The word is out: nanotechnology, a new field of science and engineering that focuses on the very small, is about to go very, very big.
Nanotechnology, or nanotech for short, revolves around the study and control of materials, devices and systems on the scale of a nanometer (a billionth of a metre). For the non-technical reader out there, a nanometer is very, very small — about the size of four small atoms or two large ones side by side.
In the past five years a worldwide ‘nano-craze” has literally swept through most fields of science and engineering, with many established researchers pointing out the incredible number of ways in which nanotech will improve and influence materials, electronics, pharmaceuticals and virtually every other aspect of today’s world.
A few topical areas where nanotech promises to affect our lives should convey the enormous potential:
l Self-cleaning paints: It has been shown that when paints are doped with TiO2 nanoparticles, greasy organic materials that stick to the paint — that is, dirt — are oxidised by the nanoparticles. This makes the paint self-cleaning.
Improved polymers: The addition of nanoparticles leads to magical changes in the properties of polymers. Recently, the addition of carbon-nanotube fibres to a polyvinyl alcohol polymer resulted in a new material that is five times stronger that steel.
Information storage: Since nanoparticles are so small, they can be packed close together. The incredible smallness of nanoparticles, with their special magnetic and optical properties, combined with the ever-increasing sensitivity of the tools used in nanotech, will eventually lead to high-density information storage capacities. You could soon have devices the size of a wristwatch capable of storing the equivalent of 1 000 CDs.
Applications in pharmaceuticals, health care, and life sciences include new nanostructured drugs, gene and drug delivery systems targeted to specific sites in the body, biocompatible replacements for body parts and fluids, self-diagnostics for use in the home, sensors for labs-on-a-chip, materials for bone and tissue regeneration.
The list of potential applications of nanotech is growing at an incredible rate and, not surprisingly, a large number of companies are already starting to join the nano scene. The current global market for products and processes supported by nanotechnology is estimated to be between $20-billion and $50-billion.
Technology-focused investment bank Evolution Capital believes this could grow to $150-billion by 2005 and more than $1-trillion by 2010.
The South African scientific community has not been idle in the nano race. Research at academic institutions such as Stellenbosch University, the University of the Western Cape and Wits, as well as commercial nano research by companies such as De Beers (E6), Eskom, Sasol, the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research and Mintek has been gaining momentum in the past two to three years and recently culminated in the launch of the South African Nanotechnology Initiative (SANi).
The government has also indicated its support for a Nanotech research drive in South Africa by appointing SANi to write and present a South African Nanotechnology Strategy to the Department of Science and Technology this month. If SANi’s hopes for monetary support are realised, South Africa will not be left behind in the most important race of the 21st century.