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Kenny Leones asked:




What is Nanotechnology?

Nanotechnology is the science of constructing components, devices, materials and systems at a nanometer level which means “near-atomic.” The word “nano” is synonymous with one-billionth. So, in nanotechnology, the works and operations happen at the scale of 1/1,000,000,000 (one over one billionth) of a total meter. Such dimension or size is so small and thin. It is about 100,000 times smaller and slimmer than a strand of hair.

An atom, which is the building block of matter, is about this small. For instance, a DNA molecule, life’s blueprint and basic foundation of human genetics, is two nanometers in length. If a material is of this size, it is expected to have unique chemical and physical properties which are caused by several factors such as the significant increase in the surface area of the material as compared to its volume which happens when a particle becomes smaller.

Why is Nanotechnology Important?

Nanotechnology is playing a very important role today and in the future to change and improve every aspect of human activities. Nanotechnology influences a lot of materials used for manufacturing important items. These materials include biomaterials, ceramics, metals and polymers. The new and improved materials formed through nanotechnology are the source of most important technological advances. As of today, nanotechnology is used on following commercial applications:

Sunscreen Lotion – Through zinc oxide particles which have a “nano” size, ultraviolet (UV) rays are absorbed and reflected. As a result, sunscreen lotions appear transparent and are smooth when applied. Before, a sunscreen lotion is white and really sticky. Through, nanotechnology, these lotions are more attractive to customers.

Self-cleaning and scratch proof window – This kind of window is actually coated with a special material that has distinctive chemical properties. Once the sun shines on these self-cleaning windows, the material starts to have a chemical reaction and results to breaking down the dirt on it. Also, if there is rain, no droplets are formed. The rainwater is evenly spread on the window panel and it washes away the dirt that was broken down. The nanoscale controls the thickness of the layer.

Stain-repellent cloth or fabric – This is actually a fabric made of dipped woven rolls of cotton fabric in liquid form that has trillions of nanotechnology fibers. The cotton is dried inside an oven that binds these infinitesimal fibers of the cotton thread. As a result, the fabric becomes resistant to liquid although its physical appearance does not change.

Bouncing tennis ball – These balls are specially coated with a nano-sized material. The molecular barrier of the ball that formed because of these minute particles traps the molecules of air, thus, making the tennis ball bouncier.

Other Remarkable Uses of Nanotechnology:

- Organic Light Emitting Diodes (OLEDs) – for monitor or TV screen displays
- Photovoltaic Film – for conversion of light to electricity
- Hip Joint – formed through biomaterials
- Bucky Tube Frame – this is light but remarkably very strong material
- Nano-particle paint – used to avoid corrosion
- Thermo-chromic glass – regulates light
- Magnetic Layers – used for compressed data memory storage
- Carbon Nanotube – fuel cells used to operate vehicles and electronics

In the future, nanotechnology can change the theories and applications we believe and use. The fields of manufacturing, information technology, electronics and communications have very advance future if nanotechnology is further enhanced.

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Zoltan Osvath asked:




Fullerenes and carbon nanotubes (CNTs) are two closely related carbon materials. While fullerenes have bucky-ball structure, CNTs are stripes of graphite rolled up seamlessly into tubes (cylinders). The carbon atoms in a nanotube are arranged in hexagons, similarly to the arrangement of atoms in a sheet of graphite. The electronic properties are fully determined by its helicity (chirality) and diameter. They can have both metallic and semiconducting properties. The typical dimensions of a single wall CNT are: 1 nm in diameter and length of few micrometers. On the other hand, multi-walled CNTs can have diameters up to 100 nm. Recently, super long nanotubes with length of around 1 cm were successfully synthesized.

CNTs are produced by a variety of methods. The most common methods include chemical vapor deposition (CVD), electric arc-discharge, laser ablation of a carbon target, etc. Aligned (forest-like) nanotubes can also be synthesized. Aligned CNTs provide a well-defined structure for some applications. For example, high power density supercapacitors can be built using locally aligned nanotube electrodes.

CNTs play important role in the developing field of nanotechnology. Their excellent electronic transport properties make them good candidates for building blocks in nanoelectronics. The high aspect ratio of nanotubes is favorable in applications based on field emission, like flat panel displays and lamps. Furthermore, the strong mechanical properties and high thermal stability of CNTs improve the properties of matrix materials such as polymers or ceramics. Nanotubes have also been used as an alternative to currently used fillers (e.g. carbon black) to facilitate electrostatic dissipation by increasing the conductivity of polymers. Other studies have been directed towards improving the conductivity of already conducting polymers, thus resulting in a more conductive material.

As already mentioned, the properties of CNTs are fully determined by their exact atomic structure. Thus, in order to build a precise nanotube-based nanoelectronic device with well-defined properties, it is crucial to control the positioning and the atomic (electronic) structure (helicity) of nanotubes already in the growth phase. Some major hurdles still need to be overcome in this field. However, there are many applications where CNT networks are used instead of individual nanotubes. In these cases the properties of the whole nanotube network are determinative. These applications are very promising and a long line of nanotube-based materials and devices are already in the pipeline.

To learn more about carbon nanotubes, please visit

Carbon Nanotubes – Research and Applications

Author: Zoltán Osváth

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Steve Faber asked:




The term set-top box will become something of a misnomer in the near future, as most displays will become too thin to allow a box to placed on top of them. As the price of plasma & LCD displays has plummeted and their image quality has improved, they are popping up in homes everywhere.

Although they are the darlings of the media and the generic for flat panel display in the minds of many, plasmas are about to be in a serious fight with other technologies for the flat panel crown.

LCD displays, seen on the desktop for years as computer monitors, and commonplace in smaller flat panel TVs, are finally increasing in size to the point they are becoming a rival to plasmas in the 42″ – 50” size range. Picture quality is similar to plasmas; however LCDs are immune to the burn-in that can affect plasma displays. This burn-in occurs when plasma units are used to display static images such as video game screens and stock or sports tickers.

Plasmas generally have an edge in the ability to produce deeper blacks and more saturated colors than LCDs. Plasmas are also better at producing full motion video than LCDs because of the response time of the LCD panels, although this difference is disappearing.

LCD TVs are a bit more expensive than plasmas at 42″ and larger sizes, but they should last a while longer. Plasma displays should last 20,000 – 25,000 hours and LCDs should give 30,000+ hours of useful life. However, the latest generation of plasma displays from NEC, LG & others is claimed to have a 60,000 hour life. If that is an industry trend, the traditional lifespan advantage held by LCDs may soon disappear. This comes at a time when Sony and other major consumer electronics manufacturers are either abandoning plasma or reducing their plasma offerings. Others, such as Panasonic, Fujitsu and Pioneer are firmly commited to Plasma technology.

Currently Sony has a 42″, NEC a 40″, Sharp a 45″, and Samsung a 40″ LCD TV or display. Samsung also has the big one, a 46″ that started shipping in early September of 2004. The Samsung 46″ was the first consumer LCD video display to have a 1080 line native resolution. This allows it to display 1080p native when that format arrives for HDTV. The Samsung has been joined by Sony, Toshiba and others, to endow the mid 40″ size category with some pretty solid LCD offerings. The largest consumer LCD TVs or monitors are the Sharp 65″ and Sony showed a prototype 82″ LCD from their Bravia line at the 2006 CES in Las Vegas.

Other technologies are on the horizon as well. One that has shown great promise is OLED, for Organic Light Emitting Diode. Developed by Kodak and Pioneer, this technology has been used for a few years in car stereo and cell phone displays. It’s just about ready for prime time. Philips has shown a 13″ unit, Samsung a 17″, and Seiko-Epson has shown a 40″ prototype.

OLED’s advantages are many. It actually emits it’s own light, so it requires no backlight and has better contrast than a traditional LCD. OLED displays have a wide viewing angle like a plasma display. Power usage is very low, less than 1/2 that of a traditional LCD display. At around 2mm deep, OLEDs are much thinner than either a plasma or LCD.

They have a refresh rate about 1,000 times faster than a traditional LCD, so they will be far superior for video applications. They have fewer parts than LCD or plasma and can be manufactured using a novel ink jet printing process. This promises to keep prices low as the technology is implemented. It is expected to see sub 20″ displays in stores by 2006 with larger units following one to two years later.

Other promising display technologies on the horizon include SED (Surface-conduction Electron-emitter Display) and carbon Nanotube. SED was developed by Canon, who began research into the technology in 1986. SED is basically the same principle as CRT, however there are important differences. The most important from a consumer standpoint is thickness. An SED display is only an inch or two thick, depending upon screen size.

The basic construction is two glass plates separated by a vacuum. One of the plates is coated with phosphors the other is mounted with electron emitters. Electrons are ejected when a voltage of about 16 to 18 V is applied to the emitters. These electrons are then accelerated by a higher voltage into a beam similar to that in a CRT display.

The visual advantages of SEDs are as for CRT displays, great color, deep black levels and quick motion response. These advantages, combined with the slim form factor, low cost and small power requirement should make for a real winner.

A unit shown by Toshiba at a Japanese trade show in April of 2005 even had it’s contrast ratio up to an incredible 100,000 to 1 by significantly reducing black luminance. Even if the specs were a bit inflated this would still amount to a fantastic contrast ratio, on the order of 5 times that of a traditional CRT. At one time, Toshiba indicated they would move to this technology for all displays over 40” by 2006. However, after a spectacular demo at 2006 CES by where they indicated a late 2006 debut, both Canon and Toshiba, Toshiba resheduled their release date for SED until mid 2007, ostensibly to allow them to produce lower cost SEDs.

There is another fly in the SED ointment too. On April 21st, 2005 US firm Nano-Proprietary has filed a suit against Canon in the U.S. District Court of the Western District of Texas, alleging that the surface (SED) televisions that Canon plans to release violates a licensing agreement signed 5 years ago between the Japanese giant and Nano-Proprietary.

The pace of change in the home theater and entertainment display market has just kept accelerating. There are some promising technologies around the corner that will allow, as usual, higher performance, lower cost and more compact form factors. As prices for advanced technologies plunge and technology improves, it will make it even easier for the average person to have a fantastic media system almost anywhere in their home.

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