ASIA PACIFIC COLLEGE OF ADVANCED STUDIES

A.H. Banzon St., Ibayo, City of Balanga, Bataan

COLLEGE DEPARTMENT

GEC STS
ST
1 Semester AY 2023-2024
LECTURE 13

The Nano World

Origin of nanotechnology
❖ The term "nano-technology" was first used by Norio Taniguchi in 1974.
❖ In 1986, K. Eric Drexler used the term "nanotechnology" in his book Engines of Creation: The
Coming Era of Nanotechnology, which proposed the idea of a nanoscale "assembler" which would
be able to build a copy of itself and of other items of arbitrary complexity with atomic control.
❖ In 1980, the emergence of nanotechnology as a field in occurred through convergence of Drexler's
theoretical and public work
❖ In 1986, Drexler co-founded The Foresight Institute to help increase public awareness and
understanding of nanotechnology concepts and implications.

What is Nanotechnology?

➔ Nanotechnology is science, engineering, and technology conducted at the nanoscale, which is

about 1 to 100 nanometers or 1 or 100 billionth of a meter.
➔ 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, materials science,
and engineering.
WHY NANO?
The term "nano" refers to a unit meaning one billionth or ten raised to negative nine (10-9). For example,
a nanometer is one billionth of a meter. Hence, "nano" expresses a very tiny amount or size.

Figures 3.9 and 3.10 compare objects of different sizes. A particle of beach sand is almost ten times larger
than a pollen grain. Nanostructures can be found in nature. Catalysts, minerals, and other particles are
measured on a nano scale. A single strand of DNA is about three nanometers wide. Nanoscience,
therefore, deals with materials that are very small using specialized microscopes and other nanodevices.

Nanotechnology refers to the manipulation of matter on an atomic or subatomic scale. Some innovations
developed in this field include microprocessors and strain-resistant fabrics. In the future, as nanoscience
and nanotechnology progress, more breakthroughs are expected to arise in the different fields of science,
hopefully resolving problems in health, environment, and security, among others.

TYPES OF MICROSCOPES USED IN NANOSCIENCE AND NANOTECHNOLOGY

Electron microscope
 ❖ It is a microscope that uses a beam of accelerated electrons as a source of illumination.
❖ In 1930, German engineers Ernst Ruska and Max Knoll built the first electron microscope.

Atomic Force Microscope

❖ It is a type of high resolution scanning probe microscope that has a resolution that you can measure
in fractions of a nanometer.
❖ It was pioneered in 1986 by Nobel Prize Winner Gerd Binnig along with Calvin Quate and
Christoph Gerber.

Scanning Tunneling Microscope

❖ It is an instrument for imaging surfaces at the atomic level.
❖ Its development in 1981 earned its inventors, Gerd Binnig and Heinrich Rohrer (at IBM Zürich),
the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1986.

Possible Applications of Nanotechnology in the Philippines:

❖ Information and Communication Technologies and semiconductors
- The use of nanotechnology in electronics and semiconductors can lead to faster, more powerful
and energy-efficient devices, such as smartphones, computers, and solar panels.
- Nanotechnology can also help to develop new materials for the electronic industry, such as
nanowires, quantum dots, and carbon nanotubes.
❖ Health and medicine
- Nanotechnology has a significant potential for revolutionizing healthcare by enabling
earlier disease detection, targeted drug delivery, and innovative medical treatments.
- Nanoparticles can be designed to specifically target and destroy cancer cells, without
damaging healthy cells. This targeted approach has the potential to reduce the side effects
of chemotherapy.
- Nanotechnology can also be applied in medical imaging, to detect diseases at earlier stages.
❖ Energy
- Nanotechnology has the potential to create more efficient and cost-effective energy sources,
such as solar cells and batteries.
- Nanoparticles can improve the efficiency of solar cells by increasing the amount of sunlight
that is converted into electricity.
- Nanotechnology can also be used to develop better batteries for energy storage, such as
lithium-ion batteries, which are commonly used in electronic devices.
❖ Food and agriculture
- Nanotechnology can improve food safety and security by enhancing packaging materials to
keep food fresher for longer periods and by detecting pathogens in food.
- Nanoparticles can also be used to increase crop yields and improve plant health, by
delivering nutrients and pesticides more effectively.
 ❖ Environment
- Nanotechnology has the potential to create more effective and efficient solutions for
environmental problems, such as air and water pollution.
- Nanoparticles can be designed to remove pollutants from water and air, such as heavy
metals and volatile organic compounds.
- Nanotechnology can also be applied in the development of more efficient and cost-effective
ways to clean up oil spills.

Advantages and Disadvantages of Nanotechnology

Advantages of Nanotechnology
➔ Nanotechnology can actually revolutionize a lot of electronic products, procedures, and
applications.
➔ Nanotechnology can also benefit the energy sector. The development of more effective
energy-producing, energy-absorbing, and energy storage products in smaller and more efficient
devices is possible with this technology.
➔ Another industry that can benefit from nanotechnology is the manufacturing sector that will need
materials like nanotubes, aerogels, nanoparticles, and other similar items to produce their products
with.
➔ In the medical world, nanotechnology is also seen as a boon since these can help with creating
what is called smart drugs. These help cure people faster and without the side effects that other
traditional drugs have.

Disadvantages of Nanotechnology
➔ Possible loss of jobs in the traditional farming and manufacturing industry.
➔ You will also find that the development of nanotechnology can also bring about the crash of certain
markets due to the lowering of the value of oil and diamonds due to the possibility of developing
alternative sources of energy that are more efficient and won’t require the use of fossil fuels.
➔ Atomic weapons can now be more accessible and made to be more powerful and more destructive.
➔ Since these particles are very small, problems can actually arise from the inhalation of these
minute particles, much like the problems a person gets from inhaling minute asbestos particles.
➔ Presently, nanotechnology is very expensive and developing it can cost you a lot of money.

Impact of Nanotechnology on Society

Societal impact is how institutions, organizations, businesses or individuals actions affect the surrounding
society. The social implications of any new technology can be felt by people directly incorporated with
organizations or individuals or people in different societies and countries.
1. Military applications
➔ A high proportion of nanotechnology research is sponsored by the military and thus
focused towards military applications. The potential military applications include
 nanorobotics, magnetorheological fluid (MRF), artificial intelligence and molecular
manufacturing.
➔ The advanced developments in military technology may have implications for societal and
political relations within the community. Modern defense armies are protected from today’s
civilian threats in a way that never had before. It is likely that nanotechnology will further
widen the gap between the means of political violence available to the military and those
available to the civilian population.
2. Intellectual property issues
➔ The patent attorney must establish uniqueness and obviousness in the process of
nanotechnology patent application. A patent examiner may state that a nanostructured
product lacks novelty because the relevant nanostructure material was present in an existing
product, even though the nanostructure material was not recognized.
3. Effect on employment
➔ The nanotechnology impact on labor is in its use of particular factors of production. During
the improvement of nanotechnology, firms are likely to have high demands for the
scientists, engineers, and technicians who have to build and integrate the new ideas into
processes and products. In addition, there is a need for supporting labor services, which
creates career opportunities.
4. The balance between the citizens and governments
➔ Nanotechnology can be expected to concentrate political power in the hands of
governments. Nanotechnology can be expected to be applied to further miniaturize and
advanced surveillance technologies such as cameras, listening devices, tracking devices,
and face and pattern recognition systems.

References:
a. Science, Technology, and Society by Daniel Joseph McNamara, SJ, Vida Mia Valverde and Ramon
Beleno III.
b. https://nanogloss.com/nanotechnology/advantages-and-disadvantages-of-nanotechnology/
c. https://www.azonano.com/article.aspx?ArticleID=4992#:~:text=The%20societal%20impacts%20o
f%20new,balance%20between%20citizens%20and%20governments.