Nanotechnology is the future, says expert

Updated on: Monday, February 08, 2010

“A day will come when the size, weight and thickness of a television will be that of a single sheet of paper or the paint on the wall will be capable of dissipating the bad odour in you and the room.” This passage is not from any science fiction comic or novel. This is hard fact and disclosed by a senior professor from IIT Kharagpur Tarashankar Pal at an international seminar on nanotechnology and biosensors, held recently at Raghu Engineering College, Visakhapatnam.

The professor noted that nanotechnology is the future. “Nanotech has made big strides in the last 17 years across the world and it will never cease to exist, as the applications are enormous,” he said.

What is it?

It is the study of controlling of matter on an atomic and molecular scale. “Nanotechnology deals with structures of the size of 100 nanometres or smaller in at least one dimension and involves developing of materials or devices within that size. Its application is diverse, ranging from extensions of conventional device physics to completely new approaches based upon molecular self-assembly, from developing new materials with dimensions on the nano scale to investigating whether we can directly control matter on the atomic scale,” said Dr. Tarashankar Pal.

Applications

At the conference, professors and senior scientists voiced that nanotechnology will play a major role in the solar energy sector in the coming years. They said that solar energy would be the ‘energy of the future' and research is in the advanced stages in many countries to trap solar energy using nanotechnology.

Medicine is another area where researchers are working to develop customised nano particles in the size of molecules that can deliver drugs directly to the diseased cells in the body. The technology has already made its impact in the electronic area with the advent of LCDs, LEDs, miniature battery cells and bio-fresh refrigerators to name a few.

Nanotechnology may hold the key to making space flights more practical. Advancements in nano materials like lightweight solar sails, cables and rocket fuel will make an impact in space technology.

Just like its wide ranging applications, the scope in this field is also huge. “Being an inter-disciplinary and multi-disciplinary science, the scope widens with its development. Nanotechnology is not limited to the realms of engineering or for that matter any specific branch of engineering. Its application and development involves all areas of sciences like physics, chemistry, biology and mathematics and all streams of engineering,” said the professor from IIT Kharagpur.

‘Emerging area'

Minister of State for Human Resource Development Daggubati Purandeswari, in a recent interview to The Hindu Education Plus stated, “The development of IT was a boon to the country but a bane to certain disciplines in the education arena. The recession has come as a blessing in disguise. I hope things will improve now. Moreover, the development of multi-disciplinary and inter-disciplinary sciences like nanotechnology and bio-sensory will give a fillip to pure sciences in the coming years. Nanotechnology is an emerging area and the country is fast progressing. With the progress in the area, the job opportunities for both engineering and pure science students would increase in a big way.”

Nanotechnology is the future, says expert

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