CHAPTER REVIEW

Chapter 10: THE NANO WORLD

Nanotechnology is science, engineering, and technology conducted at the nanoscale,
which is about 1 to 100 nanometers. Nanoscience and nanotechnology are the study and
application of extremely small things and can be used across all the other science fields, such as
chemistry, biology, physics, material science, and engineering. It involves the ability to see and
to control individual atoms and molecules since everything on Earth is made up of atoms – the
food we eat, the clothes we wear, the buildings and houses we live in, and our own bodies.

Nanotechnology is now used as a tool in addressing the problems in the environment

through environmental nanotechnology which includes cleaning up existing pollution,
improving manufacturing methods to reduce the generation of the new pollution, and making
alternative energy sources more cost effective.

Since nanotechnology is considered as being the “key technology” of the 21 st century,

the expectation is the innovative products with improved quality and functionality, or
revolutionary developments in the field of medicine, will improve our lives in the future.

It would be a huge help in the environment and the world if nanotechnology is really a
sustainable potential. Nonetheless, determining the actual effects of a product on people and
the environment – both positive and negative – should require examining the entire cycle from
production of the raw material to disposal at the end of the cycle.