Is nanotechnology a myth borne of hype and marketing, or is it reality? The answer depends on your perspective. The general public may think that expectations are ridiculously high and the technology won't be viable. Not so, though, for many of the world's top scientists and engineers, who are still feverishly at work on furthering this technology. Still, it will take some time before products are realized.
The National Center for Manufacturing Sciences (NCMS) conducted a survey of 600 manufacturing companies last year to gauge the optimism for nanotechnology's future. Sponsored by the National Science Foundation (NSF), it's the largest cross-industry survey of nanotechnology commercialization trends to date. So what did the final numbers say?
Stunningly, results revealed that 60% of respondents expected to market nanotechnology products by 2009 (Fig. 1). Participating companies included automotive, semiconductor, chemical, aerospace, energy, utility, textile, food, agriculture, construction, machine-tool, mining, and information technology firms.
Aggressive funding for nanotechnology worldwide continues unabated. According to NSF statistics, the U.S., Japan, and the European Union each spent about $1 billion on nanotechnology last year. Worldwide funding totaled over $4 billion (Fig. 2).
Better Materials To Emerge
Within the next three to five years, experts predict a myriad of new applications to emerge from advanced nanocoatings, nanofilms, and nanoparticles now under development. In turn, these materials will be used to enhance electronic components and subsystems, as well as textiles. Such tailored materials will give engineers greater control over design parameters.
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is working on electrode structures for ultracapacitors based on a matrix of vertically aligned carbon nanotubes. The development is expected to increase present-day ultracapacitor energy densities of 6 Whr/kg to 60 to 100 Whr/kg.
Scientists at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory are looking into infrared (IR) imaging arrays using nano materials that work at room temperatures. Unlike conventional IR sensors, which are based on bolometry or conventional semiconductor photodetection, these imagers don't require supercooling. High levels of detectivity and rapid response times can be attained at room temperatures. They use crossed nanowires with dielectric barriers between them. The barriers consist of quantum mechanical tunneling junctions (Fig. 3).
Nanogenerators are under the microscope at the Georgia Institute of Technology. They convert mechanical energy into electric currents. Researchers use very small piezoelectric discharges, which are created when zinc-oxide nanowires are bent and released. By interconnecting millions of the wires into an array, enough current can be produced to power nanoscale devices.
Despite these undertakings, the MIT survey revealed critical industry barriers to commercialization. These include the high cost of processing; lengthy times to market; insufficient investment capital; intellectual-property issues; a shortage of qualified manpower; and regulatory, safety, and environmental concerns.
Each of these issues is being addressed, with some progress. But the pace simply isn't fast enough for the market's large expectations. Like any other evolving technology, nanotechnology needs to successfully pass from the research phase to the development phase, and then on to the manufacturing phase. Each of these phases requires a thorough understanding before the technology can succeed.
Progress has been made in achieving a better understanding of the basic nanotechnology material—carbon nanotubes. Researchers apply combinations of a top-down manufacturing approach (like that used to create silicon ICs) with a bottom-up approach that's found in building structures from atoms and molecules.
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