APPLICATIONS OF NANOTECHNOLOGY

IN FIELDS LIKE ENERGY

CONVERSION,ENVIROMENT,TEXTILE,
MEDICINE AND BIOTECHNOLOGY

Nanotechnology and Energy

Generating steam from sunlight.Researchers

have demonstrated that sunlight, concentrated on
nanoparticles, can produce steam with high
energy efficiency. The "solar steam device" is
intended to be used in areas of developing
countries without electricity for applications such
as purifying water or disinfecting dental
instruments. Another research group is developing
nanoparticles intended to use sunlight
to generate steam for use in running
powerplants.

Producing high efficiency light bulbs.Anano

-engineered polymer matrixis used in one style of high efficiency
light bulbs. The new bulbs have the advantage of being shatterproof
and twice the efficiency of compact fluorescence light bulbs. Other
researchers developing high efficiency LED's using arrays of nano-sized
structures calledplasmonic cavities. Another idea under
development is toupdate incandescent light bulbsby surrounding
the conventional filament with crystalline material that converts some
of the waste infrared radiation into visible light.
Increasing the electricity generated by windmills.An epoxy
containing carbon nanotubes is being used to makewindmill blades.
Stronger and lower weight blades are made possible by the use of
nanotube-filled epoxy. The resulting longer blades increase the amount
of electricity generated by each windmill.
Generating electricity from waste heat.Researchers have used
sheets of nanotubes to build thermocells that generate electricity when
the sides of the cell are at different temperatures. Thesenanotube
sheetscould be wrapped around hot pipes, such as the exhaust pipe
of your car, to generate electricity from heat that is usually wasted.

Nanotechnology
environmental

Nanotechnological products, processes and applications

are expected to contribute significantly to environmental
and climate protection by saving raw materials, energy
and water as well as by reducing greenhouse gases and
hazardous wastes. Using nanomaterials therefore promises
certain environmental benefits and sustainability effects.
Note, however, that nanotechnology currently plays a
rather subordinate role in environmental protection,
whether it be in research or in practical applications.
Environmental engineering companies themselves attach
only limited importance to nanotechnology in their
respective fields.

Potential environmental benefits

Rising prices for raw materials and energy, coupled with the increasing environmental
awareness of consumers, are responsible for a flood of products on the market that
promise certain advantages for environmental and climate protection. Nanomaterials
exhibit special physical and chemical properties that make them interesting for novel,
environmentally friendly products

Examples include the increased durability of materials against mechanical stress or

weathering, helping to increase the useful life of a product; nanotechnology-based
dirt- and water-resistant coatings to reduce cleaning efforts; novel insulation materials
to improve the energy efficiency of buildings; adding nanoparticles to a material to
reduce weight and save energy during transport. In the chemical industry sector,
nanomaterials are applied based on their special catalytic properties in order to boost
energy and resource efficiency, and nanomaterials can replace environmentally
problematic chemicals in certain fields of application. High hopes are being placed in
nano-technologically optimized products and processes for energy production and
storage; these are currently in the development phase and are slated to contribute
significantly to climate protection and solving our energy problems in the future.

Specific examples of nanotechnology applications that benefit the

environment

Nanotechnology could make battery recycling economically attractive

Many batteries still contain heavy metals such as mercury, lead,
cadmium, and nickel, which can contaminate the environment and
pose a potential threat to human health when batteries are improperly
disposed of. Not only do the billions upon billions of batteries in
landfills pose an environmental problem, they also are a complete
waste of a potential and cheap raw material. Researchers have
managed torecover pure zinc oxide nanoparticlesfrom spent ZnMnO2batteries alkaline batteries.
Nanomaterials for radioactive waste clean-up in water
Scientists are working on nanotechnology solution for radioactive
waste cleanup, specifically the use oftitanate nanofibers
as absorbentsfor the removal of radioactive ions from water.
Researchers have also reported that the unique structural properties
of titanate nanotubes and nanofibers make them

Nanotechnology textile

Introduction
Textile manufacturers have begun to use nanomaterials in their
products. The unique properties of nanoparticles and
nanofibres mean that they can be used to design fabrics with
excellent mechanical strength, chemical resitance, water
repellance, antibacterial properties, and a wealth of other
properties which are unattainable by any other means.
There is still a lot of research still to be done in this area,
however. The different techniques needed to produce nanoenhanced textiles do not always fit well with existing
manufacturing processes, leading to increased development
costs. This can also affect issues like quality control, and
homogeneity of nanoparticle dispersion through the fabric.

Applications of Nanofibres
Air and water filtration
Controlled drug delivery
Tissue reconstruction
Barrier materials
Anti-microbial fabric

Nanotechnology medicine

he use of nanotechnology in medicine offers

some exciting possibilities. Some techniques are
only imagined, while others are at various
stages of testing, or actually being used today.
Nanotechnology in medicine involves
applications of nanoparticles currently under
development, as well as longer range research
that involves the use of manufactured nanorobots to make repairs at the cellular level
(sometimes referred to asnanomedicine).

Nanotechnology in Medicine Application: Drug Delivery

One application of nanotechnology in medicine currently being
developed involves employing nanoparticles to deliver drugs, heat,
light or other substances to specific types of cells (such as cancer
cells). Particles are engineered so that they are attracted to
diseased cells, which allowsdirect treatment of those cells. This
technique reduces damage to healthy cells in the body and allows
for earlier detection of disease.
For example, nanoparticles that
deliver chemotherapy drugs directly to cancer cells
are under development. Tests are in progress for targeted
delivery of chemotherapy drugs and their final approval for
their use with cancer patients is pending. One company,
CytImmune has published the results of a
Phase 1 Clinical Trialof their first targeted chemotherapy
drug and another company, BIND Biosciences, has
published preliminary results of aPhase 1 Clinical Trial
for their first targeted chemotherapy drug and is
proceeding with aPhase 2 Clinical Trial.

Nanotechnology
biotechnology
Background
Nanobiotechnology is the application of
nanotechnology in biological fields.
Nanotechnology is a multidisciplinary
field that currently recruits approach,
technology and facility available in
conventional as well as advanced
avenues of engineering, physics,
chemistry and biology.

Method
A comprehensive review of the literature
on the principles, limitations, challenges,
improvements and applications of
nanotechnology in medical science was
performed.

Results
Nanobiotechnology has multitude of potentials for
advancing medical science thereby improving health care
practices around the world. Many novel nanoparticles and
nanodevices are expected to be used, with an enormous
positive impact on human health. While true clinical
applications of nanotechnology are still practically
inexistent, a significant number of promising medical
projects are in an advanced experimental stage.
Implementation of nanotechnology in medicine and
physiology means that mechanisms and devices are so
technically designed that they can interact with subcellular (i.e. molecular) levels of the body with a high
degree of specificity. Thus therapeutic efficacy can be
achieved to maximum with minimal side effects by means
of the targeted cell or tissue-specific clinical intervention.

Conclusion
More detailed research and careful
clinical trials are still required to
introduce diverse components of
nanobiotechnology in random clinical
applications with success. Ethical and
moral concerns also need to be
addressed in parallel with the new
developments.