Applications for Nanotechnology

The potential nanotechnology applications for CB defense described in this chapter are many and varied. Prioritization is needed of all of the possible research directions that the scientific and research community can take in order to achieve the most important goals outlined above. The eight research directions listed here have been identified for priority attention toward this end. More detailed research needs in each area are described in Chapter 5. 

P. G. Andersen, Compounding polymer nanocomposites. In NPE Educational Conference Nanotechnology Applications for Polymers (Chicago NPE, June 21, 2009). [CD]... 

Tarabara, V.V 2009. Multifunctional nanomaterial-enabled membranes for water treatment. In Savage et al. (Eds.), Nanotechnology Applications for Clean Water. Norwich William Andrew Inc., pp. 59-75. 

J.S.C. van den Hoven, Nanotechnology Applications for the Automotive Industry MSc Thesis, Delft Faculty of Industrial Design Engineering, 19 January 2004... 

Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) are a set of materials with different structures and properties. They are among the most important materials of modern nanoscience and nanotechnology field. They combine inorganic, organic, bio-organic, coUoidal, and polymeric chemistry and are chemically inert. They are insoluble in any solvent and their chemistry is in a key position toward interdisciphnary applications, for example, use as supports for catalysts and catalytic membranes [20, 21]. 

Atomic force microscope (AFM) is a powerful nanotechnology tool for molecular imaging and manipulations. One major factor limiting resolution in AFM to observe individual biomolecules such as DNA is the low sharpness of the AFM tip that scans the sample. Nanoscale 1,3,5,7-tetrasubstituted adamantane is found to serve as the molecular tip for AFM and may also find application in chemically well-defined objects for calibration of commercial AFM tips [113]. 

A spinning molecule on a copper surface and a soccer-ball molecule tethered to a protein may seem no more useful than a spinning ice-skater or a tetherball. Nonetheless, advocates of nanotechnology cite a wealth of potential applications for this new field, including tailored synthetic membranes that can collect specific toxins from industrial waste and computers that process data much faster than today s best models. The list of possible benefits from nanotechnology is limited only by our imaginations. 

The CA is a powerful paradigm for pattern formation and self-organization, an area of increasing importance in nanotechnology. CA have not yet been extensively used in nanotechnology applications, though their use in quantum dot applications is growing. 

Acknowledgements Authors are thankful to the Department of Science and Technology (DST) and Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), India, for supporting the Nanotechnology Application Centre under Nano-Mission and NMITLI schemes. 

Rajagopal, K., and Schneider, J. P. (2004). Self-assembling peptides and proteins for nanotechnological applications. Curr. Opin. Struct. Biol. 14, 480-486. 

C. W. Corti, R. J. Holliday, and D. T. Thompson, Developing new industrial applications for gold Gold nanotechnology. Gold Bull. 35, 111-136 (2002). 

The possibilities afforded by SAM-controlled electrochemical metal deposition were already demonstrated some time ago by Sondag-Huethorst et al. [36] who used patterned SAMs as templates to deposit metal structures with line widths below 100 nm. While this initial work illustrated the potential of SAM-controlled deposition on the nanometer scale further activities towards technological exploitation have been surprisingly moderate and mostly concerned with basic studies on metal deposition on uniform, alkane thiol-based SAMs [37-40] that have been extended in more recent years to aromatic thiols [41-43]. A major reason for the slow development of this area is that electrochemical metal deposition with, in principle, the advantage of better control via the electrochemical potential compared to none-lectrochemical methods such as electroless metal deposition or evaporation, is quite critical in conjunction with SAMs. Relying on their ability to act as barriers for charge transfer and particle diffusion, the minimization of defects in and control of the structural quality of SAMs are key to their performance and set the limits for their nanotechnological applications. 

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