– Ontario
• Two areas of strength
– Graphite flakes for graphene
– CNC (cellulose nanocrystals) derived from forest
products
Environment, health, and safety (EHS)
• Carbon nanotubes, concerningly, long ones
resemble asbestos fibres
• The lung appears to be the least protected of
the organs
• Silver nanoparticles have raised red flags
• US Life cycle of nanotechnology project
– $5M for Arizona State University LCnano Network
• Sunblock (nano sunscreen) scandal in
Australia [http://www.frogheart.ca/?p=5875]
What does it all mean?
• Dunno!
• We live in interesting times and looking at the
other speakers’ topics and other sources, it
seems that we are at a juncture of sorts.
• When they talk about golden periods in
history, they tend to leave out the crises and
social upheavals.
• I think this will be a golden period¬later.