Nanotechnlogy business is of great significance today. Nanoscale science and technology enhanced/developed products promise to benefit all domains of consumables- foods, beverages and medicine, to, cosmetics, textiles and ornamental jewelry. Sensors on-board automobiles, cars and spaceships, to, green-energy, electronics and IT. There must be an exceptional domain which stands not to gain from the advantages of understanding and engineering of the nanoscale (literally bottom up).
However, a discipline with so much potential for advancement has remained limited to a very few industries. It is of no doubt that nanotechnology can be useful but what is of doubt is that in our business driven society does nanotechnology have a generic business model?
Most of the nanotechnology based products are manufactured in clean rooms. The infrastructure required to build a clean room [a controlled environment where pressure, temperature, humidity and most importantly cleanliness is strictly controlled] is so expensive that a handful of countries outside the developed world possess it for research. Likewise for businesses, lack of easy-to-implement nanotechnological features cost-effectively in products make the whole exercise a 'no-go' before a feasibility report is outlined.
If most countries do not have the research infrastructure (local knowledge base) and the industry finds it too expensive- obviously nanotechnology for all its promise may remain in-hatching unless a disruptive technology shakes us. Social impact of a high-entry-barrier in nanotechnology can be more detrimental - whenever nanotech takes off it shall only be the developed world making profit since the research itself was so difficult to undertake elsewhere, creating a wider divide amongst poor and rich countries.
Summarizing above, it all boils down to cost of nanotechnology.
One model which has succeeded in resolving the questions above is the multi-project center (MPC) model. A large facility, either government funded or in a public-private partnership model can set up the infrastructure (clean rooms and such) to be shared by the local universities and regional industry. IMEC in Belgium and LETI in France are great examples. While universities supply manpower for research into unexplored territories companies fund research projects to find the best solutions for their businesses and patent them. The manpower on the floor is skilled and employed by the MPC.
A MPC can be national/regional infrastructure fostering the growth of nanotech solutions for the advancement of society just as highways developed the automobile industry. [A more fitting analogy may perhaps be electricity to every household but today when 4/5 (Hans Rosling's statistics) of the world lacks basic health care and services, such an analogy though appropriate, is sadly ahead of its time.]
A model such as a regional MPC, would not only ensure industries flourish but also create wealth of knowledge locally, while stepping forward towards the technology of the future. If this seems an experimental idea then note that on this model some parts of the world are producing most of the high-technology products in the market.
Showing posts with label Biology. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Biology. Show all posts
July 17, 2011
August 9, 2010
Bio-Fuel Cells, Batteries not required
"So, how long do you live? I mean, last?"
"My fuel cell lasts for 120 years."
While killer cyborgs with long-lasting fuel cells is uber cool (unless you are the one they are after), one doesn't require a Terminator to be a cyborg or claim long-lasting fuel cells.
Most of us are anyway part human part machine using spectacles, hearing aids, cochlear implants, pacemakers, deep-brain stimulation devices, urinary sphincters, insulin pumps and so on. Apart from making us cybernetic organisms (cyborgs in vernacular) it also adds to us something in common with the terminators.
Batteries.
All these devices require power to work. Power provided by cells which are usually implanted within the body. The best of these run out of juice in 5-8 years, after which one must undergo a surgery to replace them or wait around while you plug yourself in to recharge with wires penetrating the skin and connected to an external battery.
While its an acceptable alternative to death, all masochism aside, it is inconvenient.
They are also something of a dweeb as to the amount of power they can provide, so that power-hungry, artificial, implantable kidneys and hearts are still in the dark.
A team of scientists seem hell-bent on correcting this disparity between humans and terminators. But rather than simply use batteries, which must be charged up, they have invented fuel cells which generate their own power, like a mini generator.
Cells which run off the glucose found naturally in the blood!
The Glucose bio-fuel cell or GBFC has graphite discs for electrodes, wrapped in semipermeable-biocompatible plastic used in dialysis machines. The plastic packs the enzymes- Glucose Oxidase (GOX), Catalase and Urease, Ubiquinone at anode and Quinhydrone at cathode. The semi-permeable plastic allows glucose molecules to seep in while keeping most other things out. GOX strips electrons from glucose molecules locally and reduces the pH while Urease increases the pH, the difference driving electron exchange. These electron displacement occurs to and from the electrodes via electron-shuttles Ubiquinone and Quinhydrone, respectively. This leads to electric current. Catalase breaks down the toxic hydrogen peroxide generated as a consequence of GOX activity also providing additional oxygen for GOX to work with.
The breakthrough can be attributed to a change of approach, where instead of chemically attaching the enzymes with the electrodes (which the enzymes don't like) they are just tightly packed within a plastic sheath. The enzymes used are immune to interference from the ions in the body and can work stably at physiological pH. Earlier ones used needed acidic conditions.
The electrodes take up around 0.266 mL in a merely 5 mL cell. The present device can generate around 24.4 µW per mL of peak power and a stable power of 7.52 µW/mL, while a typical pacemaker requires 10 µW.
The scientists claim they have made a 50 fold improvement in the power characteristics of the cell since the paper was published.
While this fuel cell has shown a great improvement in peak power output and actively integrates the device with glucose from the body, the reliability and lifetime of such a new technology still needs various medical certifications/approvals before we benefit from a revolution in biomedical technology.
"So, how long do you live? I mean, last?"
"My fuel cell lasts for 120 years."
While killer cyborgs with long-lasting fuel cells is uber cool (unless you are the one they are after), one doesn't require a Terminator to be a cyborg or claim long-lasting fuel cells.
Most of us are anyway part human part machine using spectacles, hearing aids, cochlear implants, pacemakers, deep-brain stimulation devices, urinary sphincters, insulin pumps and so on. Apart from making us cybernetic organisms (cyborgs in vernacular) it also adds to us something in common with the terminators.
Batteries.
All these devices require power to work. Power provided by cells which are usually implanted within the body. The best of these run out of juice in 5-8 years, after which one must undergo a surgery to replace them or wait around while you plug yourself in to recharge with wires penetrating the skin and connected to an external battery.
While its an acceptable alternative to death, all masochism aside, it is inconvenient.
They are also something of a dweeb as to the amount of power they can provide, so that power-hungry, artificial, implantable kidneys and hearts are still in the dark.
A team of scientists seem hell-bent on correcting this disparity between humans and terminators. But rather than simply use batteries, which must be charged up, they have invented fuel cells which generate their own power, like a mini generator.
Cells which run off the glucose found naturally in the blood!
The Glucose bio-fuel cell or GBFC has graphite discs for electrodes, wrapped in semipermeable-biocompatible plastic used in dialysis machines. The plastic packs the enzymes- Glucose Oxidase (GOX), Catalase and Urease, Ubiquinone at anode and Quinhydrone at cathode. The semi-permeable plastic allows glucose molecules to seep in while keeping most other things out. GOX strips electrons from glucose molecules locally and reduces the pH while Urease increases the pH, the difference driving electron exchange. These electron displacement occurs to and from the electrodes via electron-shuttles Ubiquinone and Quinhydrone, respectively. This leads to electric current. Catalase breaks down the toxic hydrogen peroxide generated as a consequence of GOX activity also providing additional oxygen for GOX to work with.
The breakthrough can be attributed to a change of approach, where instead of chemically attaching the enzymes with the electrodes (which the enzymes don't like) they are just tightly packed within a plastic sheath. The enzymes used are immune to interference from the ions in the body and can work stably at physiological pH. Earlier ones used needed acidic conditions.
The electrodes take up around 0.266 mL in a merely 5 mL cell. The present device can generate around 24.4 µW per mL of peak power and a stable power of 7.52 µW/mL, while a typical pacemaker requires 10 µW.
The scientists claim they have made a 50 fold improvement in the power characteristics of the cell since the paper was published.
While this fuel cell has shown a great improvement in peak power output and actively integrates the device with glucose from the body, the reliability and lifetime of such a new technology still needs various medical certifications/approvals before we benefit from a revolution in biomedical technology.
"So, how long do you live? I mean, last?"
June 10, 2010
On the Wings of a Butterfly
The wings of a butterfly attract our attention for their marvellous colours. Have you noticed how the colour in some butterfly wings change depending on observer's position? These colours and their changing behaviour is because of well defined patterns on the wings. These patterns are visible when observed through nano-scale viewing microscopes (Scanning Electron Microscopes or Atomic Force Microscopy etc.). The physics behind these colours is now well understood, a combination of reflection, refraction and diffraction. Unlike reflection and refraction, it is the principle of diffraction which depends on the size of different shapes on the wings.
Recently, researchers in Cambridge Nano-science Centre have not just replicated these butterfly wings at the nanoscale but have shown capacity to tune their behaviour by selectively altering the nanoscale shapes. They have done this by the bottom-up approach (link), making small objects and thin films one-at-a-time.
This approach followed by researchers helps to create even more beautiful colours (see image below, click to enlarge) and aids in confirming the earlier proposed mechanisms which produce the concoction of colours on the wings of a butterfly (link to article).
Reprinted by permission from Macmillan Publishers Ltd: Nature Nanotechnology (PUBLISHED ONLINE: 30 MAY 2010 | DOI: 10.1038/NNANO.2010.101), copyright 2010.
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