The Invisible Frontier

Seemingly, nothing exists that cannot be improved with a sprinkling of nanotech. However, it is all too easy to get carried away with the hype, and we know that expectations for new technology travel at light-speed.

The big questions are: will nanotech really keep its promises, and when can we expect to see them realised?

In October, the Czech Embassy in London played host to a wide variety of nanotech businesses for their Czech Nano Day. Refreshments came in the form of water taken from the Thames that morning, rendered drinkable with the use of nanofiltration systems. Clothes were displayed, made from nanofibres that are antibacterial, stain-resistant, and incorporate UV protection.

Meanwhile, the Embassy’s exterior wall had been painted with a special coating developed by FN Advanced Materials, which not only remains white for twenty years, but removes some car-generated pollutants from the atmosphere. The ‘big hitter’ of the day was bedding created from nanofibres so thin and tight, that it is rendered impenetrable to dust mites and allergens.

What exactly is nanotechnology? Nano technology (generally accepted) is the study and use of structures between 1 and 100 nanometres (nm) in size. To put this into perspective, the diameter of a human hair is around 75,000nm.

Although we have been experimenting on a nanoscale for centuries, the true age of nanotech began in 1989, when Don Eigler and Erhard Schweizer manipulated 35 individual xenon atoms to spell out the IBM logo, at the tech giant’s Almaden Research Centre.

Although we have seen nanotech increase its presence in our lives (amongst other things, it has been making our golf balls fly straighter since the 1990s), advancements have been mainly in the field of incremental or evolutionary nanotech.

While building on previous inventions and improving them is a clear priority, radical nanotechnology is its most exciting – and elusive – field.

There are four areas of nanotechnology research that appear particularly interesting: personal sensors, material sensors, self-repair and the environment.

Personal sensors:

These are pieces of technology that read our bio signs in different ways. The most famous of which is probably the Fitbit - increasing in sales from just over 58 thousand in 2010 to over 22 million in 2016. Tattoos and clothing that sense our vital signs are on trial. Meanwhile, nanotech-based medical solutions seek to prevent post-surgical inflammation and infection, along with the creation of organs for transplant patients.

What about broader applications; sensors that can be implanted to tell doctors what’s wrong, and even fix the issue? The British pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) is already investing in this area.

“If we look 10 years out, we should have a number of tiny devices—we call them bioelectronic medicines, because they are medicines—that will be treating conditions we use molecular medicines for today,” Kris Famm, head of GSK’s bioelectronics research and development unit, has been quoted as saying.

Material sensors:

An earthquake in a populated area destroys buildings and infrastructure. People need shelter, but they don’t know which surviving structures are safe. A bridge carries thousands of cars and lorries each day and is slowly degrading.

Structures of the future are likely to include nano-sensors in their building materials as a matter of course, helping to stave off disaster, and to signal whether a building is a refuge or a trap.

Self-repair:

Changing the structure of materials on a nanoscale can have an incredible impact. Water and stain proof coatings already exist, and the applications will only become broader.

Self-healing phone screens are already on the horizon, consigning that feeling of dread whenever you drop your phone firmly to the past.

The environment:

The biggest issues facing the planet today are undoubtedly climate change and pollution. Research is already being led into the field of truly biodegradable ‘plastics’ using nanotech, and solar panels are becoming more and more efficient.

Batteries will be able to last longer and store more energy, and new methods of harvesting energy from movement and temperature will be possible, as well as advancements in computational power, with reductions in size that will require less energy.

What next? Of course, it is impossible to predict with complete accuracy what lies 30 years ahead.

Functional hover-boards are still a dream, and GM crops have so far failed to conquer world hunger. However, vital research is taking place in these fields, and they are good bets for the future direction of nanotechnology. While we wait, new developments steaming from research in nanotech will be used increasingly in more common items.

However, there are some very real issues looming that apply to health inequalities. For example, it seems likely that the main beneficiaries of bioelectronic medicines, at least in the beginning, will be those countries rich enough to afford them.

It also seems unlikely that developing countries will benefit from the advances in structural engineering and ‘self-healing’ buildings at the same rate as those in the west. As developing countries often bear a disproportionate load from climate change caused by wealthier nations, it is hopeful that they will soon reap benefits from these same nations moving to a more sustainable model.

So, while the future is impossible to predict (could it be possible that these materials will be as reviled in 2050 as plastic is now?) one aspect that can at least be tracked is the governmental control over the research and development of nanotechnology, and whether such controls are flexible enough to change and update with technological progression.

With so many possibilities on offer, it is important to avoid a public backlash like that which accompanied GM products. With distrust of governments at a high, an informative approach led by scientists and robust research is crucial.

Ultimately, it is the projects that people invest in that will decide whether nanotech will help or hinder humanity. As with all things, it is likely to form a complex mixture of the two.