The Science & Business of Nanotechnology
Wednesday, November 23, 2005
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SUSIE GHARIB: It could be the next big thing on Wall Street and it`s really, really small. Interest is heating up these days in nanotechnology, the manipulation of matter at the atomic level. Some analysts say nanotech could be a trillion dollar global industry in the next decade. To see how something so small could have such a big economic impact, Washington bureau chief Darren Gersh visited one of the nation`s leading nano research labs.
DARREN GERSH, NIGHTLY BUSINESS REPORT CORRESPONDENT: The future will be small. The future will be fast. How fast are these guys?
MICHAEL FUHRER, ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR, UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND: So they`re about 70 times faster than silicon if we apply the same voltage to the nanotube, so you can make faster devices, lower powered devices with nanotubes than you could with silicon.
GERSH: The future will be nanotechnology.
GARY RUBLOFF, DIRECTOR, MARYLAND CENTER FOR INTEGRATED NANOSCIENCE AND ENGINEERING: I think nano is going to change the world and I don`t mean to say that as hype. So when you look at the landscape, it`s incredibly rich with diversity of application and of the way in which chemistry, physics and biology are being exploited.
GERSH: Nanotechnology manipulates matter at the atomic level. The idea is to rearrange atoms to make stronger materials, smarter sensors and better drug delivery systems. The industry journal "Small Times" named the University of Maryland the nation`s leading center for nano research and education. But the scientists here say the ultimate success of nanotech, really depends on what happens outside the lab.
RUBLOFF: Among the challenges are how do we make a seamless integration between the science that`s driving so much of what we see today and the economic sphere and manufacturing? We`re trying to do that by integrating science with engineering and with industrial outreach.
GERSH: Nano also raises new environmental concerns about the health risk of super small particles. The EPA is now studying the issue. It could be a critical factor in the acceptance of nanotech. Analysts say consumers are already skeptical that business and government can manage the risks posed by new technologies.
DAVID REJESKI, DIRECTOR, PROJECT ON EMERGING NANOTECHNOLOGIES: So you have this weird set of tensions. People are very excited about it, know very little about it, but on the other hand are somewhat skeptical. I think we`re facing a public today that is generally more suspicious and more educated about technology than there were 30 or 40 years ago.
GERSH: And nanotech will require new ways of thinking and doing. Consider manufacturing. The old way is to cut things down to size. Now consider nano, which builds things up atom by atom, just like these nano tubes. They`re basically tiny wires.
FUHRER: These nano tubes were grown from little tiny iron catalyst particles that are lying on the surface and they`re grown in an oven.
GERSH: What do you mean grown?
FUHRER: Well, grown.
GERSH: You grow corn; you throw it in the ground, it comes up. How do you grow a nanotube?
FUHRER: Right. It grows from a little seed particle, which we call a catalyst, which is just a little tiny ball of iron. And we put that particle in an oven and put methane flowing over it, and there`s carbon in the methane, and that carbon dissolves in the iron. And so this little tiny iron particle can actually spew out a nanotube that`s a millimeter long, which is a million times longer than the particle is wide.
GERSH: If that sounds too complicated, just understand this: nanotubes could one day replace silicon as the basis of the chips in your television and everything else electronic.
FUHRER: These nanotubes are incredible conductors, and we can make them. We can measure them in the lab, and they really do an incredible job at conducting electricity and that`s real. Making it into a product that I can sell you tomorrow -- we`re not quite there yet.
GERSH: Not yet, but big companies like IBM and Intel are investing in nano.
REJESKI: So there`s huge economic bets being placed on nanotechnology. And what you want is an engaged and informed public, because ultimately they`ll be the ones that open their pocketbook up and accept and buy these products.
GERSH: So it is possible that nanotech will change the world, one small step at a time. Darren Gersh, NIGHTLY BUSINESS REPORT, College Park, Maryland.
