There are countless projects in nanotechnology that are paving way for the future. These projects are in many different disciplines making advancements that will greatly benefit the future of the planet. Nanotechnology will be big (but actually very small) for our future. So here are three current projects or innovations in nanotechnology, not in any particular order.
Just like the existence of a nanotechnology boom, there is also an electric vehicle boom. How are they related? Well, with the EV boom there is constant pressure to develop batteries that are able to charge fast and support longer driving distances. Currently, ion batteries use graphite anodes, but silicone anodes would be significantly better given silicone’s high capacity for lithium. Unfortunately, silicone cracks easily in batteries, which reduces the lifetime of an anode. So, researchers at the University of East Anglia developed silicon-based nanoparticles that can be compacted together thus preventing the cracking of the anode. The new nanoparticles also provide double the energy capacity of graphite anodes. With industry collaboration, electric vehicles could now get even more efficient.
Fire has been both beneficial and detrimental to humans throughout history. But fire damage has always been a very costly problem. We have attempted to diminish this problem through current passive fire protection technology such as intumescent coatings. Seems good right? Unfortunately, these coatings can be toxic and difficult to apply, while not even being very effective. Nano Shield is a new form of fireproofing technology that when exposed to an impingent flame or heat flux, reflects the heat away through particle vibration. In fact, the molecule reflects about 94% of the heat and can be modified to fit different temperature needs. This is game-changing in its application in the oil and gas, construction, chemical plant, and utility industries.
There are numerous applications of nanotechnology in the medical field, especially in drug delivery. This is mainly due to the fact that drugs entering our body are so small (at the nanoscale). A large application of nanotechnology in drug delivery is target specification. This simply means using nanotechnology to allow a certain drug to only target specific cells or tissue and, hopefully, avoid healthy cells. This is mainly possible due to distinctions between cells that allow nanotechnology to recognize the correct target cell. Very few nanomedicines are able to utilize this novel technology, but improvements are continuing to be made that could eventually even allow drugs to target cancer cells specifically.
These are only three interesting developments in only three different disciplines that have used nanotechnology to make a difference. As mentioned beforehand, there is much more research being conducted around nanotechnology and there will continue to be more and more in the future.