General applications - nanotechnology

1. Energy storage, production, and conversion (Novel hydrogen storage systems, photovoltaic
cells, organic light-emitting devices . . .)
2. Agricultural productivity enhancement (Nanoporous zeolites for slow-release of water and
fertiliser, nanocapsules for herbicide delivery . . .)
3. Water treatment and remediation (Nanomembranes for water purification, desalination and
detoxification, nanosensors for the detection of contaminants and pathogens . . .)
4. Disease diagnosis and screening (Nanolitre lab-on-a-chip, nanosensor arrays, quantum dots
for disease diagnosis, magnetic nanoparticles as nanosensors . . .)
5. Drug delivery systems (Nanocapsules, liposomes, dendrimers, buckyballs, nanobiomagnets
and attapulgite clays for slow and sustained drug release . . .)
6. Food processing and storage (Nanocomposites for plastic film coatings used in food
packaging, antimicrobial
nanoemulsions for decontamination of food equipment, packaging . . .)
7. Air pollution and remediation (TiO2 nanoparticle-based photocatalytic degradation of air
pollutants in self-cleaning systems, nanocatalysts for catalytic converters, nanosensors for
detection of toxic materials . . .)
8. Construction (Nanomolecular structures for water-proof asphalt and concrete, heat-
resistant nanomaterials to block ultraviolet and infrared radiation, self-cleaning surfaces . . .)
9. Healthmonitoring (Nanotubes and nanoparticles for glucose, CO2, and cholesterol sensors,
and for in-situ monitoring of homeostasis . . .)
10. Vector and pest detection and control (Nanosensors for pest detection, nanoparticles for
new pesticides, insecticides . . .)
11. Nanospintronics, Nanoelectronics are the emerging areas which uses the quantum
confinement effects of nanomaterials


Some major applications
Nano Spin Electronics (Spintronics)

During the last decade or so, one of the new and highly potential inter-disciplinary fields that
has emerged in the horizon of nano science is the Spin Electronics, which is popularly
known as Spintronics. Apart from various electronic effects in materials in the quantum or
nano level, the spin dynamics assumes a great importance. The main purpose of spintronics
is to understand this spin dependent property and its implications in the domain of newer
potential applications, e.g. in high density information storage media and the non-volatile
memory devices, which is now known as Magnetic Random Access Memories or in short
as MRAM, which would combine the advantages of magnetic memories and those of
DRAM. It should be pointed out here that in the field of ferroelectricity, there is also a new
class of materials like lithium niobate and lithium tantalate, which show high non-volatile
memory called FRAM, and there is a possibility of 'infinite memory' in such materials.
This exciting new field of Electronics and Magnetics, namely Spintronics, has
attracted great attention recently. This is based on the very basic fact that electrons have spin
as well as charge. Within the context of spin-electronics, the electron spin, as well as charge,
is manipulated for the operation of information processing circuits. The advantages of
spintronics devices over traditional semiconductor devices include the following :
(a) Much faster switching times,
(b) Reduced power consumption,
(c) Non-volatile memory, and
(d) Increasing levels of miniaturisation.
The research into spintronics devices has mainly focused on methods of switching the
magnetic configuration and there is a growing interest in the use of spin-polarised current to
switch magnetic devices. There are several advantages associated with the use of spin-
polarised current rather than external magnetic fields, i.e. the most important being no more
(or much reduced) cross-talk and low power consumption. With magnetic recording data
rates approaching GHz range and the data density exceeding 150 Mbit/mm2 (100Gbit/in2),
the dynamic magnetization mapping at nanometerlength scale and sub-nanosecond
temporal resolutions is demanded for material analysis and device characterization.The
spintronics is quite a new area. With the emergence of newer materials and devices in the
horizon of spintronics along with some powerful techniques of chatracterization of the
devices through the study of spin dynamics, there is definitely a great future for nano-
magnetics.

Gaint magnetoresistance (GMR)
The 2007 Nobel prize for Physics was awarded to Albert Fert and Peter Grunberg for their
discovery of Giant Magnetoresistance (GMR). GMR is a quantum mechanical effect
observed in thin film structures composed of alternating ferromagnetic and nonmagnetic
metal layers. The effect manifests itself as a significant decrease in electrical resistance in the
presence of a magnetic field. The Nobel Foundations press release interestingly
concludes with this paragraph:

The GMR effect was discovered thanks to new techniques developed during the 1970s to
produce very thin layers of different materials. If GMR is to work, structures consisting of
layers that are only a few atoms thick have to be produced. For this reason GMR can also be
considered one of the first real applications of the promising field of nanotechnology.
The discovery was made in 1988, and it was realised that this effect would make it possible to
manufacture very sensitive magnetic read heads for hard disks. In a remarkably short time,
GMR technology was incorporated into their hard drive head and launched onto the market
by IBM in 1997. This invention is responsible for the ultra-high density disk drives in MP3
players,digital video recorders, and computer notebooks





Nonophotonics
Photonic crystals are new types of optical materials, in which small dielectric cells with the
size of optical wavelength (from several 100 nm to several 10 m) are periodically arranged
in two- or three-dimensions.







One of the most important features of photonic crystals is the presence of a photonic bandgap
(PBG). Semiconductor crystals such as Si have a special energy range called a bandgap,
within which the electrons cannot have corresponding energy. A photonic crystal can have a
similar energy (frequency) range, which should be regarded as a bandgap for photons (PBG).
In a photonic crystal, the light with a frequency in the PBG cannot exist. An incident light
from the outside is completely reflected, and a light emission from the inside is prohibited.
For realizing high-performance lasers or ultra-small integrated optical circuits, PBG is
indispensable.

Nanomedicine
One of the many fields that nanotechnology is making major advancements in is the field of
medicine. Current medical treatments are usually indiscriminate and affect healthy body cells
as well as the damaged or pathogenic cells, either because surgery is required or because the
drugs given have no way of distinguishing between body cells and harmful cells. If surgery is
required then the risk of infection is increased and other complications may arise. Other
treatments such as chemotherapy for cancer and antibiotics for infections can cause side
effects and cause damage to healthy cells.
Applications of nanotechnology in medicine that have already been explored are methods of
sensing and diagnostics within the body, methods of injecting drugs into the body without
any risk of infection and methods of treating cancer directly. Nanoparticles make good
diagnostic tools because they can reach lots of places within the body easily through the
blood stream and are also very sensitive due to the size. The tiny size of nanoparticles means
they can access every cell in the human body through the blood stream, and the ability for
nanoparticles to recognise their target cells as well as treat the cells makes them a more
efficient method of treatment. It is into this category that plasmon active gold nanoparticles
(PAGNs) fall. Gold is plasmon active because it forms metallic bonds, therefore meaning the
electrons are delocalised; this means that as the radiation is absorbed by the gold particles the
electrons in oscillate between the top surface and bottom surface (relative to wave) thereby
converting light energy into thermal energy. This is advantageous over existing treatments
because it allows the relevant drugs to be administered directly to the desired area e.g. to the
cancer cells in a tumour or to the bacterial cells in an infection rather than generally
administered into the bloodstream in the local area.
Photodynamic Therapy - Near-IR absorbing gold nanoparticles (including gold nanoshells
and nanorods) produce heat when excited by light at wavelengths from 700 to 800 nm. This
enables these nanoparticles to eradicate targeted tumors.
2
When light is applied to a tumor
containing gold nanoparticles, the particles rapidly heat up, killing tumor cells in a treatment
also known as hyperthermia therapy.
Therapeutic Agent Delivery - Therapeutic agents can also be coated onto the surface of gold
nanoparticles.
3
The large surface area-to-volume ratio of gold nanoparticles enables their
surface to be coated with hundreds of molecules (including therapeutics, targeting agents).
Nanoprobes -
Quantum dot imaging of cells, DNA, Protein detection See also the slides

Nanostructured materials in energy conversion devices see the slides