Nanotechnology and the Environment
Saturday, June 19th, 2010
While the use of nanotechnology in food and medicine is viewed with some apprehension because of the possibility of unexpected dangers, clean energy is one area where its use is seen as highly promising. Nanomaterials and nanocoatings are considered to offer promising opportunities for energy-related applications such as batteries, supercapacitors, fuel-cells, hydrogen-storage, thermoelectrics and photovoltaics.
The Nano4Energy conference being organized by Nanotechnology Knowledge Transfer Network (NanoKTN) at the University of Birmingham will focus on the potential of nanotechnology for clean energy. The conference, to be held on June 30, 2010, will see representatives from Nissan and the Carbon Trust discussing the role of nanotechnology in clean energy solutions.
Reviewing new developments in nanotechnology related to energy generation and energy storage will be a focus area. In particular, new technologies nearing commercialization will be featured at the conference, as will be the companies leading clean energy solutions.
Success in this area requires adequate networking and interactions among the players constituting the supply chain and the conference will provide a forum for industry professionals and academics to discuss the developments and issues.
The representative of Nissan Europe will discuss their new 100% Electric, zero emission, compact car that is expected to push the boundaries of clean energy transport. Another participant, Nanoco, will discuss the use of quantum dots in the manufacture of high efficiency, low-cost solar cells.
Read the release about the conference at the Material Handling World magazine.
Tags: clean energy, clean energy solutions, energy generation, energy storage, nanotechnology
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Nanotechnology’s Potential to Help with Sustainable Energy
Monday, June 14th, 2010
Using fossil fuels as the main energy source is not a sustainable solution as fossil fuels are exhaustible, sooner than later at current rates of consumption. These sources of energy also lead to increased carbon emissions and global warming. Hence, a serious search has been on for sustainable and environment friendly sources of energy.
Current solutions such as solar, wind and other such sources of energy have not yet become economic, while going for biofuels might lead to land being diverted from food crops to commercial crops, leading to food shortage.
The suggested solutions to energy problems include using renewable sources of energy, improving the energy use efficiency of industrial processes and preventing loss and wasteful use of energy. The new science of nanotechnology is promising some solutions to the energy problem.
Hydrogen is considered an almost inexhaustible source of energy if technology can be developed to tap it conveniently and economically. Nanomaterials such as Carbon nanotubes and nanofibers might be able to help in this area. Nanotechnology also promises better storage of energy preventing, for example, battery power leakage.
Nanotechnology can also help reduce the cost of solar energy by making it possible to produce less expensive PhotoVoltaic cells.
Read about the European inititatives of using nanotechnology for solving energy problems of the world at Nanotech-Now.com.
Tags: energy efficiency solutions, energy problem solution, energy storage solutions, renewable energy sources
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Energy Efficiency Using a Wasted Property of Electrons
Friday, May 28th, 2010
Electrical energy is presently obtained by utilizing the difference between positively and negatively charged electrons. Electrons have a third property, their spin, or a small magnetic field pointing up or down. This property is not used currently by electrical devices because the devices are too big compared to the nanoscale electrons.
A researcher in Israel is focusing on using the spin information to create energy efficient batteries and to prevent the huge quantities of power that we lose while transmitting electricity through conventional wires. Superconductors can prevent such energy loss; but technology now requires super cool temperatures for superconductors to work. Researchers are hoping that using nanotechnology, they might be able to develop superconducting materials that work at room temperatures.
Today’s solid state disk drives manage to use ordered atoms packed together. When atoms in a material are arranged in an ordered fashion, properties of the material change. Working at nanoscale, it is theoretically possible to design materials with customized properties.
Working at nanoscale is no simple matter, however. A nanometer is one-billionth of a meter and you need highly advanced tools like Scanning Electron Microscope to find what is happening at this scale. The Israel research facility has just been equipped with equipment like a Rutherford Backscattering Spectrometry, Scanning Electron Microscope and Environmental Scanning Microscope.
Using these advanced facilities, researchers hope to understand how maerial properties change at nanoscale and other issues involved. Read the report at Israel21c.
Tags: energy efficiency, nanotechnology, spin property of electrons, spintronics
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Where can Nanotechnology Help?
Sunday, May 16th, 2010
Nanotechnology is a field that affects other technologies in a big way. Considering that nanotechnology works at atomic levels, where you can even combine atoms in new ways to build new materials with strange properties or alter the properties of existing materials, it is no wonder that nanotech affects every other technology.
Nanotechnology is only a promise now. It can cause immense damage, say by penetrating our skins and reaching internal organs to damage them, that application developers have to proceed carefully even where something is technically feasible.
Which are the specific areas where nanotechnology might find beneficial applications? Nanomedicine, nanomaterials, nanobiotech and such other terms give a broad indication of the possibilities. Some specific applications in toxic waste treatment, energy and medicine mentioned below can give an idea of the scope of this new technology.
Carbon nanotubes have immense strength and great electrical properties. They can probably solve the problem of electrical power delivery in nanomachines that are the size of cells or smaller. These machines can be used, for example, to work with toxic waste and convert them into harmless substances.
Nanobatteries can possibly deliver perpetual power by generating it from ambient sources such as the small movements we make, and eliminating leakage of stored power, as discussed under posts related to nanotech energy applications in this blog.
Nanorobots can traverse our bloodstreams and deliver drugs at precisely the places they are needed, such as tumor cells. They might even be able to repair damaged cells.
You can visit Bigthink for a big look at the possibilities.
Tags: nanotechnology applications, nanotechnology dangers
Posted in nano batteries, nanomaterials, nanomedicine, nanotechnology | 1 Comment »
Nanotechnology and Climate Change
Tuesday, May 11th, 2010
Climate change is a major concern for the world. The change is attributed to global warming caused by carbon emissions, caused mainly by human activities. A survey by Environmental Protection Agency of USA estimates carbon emissions from the electric power generation sector at 34%, transport sector at 28%, industries at 20%, residential & commercial properties at 11% and agriculture at 7% in the country.
The study also indicated that carbon dioxide (CO2) levels in the atmosphere have increased 40% since the start of the industrial revolution. While CO2 is the major “greenhouse” gas that leads to global warming, other emissions such as methane also contribute their bit.
Greenhouse gases degrade quality of life by affecting many things from weather to our health. These gases damage the ozone layer that protects our earth from the many dangers to life and health originating from space (through which earth is moving).
With the increasing awareness of the dangers posed by global warming, governments all over the world are looking at ways to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The suggestions for doing it include :
- Reducing energy consumption by developing technologies that do not involve burning fossil fuels.
- Adopting technologies that use renewable energy and better technologies for energy storage.
- Separation, sequestration and conversion of emitted carbon into useful products.
Nanotechnology can help with these solutions. For example, it can develop high strength materials that help more efficient use of energy and nanocatalysts can improve fuel efficiency.
Read the detailed article on how nanotechnology can help with environmental issues at nanowerk.
Tags: energy efficiency solutions, energy storage solutions, nanomaterials, nanotech solutions for global warming
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Nanotechnology Products (in the Future)
Monday, April 5th, 2010
At NanoFocus 2010, a nanotechnology conference sponsored by the Oklahoma Nanotechnology Initiative, several nanotech product ideas were discussed.
One researcher spoke of his work with batteries, both nanotech and conventional. According to the speaker, about 240 nanobatteries could fit in the diameter of a human hair. He also said that the energy output and speed of charging of conventional batteries could be speeded up using nanotechnology.
Conventional batteries carry energy through contact between inner material and electrodes. At microscopic level, even apparently flat surfaces are full of gaps and holes. By growing rods of tin-oxide on the inner battery to increase surface contact, the researcher hoped to provide five times the energy and 100 times faster charging in conventional batteries.
A laptop could be charged in two minutes, said the researcher, who also acknowledged that the batteries are years away from store shelves.
Read more from this Tulsa World article at TulsaWorld.com
Tags: batteries, energy efficiency, nanotech products, nanotechnology
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