From contributing to breakthrough cancer therapies, enhanced perfumes
and fragrances, bacteria-free socks, and even improved tennis rackets
and balls, nanotechnology seems capable of infiltrating every facet of
life.
It sounds fantastical but it’s all true, Prof. Hornyak says of the
infinitesimally small science that measures results by the nanometer,
which is one billionth (10−9) of a meter. Research in the field
promises to revolutionize the health, beauty and recreation industries.
It has already led to textiles that can clean themselves as well as
improved cosmetics. Advanced materials not found in nature might even
assist the development of cloaking devices to achieve the hitherto
impossible – invisibility.
But far from being a technology of the future, nanotechnology is very
much a science of today, Prof. Hornyak reminded Chulalongkorn
University nanoscience students at Thailand’s National Nanotechnology
Center (NANOTEC) on June 29.
Manipulating matter on an atomic scale to develop new materials and
products is producing jaw-dropping scientific breakthroughs around the
world.
Case in point, researchers from the U.S. Department of Energy’s
National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) in December last year
reported the first solar cell that produces a photocurrent with an
external quantum efficiency of greater than 100 percent – reaching a
peak value of 114 percent.
“It blows your mind,” he said of the promising “third generation solar
cells” that could open up unexplored approaches to improve solar cell
efficiencies. “It’s like getting something for nothing.”
Such game changing research findings feed optimistic predictions that
the global nanotechnology market may be worth U.S. $2.4 trillion by
2015.
Already, the Asia-Pacific region generates about half of the world's
nanoscience publications; and Japan, China and Korea ranked world 2nd,
3rd and 4th after the United States in the number of nanotech patents
filed last year.
For NANOTEC, Thailand has the potential to capitalize on nanotechnology
growth through niche industries and products for sustainable
development and national competitiveness.
“Thailand too is a beautiful landscape for nanotechnology,” the Asian
Institute of Technology Center of Excellence on Nanotechnology (COEN)
scientist stated.
He cited NANOTEC’s just released “SOS Water” – a solar powered water
purification unit using anti-microbial nanocoating to ceramic filters,
as an example of applying the technology for true social benefit. The
filter can provide drinking water to people in flooded or other
disaster-affected areas.
Modeling electromagnetic interactions at the nano-scale through RAMAN
Spectroscopy is another sought-after area of expertise the country
could exploit. “Nanotechnology simulation is also an elegant world for
budding scientists.”
According to Prof. Hornyak, advanced materials research and development
is exploding around the world and, here too, Thailand can
capitalize.
Already, researchers at COEN are using Thailand’s mother-nature as a
guide to develop resistance-free nanostructure surfaces.
In nature, water rolls off a rose petal but will bead-up on a lotus
leaf, he explained. By applying biomimetics to model the
microstructures of lotus and rose leaves, his team experiments with
nanotechnology surfaces to mimic their varying superhydrophobic
qualities.
Why is this research important? Prof. Hornyak sums it up in two words:
Energy and Ballistic Conduction of Electricity.
As the U.S. Department of Energy has designated the creation of a
hydrogen economy to be a priority, anyone who can generate and store
hydrogen safely and cheaply using new materials will do very well, the
professor said.
Also, COEN researchers are working to grow long multi-walled carbon
nanotubes for achieving resistance-free conduction of electricity.
“Think of how much energy we could save by replacing traditional power
transmission lines with carbon nanotubes?” Prof. Hornyak asked.
Some key sectors in Thailand are already witness to the impact on
nanotechnology. Hard disk drive manufacturers are applying the
technologies, as are auto manufacturers.
Although the technology is present in every automobile, polymer-nano
composite materials offer the possibility to increase the strength and
surface area of parts, while decreasing weights.
Still, amid such an open-ended landscape for nanotechnology, demand for
expertise may be exceeding supply, the AIT academic admits. “Regardless
of the type of business I visit they all ask the same question: ‘Do you
have someone in nanotechnology?’ “
By bringing together the knowledge and expertise of biologists,
inorganic chemists, physicists and engineers, nanotechnology transcends
many scientific frontiers, and can draw in talent to the field.
With nano-materials used in transistors inside mobile phones and
laptops, the power of nanotechnology is extremely vivid, said Prof.
Hornyak. “One billion transistors are fabricated every second in the
world – just think of that.”