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Nanotechnology is the science and technology of precisely structuring
and controlling matter on the nanometer scale. Advancements in
nanotechnology can be classified in three categories.
*
Information Technology or Molecular Electronics
*
Life/Health sciences or Nanobiotechnology
*
Material Science/Nanotechnology
Nanomaterials are materials possessing grain sizes on the order of a
billionth of a meter. They manifest extremely fascinating and useful
properties, which can be exploited for a variety of structured and
non-structured applications. Nano particles are generally described as
a minute particle of a few nanometers in size (one nanometer is
one-billionth of a meter).
All
materials are comprised of grains, which in turn comprise many atoms.
These grains are usually invisible to the naked eye, depending upon
their size. A nanomaterial has the grains on the order of 1-100nm. One
nanometer comprises 10 Angstroms, and hence in one nm, there may be 3-5
atoms, depending on the atomic radii.
Nanomaterials are exceptionally strong, hard and ductile at high
temperatures, wear resistant, erosion-resistant and corrosion-resistant.
The
size of a nanometer is equal to:
* 10-9
meter = one ten thousand (1-10,000) the diameter of a human hair
* 10
Angstroms = portion of a meter that a golf ball is compared to the
earth.
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