Nanoparticle research blows open new possibilities
Published: 22 Oct 2004 12:15 BST
Nanotechnology specialist QuantumSphere has developed technology that eventually could help heat homes -- or blow them up.
The San Diego-based start-up has created a manufacturing process for producing small, stable metallic particles that consist of only a few atoms. By reducing the number of atoms per particle, manufacturers can better exploit the inherent properties of these elements in chemical reactions.
With aluminium, that means more powerful explosions. Munitions makers will likely be able to create aerial bombs that are smaller and lighter, but more powerful than current weapons. A rocket with nanoaluminium-enhanced fuel will reach a target velocity faster.
"It will accelerate to Mach 8 because of the higher burn rate," said Douglas Carpenter, chief scientific officer and co-founder of QuantumSphere. "If you can shoot someone down before they can shoot you, that is good."
By contrast, nanonickel could be used to replace platinum and other fairly expensive elements in catalytic converters and fuel cells. This shift could lead to cheaper hydrogen fuel cells for homes and cars in the growing alternative-energy market. Some Japanese manufacturers will come out with hydrogen fuel systems for homes in the first quarter of next year. Both metals can also be used in new types of coatings.
"Nickel is pretty much a garden-variety material," said QuantumSphere CEO Kevin Maloney. "It is a direct replacement for platinum."
NASA, the US Air Force, the US Navy and Ballard Power Systems, among others, are already customers.
As space-age as it sounds, nanotechnology -- the science of making products out of components or molecules that measure less than 100nm -- has begun to sneak into the general market. Trousers, bicycle components and car parts sprinkled with specialised nanoparticles have already, or soon will, come out. Socks with silver nanoparticles aim to prevent foot odour by killing bacteria.
Within the next 10 years, it's possible that semiconductor manufacturers may draw on nanotechnology techniques to produce memory chips or microprocessors consisting of self-assembling molecular chains.
But the nanometals market will likely be difficult and competitive, said Matthew Nordan, vice president of research at Lux Research, which studies the nanotechnology business. The huge industrial conglomerates and defence agencies that will be the first customers are also notoriously conservative.
Still, interest is growing. General Motors, for instance, is tinkering with nanoscale aluminium to produce shaped metal parts. Currently, these sorts of parts are made of two or more pieces of metal riveted together. By cooking up a unified part, GM can cut labour and material costs, Nordan said.
Car buyers needn't be worried about their vehicles going kaboom. The nanoaluminium won't blow up because of a coating that will be applied. Potentially, nanofused car parts will be lighter, too, (and consequently enjoy better gas mileage) because less metal needs to be incorporated into the materials mix to achieve the same levels of strength and durability.
Bigger isn't necessarily better
By definition, nanoscale components are small -- a human hair, on average, is 90,000nm wide. But it's that very diminutive stature that is of great importance -- the tininess of the particles exaggerates existing properties or uncovers new ones in the base material.
The change in behaviour derives largely from the vast number of molecules that can simultaneously participate in a chemical reaction. With regular bulk materials, only the top layer of atoms participates in a reaction. With nanomaterials separated into independent granules, almost every atom reacts, because almost every atom is exposed.
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