1. How do you define nanotechnology?

Nanotechnology is the engineering of functional systems at the molecular scale. This covers
both current work and concepts that are more advanced. In its original sense, 'nanotechnology'
refers to the projected ability to construct items from the bottom up, using techniques and tools
being developed today to make complete, high performance products.

2. Discuss about the nanomaterial applications in nature.

Biological systems often feature natural, functional nanomaterials. The structure
of foraminifera (mainly chalk) and viruses (protein,capsid), the wax crystals covering
a lotus or nasturtium leaf, spider and spider-mite silk, the blue hue of tarantulas, the "spatulae"
on the bottom of gecko feet, some butterfly wing scales, natural colloids (milk, blood), horny
materials (skin, claws, beaks, feathers,horns, hair), paper, cotton, nacre, corals, and even our
own bone matrix are all natural organic nanomaterials.

a) "Lotus effect", hydrophobic effect with self-cleaning ability

The lotus leaves process superhydrophobic property, i.e.

drops of water roll off free of residue, taking any impurities
with them.
Experiments have shown that the surface of the leaf is not
especially even, but has instead a special, characteristic
roughness: Systematically arranged, water-repellent, nano-
size wax crystals form three-dimensional structures, similar
to small nipples, which are no greater than a few nanometers
in size.
When combined with the waxes' water-repellent chemical
properties, these structures make the lotus leaf extremely
non-wettable, a state called ultrahydrophobia or super-
hydrophobia, and they give it its self-cleaning properties.

Applications:

 Treatments, coatings, paints, roof tiles, fabrics and other surfaces that can stay dry and
clean themselves by replicating in a technical manner.
 Superhydrophobic coating comprising Teflon microparticles used on medical
diagnostic.
 Self-cleaning glasses installed in the sensors of traffic control units.
 Superhydrophobic coatings applied to microwave antennas reduce rain fade and the
buildup of ice and snow.
 In dew harvesting, or the funneling of water to a basin in irrigation.
 b) Gecko’s sticky feet

Geckos have the ability to cling to any surface at any

orientation, walk on smooth and rough surfaces, scale
vertical walls and even hang upside down on a glass
surface and they can quickly turn the stickiness of their
feet on and off.

Geckos can stick to surfaces because their bulbous toes

are covered in hundreds of tiny microscopic hairs called
setae which splits off into hundreds of even smaller
bristles called spatulae.

The setae on the feet of geckos are also self-cleaning and

will usually remove any clogging dirt within a few steps.

Applications:

 stitch-free ways to seal wounds

 sticky handheld paddles that help soldiers scale walls.
 Progress towards fabricating synthetic spatula.

c) Butterfly Wings

The scales on a morpho butterfly’s wings contain nanostructures that change the way light
waves interact with each other, giving the wings brilliant metallic blue and green hues.
Peacock feathers and soap bubbles also get their iridescent coloration from light interacting
with structures just tens of nanometers thick.
At the nano scales there are structures which can be described as Christmas Trees made out of
chitin which are just one micron high, standing up from the surface of the wing scale in long
lines.
The iridescent effect, which changes according to the angle of vision, is produced by light
reflecting off the different structures in the Christmas Trees, rather like the effect of light on a
soap bubble. This is known as structural colour, which is not produced by pigments.
Some insects such as dragonflies and butterflies have the self-cleaning property on the surface
of their wings to protect from dirt and from pathogens (e.g. fungal spores, bacteria).
Applications:
 To make various optically active structures, such as optical diffusers or coverings
that maximise solar cell light absorption.
 High-tech textiles – creation of pale blue iridescent fabric which is a combination
of nylon and polyester.
 Self-cleaning surfaces
 Cosmetics – nail polish, hairspray,
 Security tags
 Thin films for light emitting diodes and photonic crystal lasers
 Production of photonic crystals

d) Toucan’s Beak: Strong and a light

Despite its large size and considerable strength, the Toucans beak comprises only one twentieth
the bird’s mass.
The exterior of the beak is made up of overlapping tiles of keratin, the sulfur containing fibrous
protein that makes up hair, fingernails and horn.
The interior of the beak is constructed of a network of calcium rich bony fibers connected by
membranes. The membranes are similar in composition to keratin.
Application:

 Automotive panels that could protect passengers in crashes.

 Construction of ultra-light aircraft components.
 3. Critically discuss the importance of Nano technology over conventional technologies with
applications.

Nanotechnology is helping to considerably improve, many technology and industry sectors

such as information technology, energy, environmental science, medicine, homeland security,
food safety, and transportation, among many others.

Most benefits of nanotechnology depend on the fact that it is possible to tailor the essential
structures of materials at the nanoscale to achieve specific properties.Using nanotechnology,
materials can effectively be made to be stronger, lighter, more durable, more reactive, more
sieve-like, or better electrical conductors.

 Nanoscale thin films on eyeglasses, computer and camera displays, windows, and other
surfaces can make them water-repellent, antireflective, self-cleaning, resistant to ultraviolet
or infrared light, antifog, antimicrobial, scratch-resistant, or electrically conductive.

 Nanoscale materials in cosmetic products provide greater clarity or coverage; cleansing;

absorption; personalization; and antioxidant, anti-microbial, and other health properties in
sunscreens, cleansers, complexion treatments, creams and lotions, shampoos, and
specialized makeup.

 Nanoscale additives in polymer composite materials for baseball bats, tennis rackets,
motorcycle helmets, automobile bumpers, luggage, and power tool housings can make
them simultaneously lightweight, stiff, durable, and resilient.

 Nanoscale additives to or surface treatments of fabrics help them resist wrinkling, staining,
and bacterial growth, and provide lightweight ballistic energy deflection in personal body
armor.

 Nano-engineered materials in the food industry include nanocomposites in food containers

to minimize carbon dioxide leakage out of carbonated beverages, or reduce oxygen inflow,
moisture outflow, or the growth of bacteria in order to keep food fresher and safer, longer.

 Nano-engineered materials make superior household products such as degreasers and stain
removers; environmental sensors, alert systems, air purifiers and filters; antibacterial
cleansers; and specialized paints and sealing products.

 Nanoparticles are used increasingly in catalysis to boost chemical reactions which reduces
the quantity of catalytic materials necessary to produce desired results, saving money and
reducing pollutants. Two big applications are in petroleum refining and in automotive
catalytic converters.

Not only that Nanotechnology is already in use in many computing, communications, and other
electronics applications to provide faster, smaller, and more portable systems that can manage
and store larger and larger amounts of information.

 Nanoscale transistors that are faster, more powerful, and increasingly energy-efficient.

 Displays for many new TVs, laptop computers, cell phones, digital cameras, and other
devices incorporate nanostructured polymer films known as organic light-emitting diodes.
 4. What are the health issues associated with Nano materials?

For nanoparticles the concentration number and the resulting total surface area determine the
interactions with biological systems. Therefore the surface area and number concentration
appear to be more reasonable parameters for doses in terms of exposure.
Workers might be exposed to nano-sized particles in the manufacturing or industrial use of
nanomaterials through inhalation, dermal contact, ingestion which could cause toxicological
reactions in the lungs. Therefore it’s necessary to offers interim guidelines for working with
nanomaterials consistent with the best scientific knowledge.
Apart from what happens if non-degradable or slowly degradable nanoparticles accumulate in
organs, another concern is their potential interaction with biological processes inside the body:
because of their large surface, nanoparticles on exposure to tissue and fluids will
immediately adsorb onto their surface some of the macromolecules they encounter.
The toxicity of nanoparticles depends on physical and chemical properties of the particle. Each
new nanomaterial must be assessed individually and all material properties must be taken into
account.

Particle characteristics:

 Importance of large surface area for interactions with cells and tissues.
 Complex formation with biomolecules.
 Formation of increased level of radical species compared to larger particles.
 Increased induction of oxidative stress.
 Induction of cellular DNA damage.
 Induction of oxidative stress by lipid peroxidation.

Distribution:

 Deposition characteristics dependent on size.

 Uptake by cells of respiratory epithelium.
 Increased access to interstitial spaces.
 Access to systemic circulation.

Organ system effects, including effects on immune and inflammatory systems:

 Reduced function of macrophages, reduced phagocytosis of particles themselves,

reduced macrophage mobility and cytoskeletal dysfunction.
 Increased pro-inflammatory activity and induction of cytokines and other mediators.
 Adverse effects on cardiac functions and vascular homeostasis.
 5. Give an example of nanomaterial that differ in properties when at the Nano scale
vs. bulk.
Gold:
 As a catalyst
Gold is considered an inert material that doesn’t corrode or tarnish. Normally, gold isn’t use as
a catalyst for chemical reactions because it doesn’t do much but Nano sized gold can act as a
catalyst that can do things like oxidizing carbon monoxide.

The theory behind this is while in the bulk form, each gold atom is surrounded by twelve other
gold atoms; even the gold atoms at the surface have six adjacent gold atoms. In a gold
nanoparticle a much larger percentage of gold atoms sit at the surface.

Because gold forms crystalline shapes, gold atoms at the corners of the crystals are surrounded
by fewer gold atoms than those in the surface of bulk gold. The exposed atoms at the corners
of the crystal are more reactive than gold atoms in the bulk form, which allows the gold
nanoparticles to catalyze reactions.

 Colour
Gold can also change color depending on the size of the gold particles.

In bulk form, gold reflects light. At the nanoscale, the electron cloud at the surface of a gold
nanoparticle resonates with different wavelengths of light depending upon their frequency.
Depending on the size of the nanoparticle, the electron cloud will be in resonance with a
particular wavelength of light and absorb that wavelength.

Ex: - Bulk Gold – Yellow

Nano Gold - Red

  Melting Temperature
In bulk form it has a certain melting temperature regardless of a small ring or a bar of gold. In
nanoscale, melting temperatures begin to vary by as much as hundreds of degrees due to the
number of atoms on the surface and corners of gold nanoparticles. With a greater number of
atoms exposed, heat can break down the bond between them and surrounding atoms at a lower
temperature. The smaller the particle, the lower its melting point.

6. What are the properties of Nanomaterial?

Physical properties

 Size, shape, specific surface area, aspect ratio

 Aggregation state
 Size distribution
 Surface morphology
 Structure, including crystallinity and defect structure
 Solubility
Chemical properties

 Structural formula/molecular structure

 Composition of nanomaterial
 Phase identity
 Surface chemistry (composition, charge, tension, reactive sites, physical structure,
photocatalytic properties, zeta potential)
 Hydrophilicity/lipophilicity

Mechanical properties
The large amount of grain boundaries in bulk materials allows extended grain boundary
sliding leading to high plasticity.

Catalytic Properties
Due to their large surface, nanoparticles made of transition element oxides exhibit interesting
catalytic properties
Magnetic Properties
In magnetic nanoparticles, the energy of magnetic anisotropy may be that small that the
vector of magnetization fluctuates thermally; this is called superparamagnetism. Such a
material is free of remanence, and coercitivity.
Optical Properties
Distributions of non-agglomerated nanoparticles in a polymer are used to tune the index of
refraction. Additionally, such a process may produce materials with non-linear optical
properties.

7. How do you explain the evolution of Nanotechnology?

Although nanotechnology is a relatively recent development in scientific research, the
development of its central concepts happened over a longer period of time. The emergence of
nanotechnology in the 1980s was caused by the convergence of experimental advances such as
the invention of the scanning tunneling microscope in 1981 and the discovery of fullerenes in
1985.
The field was subject to growing public awareness and controversy in the early 2000s, with
prominent debates about both its potential implications as well as the feasibility of the
applications envisioned by advocates of molecular nanotechnology.
The early 2000s also saw the beginnings of commercial applications of nanotechnology,
although these were limited to bulk applications of nanomaterials rather than
the transformative applications envisioned by the field.
Evolution:

Gerd Binnig Heinrich Rohrer

 The scanning tunneling microscope, an instrument for imaging surfaces at the atomic
level, was developed in 1981 by Gerd Binnig and Heinrich Rohrer.
 Calvin Quate and Christoph Gerber invented the first atomic force microscope in 1986.
 The first commercially available atomic force microscope was introduced in 1989.
 Richard Adolf Zsigmondy made a detailed study of gold sols and
other nanomaterials with sizes down to 10 nm using an ultramicroscope which was
capable of visualizing particles much smaller than the light wavelength.
  In the 1920s, Irving Langmuir and Katharine B. Blodgett introduced the concept of
a monolayer, a layer of material one molecule thick.
 Fullerenes were discovered in 1985 by Harry Kroto, Richard Smalley, and Robert Curl.
 The discovery of carbon nanotubes by Sumio Iijima of NEC in 1991.
 In the early 1990s Huffman and Kraetschmer, discovered how to synthesize and purify
large quantities of fullerenes.
Using the similar tools as those used by Huffman and Kratschmer, hundreds of researchers
further developed the field of nanotube-based nanotechnology.

8. What are the shapes of the Nano materials?

The often very high surface area to volume ratio of nanoparticles provides a tremendous driving
force for diffusion, especially at elevated temperatures. Sintering is possible at lower
temperatures and over shorter durations than for larger particles. The shape of the nanomaterial
depends on the unit cell structure of it. The shape can be change from hexagonal to cubic at
different temperatures.
 2D materials are crystalline materials consisting of a two-dimensional single layer of
atoms.
 3D materials - Box-shaped graphene nanostructure is an example.

 Synthesis - The goal of any synthetic method for nanomaterials is to yield a material
that exhibits properties that are a result of their characteristic length scale being in the
nanometer range.

9. How do you relate melting point of Nano gold with the size? Explain with the aid
of a graph.
The melting temperature of a bulk material is not dependent on its size. But the decrease in
melting temperature can be on the order of tens to hundreds of degrees for metals
with nanometer dimensions because nanoscale materials have a much larger surface-to-volume
ratio than bulk materials.
The melting point drops below that of bulk gold (1064 °C) if the particle radius is less than 10
nm. This has to do with the increasing number of surface atoms with decreasing particle size.
Surface atoms have lower coordination numbers than inner atoms and therefore become mobile
more easily. So the heat can break down the bond between them and surrounding atoms at a
lower temperature. The smaller the particle, the lower its melting point.

10. Explain the approaches of Nano technology with examples.

a. Top down method

The most mature products of nanotechnology (such as modern CPUs) rely heavily on top-down
processes to define structures. It refers to the traditional workshop or microfabrication method
where tools are used to cut, mill and shape materials into the desired shape and order.

b. Bottom up methods
Bottom up methods involve the assembly of atoms or molecules into nanostructured arrays. It
refers to methods where devices 'create themselves' by selfassembly. Chemical synthesis is a
good example. Bottom-up should broadly speaking be able to produce devices in parallel and
much cheaper than top-down methods, but getting control over the methods is difficult when
things become larger and more bulky than what is normally made by chemical synthesis.
In these methods the raw material sources can be in the form of gases, liquids or solids. Bottom
methods generally are two categories:
1) Chaotic processes
2) Controlled processes