FM-AA-CIA-15 Rev.

0 10-July-2020

Study Guide in GE 6: Science, Technology, and Society Module No. 13

STUDY GUIDE FOR MODULE NO. 13

NANOTECHNOLOGY
MODULE OVERVIEW

This module focuses on nanotechnology, its benefits, and its potential impact on the environment.

MODULE LEARNING OBJECTIVES

At the end of this Module, you should be able to:

1. identify the importance of biodiversity as a source of different biological resources;
2. discuss the adverse effects of resource depletion on society and the measures to mitigate them; and
3. determine the interrelatedness of society, environment and health

NANOTECHNOLOGY

Nanotechnology utilizes the unique properties of nanomaterials which has at least one dimensional size
of a material between 1 nm to 100 nm to produce nanoscale devices, components, and systems. Applications
utilizing nanotechnology includes manufacturing various products, measuring, imaging and manipulating
matter on the nanoscale. Nanotechnology is of considerable interest by scientists in the fields of
nanocomposites, biocomposites, optical, biomedical, and electronic manufacturing. Nanoparticles are
currently being developed fervently, and one novel application includes polymer based composite materials
used in the aircraft and wind industries. Nanoscale materials can be different in properties compared to bulk
materials for two reasons:

1. Nano-scaled particles have relatively larger surface area per unit mass which is the critical
factor to increase mechanical modulus and other physical and chemical properties.

2. Basic material properties are changed at nanoscale due to the dominance of quantum effects
and lesser imperfections

EXAMPLES OF NANOMATERIALS AND THEIR APPLICATIONS

1. Semiconductors on the nanoscale. Semiconductor particles with diameters from 1 to 10

nm are called quantum dots. Making quantum dots is most easily accomplished using chemical reactions in
solution. For example, to make CdS, you can mix Cd(NO3)2 and Na2S in water with a negatively charged
polymer to the water (such as polyphosphate, –(OPO2)n–). Quantum dots are being explored for applications
ranging from electronics to lasers to medical imaging because they are very bright, very stable, and small

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Study Guide in GE 6: Science, Technology, and Society Module No. 13

enough to be taken up by living cells even after being coated with a biocompatible surface layer.

2. Metals on the nanoscale. People have known for hundreds of years that metals are
different when they are very finely divided. Dating back to the middle ages, the makers of stained-glass
windows knew that gold dispersed in molten glass made the glass a beautiful deep red. Much later, in 1857,
Michael Faraday reported that dispersions of small gold particles could be made stable and were deeply
colored. At nanoscale dimensions, silver has properties analogous to those of gold in its beautiful colors,
although it is more reactive than gold. Currently, there is great interest in research laboratories around the
world in taking advantage of the unusual optical properties of metal nanoparticles for applications in
biomedical imaging and chemical detection.

3. Carbon on the nanoscale. Over the past three decades, scientists have discovered that
carbon can form discrete molecules, one-dimensional nanoscale tubes, and two-dimensional nanoscale
sheets. Each of these forms of carbon shows very interesting properties. In 1985, however, a group of
researchers led by Richard Smalley and Robert Curl of Rice University and Harry Kroto of the University of
Sussex, England discovered buckminsterfullerene, nearly spherical C60 molecules. Since the discovery of
C60, other related molecules made of pure carbon have been discovered. These molecules are now known
as fullerenes. The smallest possible fullerene, C20, was first detected in 2000. Because fullerenes are
molecules, they dissolve in various organic solvents, whereas diamond and graphite do not. This solubility
permits fullerenes to be separated from the other components of soot and even from one another. It also
allows the study of their reactions in solution.

Soon after the discovery of C60, chemists discovered carbon nanotubes. They can be made in either
multiwall or single-walled forms. Multiwall carbon nanotubes consist of tubes within tubes, nested together,
whereas single-walled carbon nanotubes consist of single tubes. Depending on the diameter of the graphite
sheet and how it is rolled up, carbon nanotubes can behave as either semiconductors or metals.

The fact that carbon nanotubes can be made either semiconducting or metallic without any doping is
unique among solid-state materials, and laboratories worldwide are making and testing carbon-based
electronic devices. Carbon nanotubes are also being explored for their mechanical properties. The carbon–
carbon bonded framework of the nanotubes means that the imperfections that might appear in a metal
nanowire of similar dimensions are nearly absent. Experiments on individual carbon nanotubes suggest that
they are stronger than steel, if steel were the dimensions of a carbon nanotube. Carbon nanotubes have been
spun into fibers with polymers, adding great strength and toughness to the composite material.

The two-dimensional form of carbon, graphene, is the most recent low-dimensional form of carbon to
be experimentally isolated and studied. It is very strong and has a record thermal conductivity, topping carbon
nanotubes in both categories. Graphene is a semimetal, which means its electronic structure is like that of a
semiconductor in which the energy gap is exactly zero. The combination of graphene’s two-dimensional
character and the fact that it is a semimetal allows the electrons to travel very long distances, up to 0.3 μm,
without scattering from another electron, atom, or impurity. Graphene can sustain electrical current densities
six orders of magnitude higher than those sustainable in copper. Even though it is only one atom thick,
graphene can absorb 2.3% of sunlight that strikes it. Scientists are currently exploring ways to incorporate
graphene in various technologies including electronics, sensors, batteries, and solar cells.

BENEFITS FROM NANOTECHNOLOGY

1. Lower energy consumption: The use of graphene into a coating material resulting in the need for only
one layer, which does not require a multifunctional film coating. Two applications for a graphene
based coating are to apply it to a blade used in wind turbines or on the body of an airplane. It saves
the weight increasing efficiency.

2. Cost saving on materials: An alternative energy method such as hybrid automobiles will decrease the
price by novel developments in nanotechnology.

3. Less waste on raw materials: Large sample testing will be done on a smaller scale and
simultaneously use of raw materials will become more efficiency. Nanoscale chemical reagents (or
catalysts) increase the reaction rate and other efficiency of chemical reactions.

4. Environmental monitoring and protection: Utilizing advanced nanotechnology, a detector was made to

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Study Guide in GE 6: Science, Technology, and Society Module No. 13

detect a nuclear leak faster and more accurate at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant. Which
is one of the best radiation detector in Washington and can sense the faintest amount of radiation9 .

5. Biological applications: Developing ultra-small probes on planetary surfaces for agricultural

applications and control of soil, air, and water contamination.

6. Biomedical applications: This includes the medical diagnostic and treatments.

POSITIVE EFFECTS OF NANOTECHNOLOGY ON THE ENVIRONMENT

1. Cleaner, more efficient industrial processes

2. Improved ability to detect and eliminate pollution by improving air, water, and soil quality
3. High precision manufacturing by reducing amount of waste
4. Clean abundant power via more efficient solar cells
5. Removal of greenhouse gases and other pollutants from the atmosphere
6. Decreased need for large industrial plants
7. Remediating environmental damages

NEGATIVE EFFECTS OF NANOTECHNOLOGY ON THE ENVIRONMENT

1. High energy requirements for synthesizing nanoparticles causing high energy demand
2. Dissemination of toxic, persistent nano-substances originating environmental harm
3. Lower recovery and recycling rates
4. Environmental implications of other life cycle stages also not clear
5. Lack of trained engineers and workers causing further

REFERENCES

1. MacNamara, D., Valverde, V., and Beleno, R. (2018). Science, Technology, and Society. pp. 105-
108. Quezon City: C&E Publishing.
2. Serafica, J., et al. (2018) Science, technology and society. pp. 152-163. Quezon City: Rex Bookstore.
3. Lin, P. and Allhodd, F. (2007). Nanoethics: The ethical and social implications of nanotechnology.
Hoboken, New Jersey: John Wiley and Sons, Inc.
4. Zhang, B. et al. (2011). Environmental Impacts of Nanotechnology and Its Products. Midwest Section
Conference of the American Society for Engineering Education.

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