The future of nanotechnology

According to scientists' estimates, from 2006 onwards, products from nanotechnology (micro-engineering) will be worth more than 1,000 billion dollars. It could be tennis balls made of nano-cosmetic fibers, robots exploring human cells, carbone fibers are 100-160 times stronger than steel, super-hard floppy disks and super small, can sink into chicken eggs .

Small hair-like nanotubes will appear in 2006

In 1959, Professor Richard Feynman of the Massachussets Institute of Technology (MIT) proposed a daring theory: ' Instead of dividing material, why don't we go into the infinitely small ?'. 10 years later, member Eric Drexler devised the term nanotechnology. In 1985, two researchers Gerd Binnig (Germany) and Heinrich Rohrer (Switzerland) created microscopes that were able to see objects as small as 1/25 the size of molecules and they won the Nobel Prize a year later. . But in 1990, a researcher from IBM, Don Eigler, achieved success from nanotechnology, in particular redrawing the symbols of many companies in microscopic and microscopic materials.

Many applications from this new technology such as ultra-small and durable polymer molecules are used to make snowboards, making it easier to slip. The clothes of athletes or explorers are also woven from ultra-thin and ultra-thin nanofibers, to cope well with the extreme cold of the extreme or Mount Everest. Nano oil or lotion will help the skin to effectively fight the rays.

Mitsubishi Corporation invested more than 100 million euros for nano by 2007 to create carbone fibers 100 times smaller than steel and 6 times lighter than steel. Asiaweek magazine said that the nano market has not exploded early in Asia, but China does not want to outperform Japan and India by investing tens of billions of dollars in building a nanotechnology laboratory in Shanghai. .

Nano market is probably more developed in electronics and medicine than household products. But a new field is forming: establishing a company specializing in nano, instead of just a division of a university or company. In the past year alone, more than 3 billion euros have been spent on superior nano researchers. Americans hope nano will have more thorough applications for health, education, energy, transportation and judicial officials. Even NASA is thinking about reducing the amount of luggage for space pilots because today, each person must bring up to 150kg of luggage per flight.

Ngoc Phuc