NANO TECHNOLOGY

A project work held at National Institution of

Technology, Rourkela submitted to fulfillment of the
practical requirement for Bachelor of Science Degree in
physics.
To

Utkal University, Bhubaneswar, Odisha

Presented by Guide
SUBHADARSINI PRADHAN Mr. AMEER MEHER
Roll. No:-1702010770240054

Department of Physics
Uniitech Degree College, Nayagarh
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
I like to express my special thanks of gratitude
to my physics teacher “Mr. Ameer Meher” for their
able guidance and support in completing my project.
I also extend my gratitude to the principal sir
“Mr. Santosh Padhi” and Chairman Sir “Mr. Pradeep
Prusty” for providing me with all the facility that
was required.
I would not forget to remember my
friends, of my college for their involvement and
more over for their timely support and guidance till
the completion of our project work.

SUBHADARSINI PRADHAN

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 DECLARATION
I hereby declare that the project entitled “nano
technology” submitted to the “Utkal University” in
partially fulfillment of the degree for Bachelor of
Science, is a record of original dissertation work
done by me under the guidance and supervision of
“Mr. Ameer Meher” Lecturer and research
supervisor Department Of Physics, UNIITECH
Degree College. The result embodied in this project
has not been submitted to any other Universities or
Institution for the award of any degree or diploma.

SUBHADARS

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 CERTIFICATE
This is to certify that the content of this project
entitled “Nano technology” by Subhadarsini Pradhan is an
authentic work of him submitted to “Utkal University,
Bhubaneswar” for consideration in partial fulfillment of
requirement of CBCS, Odisha for banhelor degree in
science in physics.

The original research work was carried out

by him under my supervision in the academic year 2019-
2020. On the basis of the declaration made by him I
recommend this project report for evaluation.

CERTIFIED BY-
MR. AMEER MAHER

College Seal

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 ABSTRACT
Nanotechnology reflects the combination/interaction of
knowledge which is interdisciplinary in nature. Exclusive monopoly
over patents on nano-scale materials, devices and processes is a
much sought after concept among technology based industries
today. According to many scientists and theorists, this science can
lead to solutions of some of the toughest problems faced by
mankind and the list of patents on nano-scale materials, tools and
processes is expanding at a phenomenal pace. Even India is among
the top 20 nations in nanotechnology research as is evident by the
number of patents filed each year. Trade regime of the world has
brought into focus the ability to generate and secure IPR. The
transformation has been rapid and in such a dynamic landscape it is
vital to protect the intellectual property. With increasing private
sector involvement in nanotechnology R&D, the need for a
comprehensive framework for regulating nanotechnology IPRs will
be pivotal to the commercial success of the technology. Hence, it
becomes increasingly more and more important to learn the various
issues in patenting of nanotechnology inventions and address these
issues now so as to avoid any problems later. This paper discusses
the various methodologies used in the developing countries and
what can be done in India to protect the same keeping in mind the
interests of various partners in the value chain of nanotech patent
from lab to market.

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 CONTENT
1. INTRODUCTION
2. HISTORY OF NANOTECHNOLOGY
3. NANOTECHNOLOGY TOOLS
4. NANOTECHNOLOGY SIZE AND SCALE
5. “BOTTOM-UP” & “TOP-DOWN-APPROACH”
6. ACCOMPLISHMENT OF NANOTECHNOLOGY
7. APPLICATIONS
8. INDIAN SCENARIO
9. ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES
10. CONCLUSION

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  IDENTIFICATION OF PROBLEM
INTRODUCTION
 Scientists have been studying and working with nanoparticles for
centuries, but the effectiveness of their work has been hampered by their
inability to see the structure of nanoparticles. In recent decades the
development of microscopes capable of displaying particles as small as
atoms has allowed scientists to see what they are working with.
 The following illustration titled “The Scale of Things”, created by the U.
S. Department of Energy, provides a comparison of various objects to
help you begin to envision exactly how small a nanometer is. The chart
starts with objects that can be seen by the unaided eye, such as an ant, at
the top of the chart, and progresses to objects about a nanometer or less in
size, such as the ATP molecule used in humans to store energy from food.
 There are many different points of view about the nanotechnology. These
differences start with the definition of nanotechnology. Some define it as
any activity that involves manipulating materials between one nanometer
and 100 nanometers. However the original definition of nanotechnology
involved building machines at the molecular scale and involves the
manipulation of materials on an atomic (about two-tenths of a nanometer)
scale.

Introduction to Nanotechnology Applications:-

 The ability to see nano-sized materials has opened up a world of
possibilities in a variety of industries and scientific endeavors. Because
nanotechnology is essentially a set of techniques that allow manipulation
of properties at a very small scale, it can have many applications, such as
the ones listed below.

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A. Drug delivery

 Today, most harmful side effects of treatments such as chemotherapy are

a result of drug delivery methods that don't pinpoint their intended target
cells accurately.
 Researchers at Harvard and MIT have been able to attach special RNA
strands, measuring about 10 nm in diameter, to nanoparticles and fill the
nanoparticles with a chemotherapy drug.
 These RNA strands are attracted to cancer cells. When the nanoparticle
encounters a cancer cell it adheres to it and releases the drug into the
cancer cell. This directed method of drug delivery has great potential for
treating cancer patients while producing less side harmful effects than
those produced by conventional chemotherapy. Introduction to
Nanotechnology Applications
 The ability to see nano-sized materials has opened up a world of
possibilities in a variety of industries and scientific endeavors. Because
nanotechnology is essentially a set of techniques that allow manipulation
of properties at a very small scale, it can have many applications, such as
the ones listed below.

B. Strength of Materials

 Nano-sized particles of carbon, (for example nanotubes and bucky balls)

are extremely strong. Nanotubes and bucky balls are composed of only
carbon and their strength comes from special characteristics of the bonds
between carbon atoms.
 One proposed application that illustrates the strength of nano sized
particles of carbon is the manufacture of t-shirt weight bullet vest are
made out of carbon nano tubes.

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C. Molecular Manufacturing

 If you're a Star Trek fan, you remember the replicator, a device that
could produce anything from a space age guitar to a cup of Earl Grey
tea.
 Your favorite character just programmed the replicator, and whatever he
or she wanted appeared. Researchers are working on developing a
method called molecular manufacturing that may someday make the
Star Trek replicator a reality.
 The gadget these folks envision is called a molecular fabricator; this
device would use tiny manipulators to position atoms and molecules to
build an object as complex as a desktop computer. Researchers believe
that raw materials can be used to reproduce almost any inanimate object
using this method.

 REVIEW OF LITRATURE
HISTORY OF NANOTECHNOLOGY
 As is the case with many other disciplines, applications of
nanotechnology (for example, in making steel and creating paintings)
were in use centuries before the field was formally defined.

 Early contributors to the field include James Clark Maxwell (Scottish

physicist and mathematician, 1831-1879) and Richard Adolf Zsigmondy
(Austrian-German chemist, 1865-1929).

 Zsigmondy studied colloids (chemical mixtures where one substance is

dispersed evenly throughout another) and looked at gold sols and other
nonmaterial.

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 Other important contributors in the first half of the 20th century include
Irvin Langmuir (American chemist and physicist, 1881-1957) and
Katherine B. Blodgett (American physicist, 1898-1910), the first woman
to get her Ph.D. studying Physics at the University of Cambridge.

 The earliest systematic discussion of nanotechnology is considered to be

a speech given by Richard Feynman (American physicist, 1918-1988) in
1959.
 It was titled: "There's Plenty of Room at the Bottom." In this speech
Feynman discussed the importance "of manipulating and controlling
thing on a small scale" and how they
could "tell us much of great interest
about the strange phenomena that occur
in complex
situations. “

 He described how physical phenomena

change their manifestation depending
on scale, and posed two challenges: the
creation of a nanometer, and the scaling down of letters to the size that
would allow the whole Encyclopedia Britannica to fit on the head of a
pin.

 The term 'nanotechnology' was used first by the Japanese scientists

Norio Taniguchi (1912-1999) in a 1974 paper on production technology
that creates objects and features on the order of a nanometer.

 The American engineer K. Eric Drexler (b. 1955) is credited with the
development of molecular nanotechnology,
leading to nano systems machinery
manufacturing. In the late 1990s and early
2000s almost all industrialized nations
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 created nanotechnology initiatives, leading to a worldwide proliferation
of nanotechnology activities.

 In the U.S., the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP)

established an Interagency Working Group on Nanotechnology (IWGN)
consisting of representatives from various government agencies
including the U.S. Air Force, the U.S. Navy and NASA. The IWGN,
working with academia and industry, created the U.S. National
Nanotechnology Initiative (NNI).

 Canadian institutions include the National Institute of Nanotechnology

(NINT) in Alberta, five (5) research institutes of the National Research
Council in Ontario and the Nano Quebec.

NANO TECHNOLOGY TOOLS

In this article, the different tools and techniques that are
used for producing and imaging a nano scaled object is
explained in detail.
1. Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM):-
• It is also known as Scanning force microscopy (SFM). This device is
used to visualizing, imaging, taking measures and for manipulating
objects that are in nano meter scale. The resolution of such a device is
said to be in the order of fractions of a nano meter.
• The earlier version of the AFM was called the Scanning Tunneling
Microscope, developed in the early 1980’s. The AFM was developed in
the year 1986 by Binnig, Quate and Gerber at the IBM Research –
Zurich and earned them the Nobel Prize for Physics for the same year.
The device consists of a mechanical probe that is used to sense the
material that is placed on the surface.

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 Working of Atomic Force Microscopy:
• The block diagram of an AFM is shown below. From the figure it is
understood that it has a sharp tip cantilever with a radius in nanometres,
which is used to scan the surface of the material. The cantilever is made
out of silicon or silicon nitride.
• The principle of Hook’s law is applied to the working of the cantilever.
According to the law, a deflection will be produced by the cantilever as
soon as the tip of it is brought closely to the surface of the material. This
deflection is produced as a result of the forces that occur between the tip
of the cantilever and the surface of the material.
• A highly accurate scanning procedure then takes place, through which
the corresponding electronic signals are generated using piezoelectric
materials. If the variations are deeper in scale, they can also be measured
using conducting cantilevers
• Many parameters can be measured with the help of an AFM. Some of the
common measurements that are taken are chemical bonding, Van der
Waals force, mechanical contact force, capillary forces, Casimir forces,
and so on.
• If additional probes are fitted to the device, many other parameters can
also be measured. The detailed working of an Atomic Force Microscope
(AFM) is shown in the figure below.
• The deflection produced by the cantilever will be measured using a
series of photodiodes which receives the laser signal from the top tip of
the cantilever. There will be a problem of the tip causing damage if it is
scanned at a constant height.

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• To overcome this problem, a feedback mechanism is used to keep the
same force between the tip and the
sample throughout. Thus the distance
between the tip and the sample will
remain constant always.
• In the case of the sample, its force is
kept constant by mounting it on a
peizo- electric tube. This tube has the
capability to move the material in the
x, y and z-directions.
• The movement in the x and y directions help in scanning the sample.
The movement in the z direction keeps the force constant.

2. Scanning Tunneling Microscope (STM)

• Scanning Tunneling Microscope (STM) was developed in the year 1981
by Gerd Binnig and Heinrich Rohrer. An STM is used for imaging
surfaces at the atomic level. The lateral resolution of an STM lies around
0.1 nanometre and depth resolution lies around 0.01 nanometre. This
measure is more than enough to manipulate a good image. With this
resolution, individual atoms within materials are routinely imaged and
manipulated.
• This method can be used in different modes like air, water, high vacuum,
liquid and gas. It can also be used in very high and low temperatures. In
an STM, when the tip of the device is brought near the material, a
difference in voltage is applied between them. This difference causes the
electrons to move through the empty space created between them. Such
a method is called quantum tunneling.

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• As a result, a current is formed which depends on the position of the tip
of the device, the applied voltage, and the local density of states (LDOS)
of the sample. The image is displayed on a monitor according to the
scanning process of the tip on the material.
• The method is very precise unless and until the parameters are
maintained according to standards. The tip of the device should be sharp,
the surface should be clean and stable, the device should have better
control on the vibrations produced.
• Components used in STM
• Scanning tip
• Piezo-electric controlled height
• X-Y scanner
• Coarse sample-to-tip control
• Vibration isolation system
• Computer
Working of Scanning Tunneling Microscope
• The tip of the device is moved closer to the sample in a controlled
manner. At the same time a voltage difference is brought to the tip of the
device. As soon as the tip reaches very close to the material, the voltage
difference is turns off. The working of the device is clearly shown in the
figure below. Take a look.

• When the tip reaches close to the material, piezo-electric effect causes
the accurate control of the tip. At such a situation the distance between
the tip and the material is usually between (4-7) Å. At the same time the

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 voltage difference in the tip causes the electrons to flow between the
sample and the tip.

• This causes a current flow, whose reading is noted. As soon as the

tunnelling effect starts to work, the distance between the tip and the
material can be changed accordingly. An image is created according to
the current readings. A movement of the tip in the X-Y direction causes
a change in the height and density of the states.
• The height is in the Z-axis and can be measured with respect to a
constant current. This method is called constant current method. In
another method called the constant height method, the change in current
with respect to position can be measured itself.
• When the tip reaches close to the material, piezo-electric effect causes
the accurate control of the tip. At such a situation the distance between
the tip and the material is usually between (4-7) Å. At the same time the
voltage difference in the tip causes the electrons to flow between the
sample and the tip.

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• This causes a current flow, whose reading is noted. As soon as the
tunnelling effect starts to work, the distance between the tip and the
material can be changed accordingly. An image is created according to
the current readings. A movement of the tip in the X-Y direction causes
a change in the height and density of the states.
• The height is in the Z-axis and can be measured with respect to a
constant current. This method is called constant current method. In
another method called the constant height method, the change in current
with respect to position can be measured itself.

Other Tools and Techniques:-

• The very first devices that made us possible to see the nanoparticles
were the scanning confocal microscope and the scanning acoustic
microscope in the years 1961 and 1970. The latest techniques involve a
method called position assembly in which the end of a scanning probe is
used to make the nanoparticles visible.
• Some of the other tools that are needed in this field are for the
application in nanolithography, a process that is used to reduce a big
material to nanosize. Some of the methods that are used for this
technique are optical lithography, X-ray lithography, dip pen
nanolithography and so on.
• Different tools and techniques are also required for the fabrication of
nanowires like electron beam lithography, nano-imprint lithography,
atomic layer deposition, molecular vapour deposition, and so on.
Techniques required for molecular self assembly also required.

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 NANOTECHNOLOGY SIZE & SCALE
Size of An Atom:-
• In 1958 Kenneth Ford's wrote in his “The World of Elementary
Particles” an explanation of the relative size of atomic particles. In this
work he examines an atom with a nucleus 10-4 to 10-5 of the size of the
entire atom. If the atom was 10,000 feet across it would be
approximately the size of a major airport runway.
• A nucleus 10-4 times smaller would be about the size of a basketball, or at
10-5 times smaller, the size of a golf ball. Using this analogy we can
visualize the enormous
amount of free space within
an atom – for an atom
expanded to the size of an
airport runway, the nucleus is
between the size of a golf ball
and a basketball place on the
center of the runway.

Nano Sizes and Distances:-

• One of the most difficult

things to understand about
nanotechnology is to get a
solid grip of exactly how small
nanoparticles are. This article
seeks to better explain this by
comparing nano sized objects
with common things.
• Sizes at the nano level are

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 incredibly small. If we consider the distance between the earth and the
sun to be analogous to one millimeter, then the length of one nanometre
is only the distance from New York to Boston.

Size Comparisons:-
These two figures illustrate some size comparisons from 1m down to the
size of a hydrogen atom at 0.1nm.

 METHODOLOGY
BOTTOM UP APPROACH
 Bottom-up, or self-assembly, approaches to nanofabrication use
chemical or physical forces operating at the nanoscale to assemble basic
units into larger structures.
 As component size decreases in nanofabrication, bottom-up approaches
provide an increasingly important complement to top-down techniques.

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 Inspiration for bottom-up approaches comes from biological systems,
where nature has harnessed chemical forces to create essentially all the
structures needed by life.
 Researchers hope to replicate nature’s ability to produce small clusters
of specific atoms, which can then self-assemble into more-elaborate
structures.
 A number of bottom-up approaches have been developed for producing
nanoparticles, ranging from condensation of atomic vapors on surfaces
to coalescence of atoms in liquids.
 For example, liquid-phase techniques based on inverse micelles
(globules of lipid molecules floating in a no aqueous solution in which
their polar, or hydrophilic, ends point inward to form a hollow core, as
shown in the figure) have been developed to produce size-selected
nanoparticles of semiconductor, magnetic, and other materials.
 An example of self-assembly that achieves a limited degree of control
over both formation and organization is the growth of quantum dots.
Indium gallium arsenide (InGaAs) dots can be formed by growing
thin layers of InGaAs on GaAs in such a manner that repulsive forces

caused by compressive strain in the InGaAs layer results in the

formation of isolated quantum dots.
 After the growth of multiple layer pairs, a fairly uniform spacing of the
dots can be achieved.

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 Another example of self-assembly of an intricate structure is the
formation of carbon nanotubes under the right set of chemical and
temperature conditions.
TOP-DOWN METHODS:-
• Top down nanoparticle preparation methods presents interesting
pathways to approach the nanoscale by starting with the bulk scale
materials and then scaling them down to the nanometer level
dimensions.
• These strategies involve physical breaking of the source material
through high energy processes. In this page we will review some of the
most frequently used top down nonmaterial synthesis pathways that are
used by scientists and industry alike.

Mechanical milling:-
• Mechanical milling is a top down approach to prepare nonmaterial and
has found great acceptability especially in industrial nonmaterial
preparation environments due to its simplicity, versatility of the process
( can be adapted to make many types of nonmaterial), scalability of the
process and for the low cost. In this method, bulk material which is
usually in the micro dimensions are grounded down to the nanoscale
with strong mechanical shear forces applied by the milling technique.
• There are three types of attrition devices that are more frequently used
than others. They are, shaker mills, planetary ball mill and attrition mill.
• In the shaker mills, as name suggests material to be milled is charged in
to a vial with “milling balls”, spherical balls that are made of hard
material. The sample is then securely attached to the shaker and
energetically swung back and forth for several thousand cycles per

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 minute. During this shaking process, milling balls, collide on each other
and with the vial wall.
• The high shear and impact forces produced in the process grinds the
solids down and mix it thoroughly.
• A planetary ball mill has gained its name from the movement of the vial
in the device. These vials are attached in to a rotating disk that rotates
around its axis and individual vials are also rotated in an axis of their
own but in an opposite direction to the main rotating disk. The whole
system is rotated several thousand rpm and strong frictional and impact
forces grinds the material down to smaller sizes. Planetary ball mill is
more popular among many as it can be used to grind several hundreds of
material at a time.
• Attrition mill is similar to a ball mill where grinding balls are loaded in
to a horizontal cylinder and rotated to perform the milling action.
However, in attraction mills the vertical drum is attached with series of
carefully positions impellers inside. These impellers are fixed to have
right angles to each other. Unlike ball mill, attrition mill is rotated at
high speeds with the inside impeller working. This can produce very
high shear and impact forces that are not possible to obtain with attrition
mills.

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• The main problem with this method is contamination of the nonmaterial
with the milling ball sand the container. High shear and impact forces
generated inside can chip small surfaces from these surfaces and
incorporated in to the nonmaterial.
• This is the main reason, that at least in the labs, this method is slowly
getting dismissed. Also, high shear forces applied in the milling process
impart significant imperfections of surface and crystallographic structure
of the material. The milling ball sizes, the milled material, duration of
milling are typical control parameters of this process.

Laser ablation synthesis:-

• This technique deals with generation of nanoparticles using a powerful
laser beam. It’s a top down process where a high energy laser is focused
on to a target in a solvent. The laser delivers short pulses of energy
which is enough to vaporize small spots of the metal target which
condenses as nanoparticle in the solvent. Usually this method is used to
generate noble metallic nanoparticles such as gold, silver and platinum.
However, it can seamlessly be extended to make other nonmaterial such
as nanoparticles of metal alloys: a unique advantage of this method.
• The typical setups consist of a pulsed laser, set of focusing optics and a
container containing a metal target. The container is filled with a solvent
(e.g.: water, ethanol) in which the metal target is immersed. The
placement of the metal target is close to the focus of the laser. The size
and dispersion of the nanoparticles can be tuned by the pulse duration,
wavelength and the intensity of the laser pulses. Typically, the laser
pulses are in extremely small time scales such as femtoseconds
(1/1,000,000,000,000,000 of a second), picoseconds
(1/1,000,000,000,000 of a second) or nanosecond (1/1,000,000,000 of a
second). Both visible and near infrared wavelength lasers are typical in
laser ablation instruments.
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• Use of short pulses in the process
allows the ablation process to be
carried out in number of different
mediums, including very volatile
solvents to highly reactive
monomers. Since the action is
primarily physical, this technology
can be used on wide range of
material and solvent possibilities.
Another unique advantage of this
method is the ability of making
nanoparticles with very high purity. Since this method produce no by
products or residual chemicals.
Arc discharge synthesis:-
• Arc discharge method presents another physical method of making
nonmaterial. This can be classified as a top down process as nonmaterial
are produced from bulk materials due to arc assisted breakdown of the
bulk material. In the arc discharge process, two electrodes are kept in
proximity to each other in a solution and a high voltage is applied in
between them.
• Due to the high potential difference and the proximity, an electrical
breakdown occurs in the medium, giving rise to arc discharge which
produces an ongoing thermal plasma discharge.
• The local temperature of the ongoing plasma can reach several thousand
of degrees Celsius, which effectively vaporized the electrode surfaces in
the liquid medium. Vaporized metal condenses on the solvent making
nanoparticles.

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• Most of the metallic nanoparticles, nanostructures and metal oxide
nanoparticles are produced in this way. The condensing solvent medium,
voltage and current supplied
to the electrode and electrode
material are major parameters
in determining the end
product.
• The extremely high
temperature produced
between the electrodes can
also facilitate atomic
assembly pathways that can
create new nanostructures that
are different to the electrode
materials.
• The discharge vaporized the
surface of one of the carbon
electrodes and forms a rod shaped deposit on the other. This deposit is
rich with mixture of single and multiwall carbon nanotubes.

ACCOMPLISHMENT OF NANOTECHNOLOGY

Major achievements of Nanotechnology:-

• The major achievements of nanotechnology are much talked about and
even more is expected from them in future. Nanoscience has emerged as
a scientific discipline over the past several years.
• It developed as part of chemistry, physics and biology before it broke
away as a branch of its own. It continues to make widespread use of the
natural sciences.

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 Development work still at an early stage:-
• Not all business activity in nanotechnology needs to be directly
connected to nanoscience, since new applications can be transferred into
everyday use without rediscovering the wheel. Just as in the case of
window glass, achievements in nanotechnology will be exploited in
products that already exist.
• These can be made smaller, for example, or engineered to consume less
energy. "The majority of people will never be able to distinguish the
subtleties of nanotechnology, because they're hidden inside the
equipment", a comment.
SOME FUTURE NANTECHNOLOGY MEDICAL
PRODUCT IDEAS.
 Vastly reduced component
sizes resulting from nano
engineering could enable
complete surgical robots or
miniature medical devices to
be constructed.
 The picture below is, just an
artist’s representation of a
drug delivery nano device but
it is expected within the
nanotech community that this
level of miniaturization will
become possible.
 One major future application
of nanotechnology may be the targeted delivery of drugs to specific
organs or tissues e.g. for the treatment of cancers at their site rather than
the use of systemic and often highly toxic chemotherapy. Another
possible application could be the delivery to specific sites of coated
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 nanoparticles that could then be heated using intense light thereby
destroying diseased tissue and cells.
 Nanotechnology also offers
considerable promise in the rapidly developing field of human tissue
engineering. The below figure is an artist's representation of an
engineered human nerve cell utilizing a matrix formed of an
nanoengineered biodegradable biopolymer.
 Nanotechnology offers great promise for genetic therapy - by facilitating
the sorting of cells outside the body for re-injection or by enabling the
building of cell-assisting micro-machines at the cell or sub-cell size
scale.

NANOTECHNOLOGY APPLICATIONS
A. Medicine
• Researchers are developing customized nanoparticles the size of
molecules that can deliver drugs directly to diseased cells in your body.
When it's perfected, this method should greatly reduce the damage
treatment such as chemotherapy does to a patient's healthy cells.

B Electronics
• Nanotechnology holds some answers for how we might increase the
capabilities of electronics devices while we reduce their weight and
power consumption.
C. Food
• Nanotechnology is having an impact on several aspects of food science,
from how food is grown to how it is packaged. Companies are
developing nanomaterials that will make a difference not only in the
taste of food, but also in food safety, and the health benefits that food
delivers.
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 D. Fuel Cells
• Nanotechnology is being used to reduce the cost of catalysts used in fuel
cells to produce hydrogen ions from fuel such as methanol and to
improve the efficiency of membranes used in fuel cells to separate
hydrogen ions from other gases such as oxygen.

E. Solar Cells
• Companies have developed nanotech solar cells that can be
manufactured at significantly lower cost than conventional solar cells.

F. Batteries
• Companies are currently developing batteries using nanomaterials. One
such battery will be a good as new after sitting on the shelf for decades.
Another battery can be recharged significantly faster than conventional
batteries.
G. Space
• Nanotechnology may hold the key to making space-flight more
practical. Advancements in nanomaterials make lightweight spacecraft
and a cable for the space elevator possible. By significantly reducing the
amount of rocket fuel required, these advances could lower the cost of
reaching orbit and traveling in space.
H. Fuels
• Nanotechnology can address the shortage of fossil fuels such as diesel
and gasoline by making the production of fuels from low grade raw
materials economical, increasing the mileage of engines, and making the
production of fuels from normal raw materials more efficient.
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 I. Better Air Quality
• Nanotechnology can improve the performance of catalysts used to
transform vapors escaping from cars or industrial plants into harmless
gasses. That's because catalysts made from nanoparticles have a greater
surface area to interact with the reacting chemicals than catalysts made
from larger particles. The larger surface area allows more chemicals to
interact with the catalyst simultaneously, which makes the catalyst more
effective.

J. Chemical Sensors
• Nanotechnology can enable sensors to detect very small amounts of
chemical vapors. Various types of detecting elements, such as carbon
nanotubes, zinc oxide nanowires or palladium nanoparticles can be used
in nanotechnology- based sensors. Because of the small size of
nanotubes, nanowires, or nanoparticles, a few gas molecules are
sufficient to change the electrical properties of the sensing elements.
This allows the detection of a very low concentration of chemical
vapors.
K. Sporting Goods
• If you're a tennis or golf fan, you'll be glad to hear that even sporting
goods has wandered into the nano realm. Current nanotechnology
applications in the sports arena include increasing the strength of tennis
racquets, filling any imperfections in club shaft materials and reducing
the rate at which air leaks from tennis balls.

L. Fabric
• Making composite fabric with nano-sized particles or fibers allows
improvement of fabric properties without a significant increase in

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weight, thickness, or stiffness as might have been the case with
previously- used techniques.

INDIAN SCENARIO
ANIRUDDH JAIN graduated from
IIT Guwahati's B.Tech program in
Biotechnology in 2009 and has been a
past Starting Bloc fellow at Global
Institute for Social Innovation 2008 at
London Business School. Currently, he is
the co-founder at Hyden Power Pvt Ltd, a
firm coming up with innovative products
and services in the renewable energy and
smart grid space, founded in 2010 by
graduates from IIT, India and Duke University, USA, with experience
of operating in USA and Singapore, and having previous associations
with IIT Delhi, IIM Ahmadabad, Ministry of New And Renewable
Energy (MNRE, India) and Punjab Government.
SHARANABASAVA
HALLIHOSUR He is an Assistant
Vaccine Technologist at Translational
Health Science and Technology
Institute (THSTI) Gurgaon, India. Prior
to joining at THSTI, He served as a
Junior Technical Superintendent at IIT
Guwahati, India from Sept. 2003 to
Jan. 2010. At IIT apart from his routine
lab work he was actively involved in research in IPR and Biotechnology
and his research work has been published in World Patent Information,
29
 Food Research International. Before joining IIT Guwahati he worked as a
Research Assistant at National Centre for Cell Science [NCCS] Pune,
India from Nov 2001 to Sept 2003 and his research work has been
published as co author in Journal of Virology. He did Masters Degree in
Biochemistry at Gulbarga University, Gulbarga, India. He is a Registered
Patent Agent, and filed numbers of applications for grant of Patent at
Indian Patent Office.
DR. LATHA RANGAN: is an
Associate Professor at Department of
Biotechnology, IIT Guwahati since
December, 2009. Her group tries to
address the research questions in areas of
biofuel, functional genomics, and data
mining and molecular systematics with
special reference to bioresources of
Northeast India using an integrative
approach. Dr Rangan has strong interests in area of IPR, especially
studying the dynamics of Biotechnology patenting and her research
work has been published in World Patent Information, Technology in
Society. Dr Rangan has given a series of lectures in areas of IPR at
various School, Universities and Institutions within India.

Advantages of Nanotechnology
To enumerate the advantages and
disadvantages of nanotechnology, let us
first run through the good things this
technology brings:
 Nanotechnology can actually
revolutionize a lot of electronic products,
procedures, and applications. The areas

30
 that benefit from the continued development of nanotechnology when it
comes to electronic products include nano transistors, nano diodes,
OLED, plasma displays, quantum computers, and many more.
 Nanotechnology can also benefit the energy sector. The development of
more effective energy-producing, energy- absorbing, and energy storage
products in smaller and more efficient devices is possible with this
technology. Such items like batteries, fuel cells, and solar cells can be
built smaller but can be made to be more effective with this technology.
 Another industry that can benefit from nanotechnology is the
manufacturing sector that will need materials like nanotubes, aero gels,
nano particles, and other similar items to produce their products with.
These materials are often stronger, more durable, and lighter than those
that are not produced with the help of nanotechnology.
 In the medical world, nanotechnology is also seen as a boon since these
can help with creating what is called smart drugs. These help cure
people faster and without the side effects that other traditional drugs
have. You will also find that the research of nanotechnology in medicine
is now focusing on areas like tissue regeneration, bone repair, immunity
and even cures for such ailments like cancer, diabetes, and other life
threatening diseases.
Disadvantages of Nanotechnology
When tackling the advantages and disadvantages of nanotechnology,
you will also need to point out what can be seen as the negative side of
this technology:
 Included in the list of disadvantages of this science and its development
is the possible loss of jobs in the traditional farming and manufacturing
industry.
 You will also find that the development of nanotechnology can also
bring about the crash of certain markets due to the lowering of the value
of oil and diamonds due to the possibility of developing alternative
sources of energy that are more efficient and won’t require the use of
fossil fuels. This can also mean that since people can now develop
products at the molecular level, diamonds will also lose its value since it
can now be mass produced.
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 Atomic weapons can now be more accessible and made to be more
powerful and more destructive. These can also become more accessible
with nanotechnology.
 Since these particles are very small, problems can actually arise from the
inhalation of these minute particles, much like the problems a person
gets from inhaling minute asbestos particles.
 Presently, nanotechnology is very expensive and developing it can cost
you a lot of money. It is also pretty difficult to manufacture, which is
probably why products made with nanotechnology are more expensive.

 FINDING AND CONCLUSION

 As a conclusion to this topic I would like to say that Nanotechnology is
a brand new technology that has just began, it is a revolutionary science
that will change all what we knew before.
 The future that we were watching just in science fiction movies will in
the near future be real. This new technology will first of all, keep us
healthy because of nano robots that will repair every damage that we
have in our body.
 Secondly it will give scientists the ability to manipulate the
combination of atoms in an object and to turn it into a lighter, stronger,
and more durable object than before, just by using carbon nanotubes that
are known to be a hundred times stronger than steel and in addition to
that they are very flexible. That will lead to the creation of objects that
can change their forms and have multiple purposes as the Nokia Morph
for example which is a prototype that will soon be out on the market.
 Thirdly, Nanotechnology will give us an abundant energy because it will
transform energy more effectively, for example windmills which are
known to have the ability to transform wind energy into electrical
energy, well new windmills that will use Nanotechnology will have
lighter and stronger blades (using carbon nanotubes) that will transform
a lot more energy than before. 

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 Nanotechnology covers a lot of domains today and will cover a lot more
in the near future, it is infinitely big and will make a lot of inventions
come true like teleportation for example which scientists are working on
today.

REFERENCE
1. C.P. Poole, Jr. Frank J. Owens, Introduction to Nanotechnology
(Wiley India Pvt.Ltd.).

2. S.K Kulkarni, Nanotechnology: Principles & Practices (Capital

Publishing Company)

3. K.K.Chattopadhyay and A.N.Banerjee, Introduction to Nanoscience

and Technology(PHI Learning Private Limited).

4. Richard Booker, Earl Boysen, Nanotechnology (John Wiley and

Sons).

5. M.Hosokawa, k.Nogi,M.Naita, T.Yokoyama, Nanoparticle

Technology Handbook(Elsevier,2007).

6. Bharat Bhusan, SpringerHandbook of Nanotechnology (Springer-

Verlag, Berlin,2004).

7. Nanotechnology-Rakesh Rathi (S Chand & Company,New Delhi)

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