Five trends in the future of nanotechnology

The body’s “doctor”

People can now wear health monitoring devices on their body to stay informed about their condition. If we further miniaturize this technology, then the use of nano-technology can be micro-sensor implantation or injection into the human body, capture the patient more detailed information, which is more conducive to the doctor for diagnosis and treatment.

In addition there are other possibilities, such as monitoring the development of human inflammation, postoperative recovery, and even the birth of an electronic device that interferes with the signal of the human body, with the function of controlling organs. Although this may sound weird, pharmaceutical giants like GlaxoSmithKline have now started to develop such electronic medical products.

 

Sensors everywhere

Thanks to the latest nanomaterials and manufacturing processes, sensors are getting smaller, more complex, and increasingly energy efficient. At present, it is possible to mass-produce sensors with good performance using flexible plastic rollers at low cost. If it continues, multiple sensors can be installed where it is necessary for critical infrastructure such as bridges, aircraft and nuclear power plants to monitor the safe operation of the facility

Self-healing structure

Changing the nanoscale structures of materials gives them some magical features, such as waterproofing. Sometime in the future, nanotechnology coatings or additives may also give the material self-healing capabilities.

Assuming that the material is distributed throughout the nanoparticle, when there are cracks on the surface, the particles will be able to move themselves to close the fracture. This technology can be used in all areas from cockpit to microelectronics to prevent subtle cracks from becoming more detrimental to the rift

Make big data more useful

The use of sensors creates vast amounts of information that are unprecedented in data and therefore needs to be addressed to improve traffic congestion and prevent accidents or to use statistics for redeploying police resources and reducing crime rates.

The application of nanotechnology in this area creates an ultra-dense memory that helps to store extremely large amounts of data while also facilitating the development of highly efficient algorithms that process, encrypt, and convey data without compromising on reliability

Respond to global warming

Today, batteries can store more energy for electric cars and solar panels convert more sunlight into electricity. Both applications use nano-textured or nano-sized materials, turning the plane into a larger three-dimensional surface to store and generate more energy, making the device more efficient.

In the future, nanotechnology can also allow the body to absorb energy from the surrounding environment. New nanomaterials and concepts are under study and are expected to generate energy efficiently from the movement of objects, light, temperature changes, glucose and other sources

 

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