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| Fabric That Resists Spills What is Nanotechnology?
The term "nanotechnology" has evolved over the years via terminology drift to mean "anything smaller than microtechnology," such as nano powders, and other things that are nanoscale in size, but not referring to mechanisms that have been purposefully built from nanoscale components
Its invisible strength can make a visible difference to the quality of each and everyone's life. And open the doors to healthier living.
Nano is a greek word meaning dwarf. It denotes a factor of one thousand millionth (10-9). The nano scale is about a thousand times smaller than micro, about 1/80,000 of the diameter of a strand of human hair.The effort required to adopt the nano way of life will be miniscule compared to the lifelong gain, health wise and wealth wise.
Nanotechnology i s so new, no one is really sure what will come of it. Even so, predictions range from the ability to reproduce things like diamonds and food to the world being devoured by self-replicating nanorobots.
In order to understand the unusual world of nanotechnology, we need to get an idea of the units of measure involved. A centimeter is one-hundredth of a meter, a millimeter is one-thousandth of a meter, and a micrometer is one-millionth of a meter, but all of these are still huge compared to the nanoscale. A nanometer (nm) is one-billionth of a meter, smaller than the wavelength of visible light and a hundred-thousandth the width of a human hair
Clothing - Scientists are using nanoparticles to enhance your clothing. By coating fabrics with a thin layer of zinc oxide nanoparticles, manufacturers can create clothes that give better protection from UV radiation. Some clothes have nanoparticles in the form of little hairs or whiskers that help repel water and other materials, making the clothing stain-resistant.
Nanotechnology can improve fabrics, making them harder wearing and more resistant to dirt, water, oils or other chemicals. Many of these developments are based on what happens in nature. For example the lotus leaf is covered in nanoscale waxy “bumps” which causes water to bead and be shed easily (pictured left). Fruits such as peaches are covered in tiny hairs which achieve the same effect. By incorporating such features in manufactured materials they too can be made water and stain repellent.
Nanotechnology is also leading to the incorporation of other features in clothing. This includes electronics for regulating temperature and monitoring health, lighter impact resistant materials and even shape-changing and colour-changing abilities. Although initially being developed by the military these could be used by police and rescue workers, offering for example constant monitoring of vital signs and greater body protection. | |
