4 myths about nanotechnology

Post-Science a debunks scientific myths and introduces readers to the comments of our experts, which explain the common misconceptions. We asked our authors to tell us about the reasons why certain well-established ideas about the nanotechnology industry were formed.

Nanotechnology is a phenomenon of the late XX centuryArtem Oganov, PhD in Crystallography, Full Professor, State University of New York at Stony Brook:

Not true. Nanotechnology at the end of the XX century began to be called what was actually used by people consciously or unconsciously for thousands of years. Nanomaterials were used, for example, by the inhabitants of Ancient Babylon when they made colored glass. They didn't know it, of course, but the color of the glass was determined by the inclusion of gold nanoparticles. The Lycurgus cup is known, which is kept in the British Museum. The cup on the lumen has a red color, and if you look at it in diffused light, the color is green. This is due to the inclusions of gold nanoparticles, as it was found out quite recently. The bowl itself is a couple of millennia old. Inclusions of carbon nanotubes were found in large quantities in Damascus steel. Moreover, they are one of the main reasons (and maybe even the main reason) that give Damascus steel strength, flexibility and hardness at the same time.

In the XX century, much of what we now call nanotechnology, the science of nanomaterials, was called colloidal chemistry. "Colloidal chemistry" may not sound as attractive and sparkling as "nanotechnology", but in fact these are very close concepts.

Today we are witnessing a huge surge in the development of nanotechnology, the science of nanomaterials. Previously, nanotechnology did not attract such attention, and it is clear why they have attracted it now. There were ways to study nanomaterials – to study consciously, in detail, without hope of any accidents, as was the case, in particular, with the creators of Damascus steel or with Roman craftsmen who had no idea about gold nanoparticles in their materials. Now we can consciously study the structure of nanomaterials, their properties, we can create them. And this opens up enormous opportunities, because by changing the size of nanoparticles, changing the number of atoms in a nanoparticle, you can seriously change the properties of objects. This allows you to create a whole palette of different materials actually based on one.

After the discovery, graphene has not found applicationPeter Obraztsov, Candidate of Chemical Sciences, employee of the journal "Science and Life":

The truth is only partly true. Very little time has passed since the discovery of graphene, and it has recently begun to be produced on a serious scale. That is why it has not yet been widely distributed. However, directions have already been opened in which it can be used in the very near future. First of all, it is electronics. In this area, it should replace almost all silicon semiconductors, and since this substance can be a conductor, a semiconductor, and even an insulator in various ways, it can replace almost any device from modern microelectronic equipment. In addition, more recently, British scientists have tested a new bulletproof vest made using graphene. It is much lighter, stronger and more comfortable than traditional Kevlar body armor. And if the military took up graphene, it means that this substance has a huge future.

Graphene differs from all other substances in that it is extremely thin and has the most ordered structure. This means that it can be used in those areas of technology where these properties are required. You can make everything out of it, up to the fuselages of airplanes. One of the most interesting properties of graphene is that it consists only of carbon atoms, and we have an unlimited amount of this substance on Earth. Therefore, graphene can become a substance that will be used everywhere. It will be possible to make chairs, tables, wallpaper from it. It can be awarded the title of the first universal substance in the history of mankind.

Nanoobjects are constructed by assembling individual atomsArtem Oganov, PhD in Crystallography, Full Professor, State University of New York at Stony Brook:

Not true. The belief that it is possible to assemble nanoparticles by atoms is, of course, a philistine myth, largely provoked by pictures from popular science magazines when people collect the IBM inscription from single atoms under an electron microscope. Then it is replicated, and everyone believes that this is how, from single atoms, we can create any material. But this, of course, is impractical.

Theoretically possible (created the same IBM inscription), but absolutely impractical. If we remember how many atoms 1 gram of ordinary material contains, we will understand that one atom at a time we will collect it for trillions of years. One mole has a mass of n grams for different substances. For example, one mole of carbon is 12 grams. 12 grams of carbon is 6X10 ²³ atoms. Of course, no one can collect the material if 10 ²³ single atoms need to be collected atom by atom. This is absolutely unrealistic.

Various other approaches are used, based, for example, on "self-assembly", when we allow atoms to assemble themselves, creating favorable conditions for nanoparticles of the right size and the right structure to form. That's how nanomaterials can be collected – not at the level of individual atoms.

There is no natural analogue to nanotechnologyVladik Avetisov, Doctor of Physico-Mathematical Sciences, Head of the Laboratory of the Theory of Complex Systems of the N.N. Semenov Institute of Chemical Physics of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Professor of the Faculty of Computer Science of the Higher School of Economics:

Not true. When did a person begin to explore the field of nanoscale objects? Together with the development of molecular biology. In fact, the appearance of this section of biology has become a very powerful impetus for studying more and more detailed properties of the cell, in order to penetrate deeper into it. Eventually we came across nanoscale objects and realized that the whole cell is nanotechnology. In this regard, Richard Feynman's speech "There's a lot of space down there" is often invoked, but in fact it was uttered after the discovery of DNA, when it was already clear what a protein was and so on.

The initial motive was the desire to understand how the living is arranged. It was a very powerful motivation in this direction. Of course, with the development of tools and technology of scientific research of the appropriate size, a more active human penetration into the nanoscale area began to form in a variety of directions: for example, in the field of materials and materials science, as well as in chemistry – what are called macro- and supramolecular structures, which, in fact, are objects of the nanoscale.

This all happened later, when the technology of scientific research caught up. Without the development of microscopy to the level of the ability to see an object with a size of 10 nanometers, such a breakthrough could not happen. Of course, such parameters were not received immediately. Accordingly, nanotechnology after these achievements went into the field of not only biology.

Nanotechnology was originally invented by nature and embodied them primarily in the form of biological objects, and man has just begun to penetrate into this world.

Portal "Eternal youth" http://vechnayamolodost.ru25.12.2014