Nanotechnology is the new black

Maryse de la Girodayhttp:www.frogheart.ca

Where this talk is going• Enabling technology

– Used with other technologies– As an application

• Materials, definition, and scale• Nano through the ages• Robotics, artificial intelligence, regenerative medicine, organ-on-a-chip,• Biomimicry• Flights of imagination• International situation• Canada• Environment, Health & Safety• What does it mean?

Emerging technologies

• Nanotechnology (aka nanoscience) is an enabling technology for other technologies– Robotics– Artificial life/intelligence– Regenerative medicine– Synthetic biology

• Hence the little black dress/black shirts & pants designation, which carries on further:

Nano and daily life

• Applications for daily life– Self-cleaning windows (hydrophobic properties of

nanostructures borrowed from the lotus, geckos, etc.)– Anti-bacterial wound dressings and clothing (silver

nanoparticles)– Your skin as a smartphone wearable technology technology :

iSkin (graphene; presentation at CeBit in Hannover, March 16-20, 2015 and in Seoul at SIGCHI in April 2015; University of Saarland)

– Energy-harvesting clothes and other objects such as bicycle paths so you can charge devices and electric grid

– Cosmetics (sunscreens)

Your skin as a smartphone

Materials

• Carbon– Buckminsterfullerene or fullerene or C60 or

buckyballs – Carbon nanotubes or CNTs or buckytubes• Can be single-walled or multi-walled and length takes it

from benign to concerning

– Graphene • The new wonder material makes your skin as a

smartphone possible (flexible electronics)

Buckminsterfullerene (1985)

• Credit: Benjah-bmm2 [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Buckminsterfullerene-2D-skeletal.png]

Carbon nanotubes (1991)

• http://inhabitat.com/carbon-nanotubes-could-create-better-solar-cells/

Graphene (2004)

Graphene (2 of 2)

• 2-dimensional• Graphene is an atomic-scale honeycomb

lattice made of carbon atoms.• The ideal crystalline structure of graphene is a

hexagonal grid. Uploaded by AlexanderAlUS Created: August 26, 2010 [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Graphene#mediaviewer/File:Graphen.jpg

Materials

• Metallic nanoparticles– Gold (biomedical applications, chemical catalyst)– Silver (anti-bacterial applications)– Platinum (solar cells and panels, chemical catalyst)– Titanium as in titanium dioxide (in Dunkin’ Donuts

powered sugar until March 2015; sunblocks)– Zinc oxide (in sunblocks)

• Other nanoparticles– quantum dots, lignin nanotubes, gelatin nanoparticles

Is nano all Greek to us?

• The prefix is derived from the Greek νᾶνος, meaning "dwarf", and was officially confirmed as standard in 1960.

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nano-• From Latin nanus (“dwarf”), from Ancient

Greek νᾶνος (nânos).• http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/nano-

Definition

• A billionth – time as in nanosecond– distance as in nanometre– volume as in nanogram/nanolitre

• Nanotechnology is not a translation from the Latin or the Greek and it is definitely not ‘dwarf technology’

Nano in English

• tenth 1795 (deci)• hundredth 1795 (centi)• thousandth 1795 (milli)• millionth 1960 (micro)• billionth 1960 (nano)• trillionth 1960 (pico)• quadrillionth 1964 (femto)• quintillionth 1964 (atto)• sextillionth 1991 (zepto)• septillionth 1991 (yocto)• (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nano-)

Lycurgus Cup

• Named after King Lycurgus of Thrace who’s depicted on the cup

Lycurgus Cup

• 1600 years old• Made of gold and dichroic glass• Acquired by the British Museum in the 1950s• It took scientists decades to understand why

the colour of the glass changed (1990 according to http://www.ancient-origins.net/news-history-archaeology/1600-year-old-goblet-shows-romans-used-nanotechnology-00793#!bjfuCU Sept. 2, 2013 article

Lycurgus Cup

• In order to produce the dichroic effect on the chalice, Roman artisans are believed to have ground down particles of gold and silver to 50 nanometres in diameter, which is less than one-thousandth the size of a grain of table salt, and then laid these nanoparticles within the glass before it set.

• When metals are the size of nanoparticles, they are able to display iridescent colours, which is what causes the colour to change in the Lycurgus Cup.

Lycurgus Cup

• While there continue to be scientific debates about whether the Romans discovered nanotechnology by accident or whether they deliberately calculated the size and quantity of nanoparticles required to make dichroic glass, no one has been able to replicate the effect, until now.

• (http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/romans-used-nanotechnology-turn-lycurgus-cup-green-red-1600-years-ago-1468746 article dated Oct. 6, 2014)

Lycurgus Cup effect

• Researchers at the University of Cambridge & the University of Birmingham made a ‘Lycurgus’ breakthrough

• Plasmonic nanoparticle scattering for color holograms by Yunuen Montelongo, Jaime Oscar Tenorio-Pearl, Calum Williams, Shuang Zhang, William Ireland Milne, and Timothy David Wilkinson. PNAS, Sept. 2, 2014 vol. 111 no. 35 12679–12683, doi: 10.1073/pnas.1405262111

Lycurgus effect 2013

• They [researchers University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign] conducted a study last year in which they created a plastic plate filled with gold or silver nanoparticles, essentially creating an array that was equivalent to the Lycurgus Cup. When they applied different solutions to the plate, such as water, oil, sugar and salt, the colours changed. (http://www.ancient-origins.net/news-history-archaeology/1600-year-old-goblet-shows-romans-used-nanotechnology-00793#!bjfuCU )

History & nano

• Damascus steel blades (carbon nanotubes) recipe lost in 1700

• Islamic pottery (glazes with copper and silver nanoparticles)

• Stained glass in cathedral windows (e.g., gold nanoparticles for red glass; theory that glass acts as a photocatalyst, i.e. cleans the air)

• Japanese Namban paper screens (beaten to nanoscale thickness; 1573 – 1868 roughly)

Robotics

• UK’s National Physical Laboratory reaches out to ‘BioTouch’ MIT and UCL– haptic-enabled sensing and micromanipulation of

biological self-assembly – BioTouch– The project will probe sensing and application of force

and related vectors specific to biological self-assembly as a means of synthetic biology and nanoscale construction

• Ultimately this is for a robot that can apply sensitive touch and requires more than one technology to enable it

Robotics

• Bio-inspired robotic sock from Singapore for deep vein thrombosis or blood clots

• Equipped with soft actuators that mimic the tentacle movements of corals, the robotic sock emulates natural lower leg muscle contractions in the wearer’s leg, thereby promoting blood circulation throughout the wearer’s body.

Robotics

• For the first time, robotic prostheses controlled via implanted neuromuscular interfaces have become a clinical reality. A novel osseointegrated (bone-anchored) implant system gives patients new opportunities in their daily life and professional activities.

• In January 2013 a Swedish arm amputee was the first person in the world to receive a prosthesis with a direct connection to bone, nerves and muscles. …

Robotics• Robert Downey Jr. (Iron Man 3 had a nano theme)• RDJ delivered a gift to 7-year-old Alex: a very special custom-made

gift for the dapper looking boy with a partially developed right arm.

• The prosthetic, created by non-profit company Limbitless Solutions, demonstrates the power and cost-effectiveness of 3D printing technology – but more than that, it’s pretty darn cool looking. At only $350 (minus the cost of the Arc Reactor!) … Normally a prosthetic of this kind would cost upwards of $40,000, but with 3D printing dreams are being made into reality at an affordable price. (http://www.pressroomvip.com/robert-downey-jr-hand-delivers-iron-man-prosthetic-to-7-year-old-boy/)

Nano & robotics

• Limbitless Solutions website

Artificial brains/intelligence

• Artificial brains (nanoscale devices)– Memristor– Nanoionic device (nanoionic atomic switch)

• Artificial intelligence (algorithms)– Writing and AI or is a robot writing this blog? (my

July 16, 2014 post) about Associated Press & Automated Insights deal

– AI, Robotics, and the Future of Jobs (Pew Research Foundation)

Regenerative medicine

• Andemariam Teklesenbet Beyene• Synthetic trachea transplant 2011• http://www.frogheart.ca/?p=4078• Student in Iceland, flown to Sweden for

transplant by surgeon, Paolo Macchiarini, who has a double appt. Karolinska Institute in Sweden and University College in London, UK

Regenerative medicine

• Alexander Seifalian (UCL Division of Surgery & Interventional Science; professor of nanotechnology and regenerative medicine at University College London, UK),

• created a glass mold of the patient’s trachea from X-ray computed tomography (CT) scans of the patient.

Regenerative medicine

• Seifalian & associates manufactured a full size y-shaped trachea scaffold

• Scaffold was built using a novel porous nanocomposite polymer

• The composite has millions of little holes (pores), providing a place for the patient’s stem cells to grow roots

Regenerative medicine

• The team cut strips of the novel nanocomposite polymer and wrapped them around the glass mold creating to create cartilage rings that confer structural strength to the trachea

• Then off to Karolinska where stem cells are harvested and grown in a bioreactor

Regenerative medicine

• During a 12-hour operation Professor Macchiarini removed all of the tumour and the diseased windpipe and replaced it with the tailor-made replica [now covered with tissue grown from the patient's bone marrow tricked into growing like cells found in a trachea

• The nanocomposite was designed to disintegrate over time leaving the organic trachea in place.

Organ-on-a-chip

• Definition: An organ-on-a-chip ... is a multi-channel 3-D microfluidic cell culture chip that simulates the activities, mechanics and physiological response of entire organs and organ systems. ... One day, they will perhaps abolish the need for animals in drug development and toxin testing. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Organ-on-a-chip)

Organ-on-a-chip

• While cells are conventionally cultured in a culture flask or dish in an incubator, in the Organ-on-Chip concept they are cultured inside a so-called “chip”.

• This chip would not be a microprocessor or integrated circuit such as on bank card However, it can actually have been made using the same type of microfabrication process in a clean room.

Organ-on-a-chip

• The “chip” provides the basic housing for the cells which will form the tissue or organ model. As such it replaces the conventional culture dish.

• Chip is roughly the size of a microscope slide– contains one or more closed chambers– these chambers contain cells which multiply or

differentiate depending on the research• Chip is made of a transparent material for

viewing through a microscope

Organ-on-a-chip

• The chambers on a chip (microchambers) can have surfaces with different characteristics– e.g., very thin, flexible and stretchable, similar to a

membrane (thickness in the range of microns for example), they are non-toxic for the cells, allow passage of, for example, oxygen or nutrients

– surface can be patterned, or for example designed to contain pores of a defined diameter – all from nanometer to micrometer sized

Human-on-a-chip

• International competition to get multiple organs on a chip– In particular, US & Germany in competition– Dan Tagle (associate director of the NIH’s National

Center for Advancing Translational Sciences): stated they would have human-on-a-chip by 2017

– Uwe Marx (TissUse): currently sells two organs on a chip; says he has four organs on a chip

• This technique would bypass animal testing

Biomimicry

• aka, bioinspired engineering or biomimetics• Examples:

– Human-on-a –chip– Inquiry into chameleon skin and structural colour (Mar. 2015:

http://www.frogheart.ca/?p=16247)• Scientists found a two-step process where changes take place via

the active tuning of a lattice of nanocrystals present in a superficial layer of dermal cells called iridophores.

• The researchers also reveal the existence of a deeper population of iridophores with larger and less ordered crystals that reflect the infrared light. … it allows the chameleons to rapidly shift between efficient camouflage and spectacular display, while providing passive thermal protection [http://www.frogheart.ca/?p=16247]

Biomimicry and structural colour

• Hard to believe those berries were collected more than four decades ago, according to Cristina Luiggi in her Feb. 1, 2013 article, Color from Structure, for The Scientist magazine. Her focus is on biological nanostructures and it is a fascinating article which I urge you to read.

Biomimicry and sharks

• … researchers try to make materials that mimic a process or ability observed in nature. They used sharkskin as an example for making a ‘smarter’ material. Scientists have observed that nanoscale structures on a shark’s skin have antibacterial properties. This is especially important when we have a growing problem with bacteria that are antibiotic resistant. David Pogue’s (the program host) interviewed scientists at Sharklet and highlighted their work producing a plastic with nanostructures similar to those found on sharkskin for use in hospitals, restaurants, etc.

Biomimicry

• Blue morpho butterfly• Giant squid• Chameleons• Peacocks• Jewel beetles• Namib beetles• Lotus leaves

Flights of imagination

• Canadian military (commissioned two books from science fiction writer Karl Schroeder; Crisis in Zefra featuring nano as ‘smart dust’: 2005 [downloadable from author’s website] and Crisis in Urlia (commissioned in 2010 and published in 2014 [Government of Canada document: http://publications.gc.ca/collections/collection_2014/mdn-dnd/D2-324-2013-eng.pdf]

• Iron Man 3 (Extremis)• Deus Ex (Eidos in Montréal)

Origins of modern nano

• Origins of modern nano– Robert Heinlein– Richard Feynman• Chris Toumey controversy

– K. Eric Drexler• Goo (Bill Joy, co-founder of Sun Microsystems)

– Neal Stephenson

International situation

• Big race – Research– Commercialization– Patents

• UK had an early lead in the 1990s• US gets serious at the end of President Bill

Clinton’s term when he signed the National Nanotechnology Initiative, as of 2015, 22B cumulative investment

International situation

• European Union– Flagship projects (1B Euros each over 10 years)

• Graphene• Human brain

• China – 50 year nano roadmap (co-published with Springer

in June 2010)– Nanopolis (hub for nanotech and

commercialization) is being built in the Suzhou Industrial Park

International situation

• Saudi Arabia– Opens King Abdullah University of Science and

Technology in 2009– Ted Sargent of the University of Toronto has a

collaborative relationship with researchers at KAUST

– Focus on solar energy

International situation

• Russia– RUSNANO lands on the scene in 2009– Signing deals all over the place, e.g. 2011 $100M US with

Kazakhstan– Putin gets upset in 2013 and Rusnano changes course– Chinese invited to create a joint nano investment fund in Sept.

2014• Chinese also want to supplant US dollar as a base currency with their own• Russians looking east in wake of Ukraine & Crimea situations• Military build-up amongst China’s neighbours: Japan, Viet Nam &

Philippines

• When is an invitation for a joint nano investment fund possibly something else?

Iran

• INIC (Iran Nanotechnology Initiative Council)– Teeth– Green chemistry• Nanotechnology researchers from Tarbiat Modarres

University [Iran] produced a new drug capable of detecting and removing cancer cells using turmeric …• The compound is made of curcumin found in the

extract of turmeric, and has desirable physical and chemical stability and prevents the proliferation of cancer cells. (http://www.frogheart.ca/?p=13124)

Mexico

• ITS (Individuals Tending Towards Savagery) first burst on the nano scene in 2011– According to one account, there were two incidents

this week, one at Mexico’s National Polytechnical Institute on Tuesday, August 9, 2011 (another account notes that there were previous incidents in April and May 2011 targeting the same professor but does not mention an August 9 attempt) and a more serious one (two professors were injured) at the Monterrey Technological Institute (the campus on the outskirts of Mexico City) on Monday, August 8, 2011.

Mexico

• I gather the group (ITS) has posted a manifesto online which states that nanoparticles could cause the planet earth to turn into grey goo (a well worn and popular ‘end of the world because of nanotechnology’ scenario first posited by Eric Drexler who has since repudiated it but taken up by any number of science fiction writers).

• http://www.frogheart.ca/?p=4147

Mexico

• Mexico recently hosted (Feb. 7 – 8, 2013) a pair of conferences focused on nanotechnology and art conservation. The country is part of an international consortium in the European Commision’s Seventh Framework Programme (FP7), NanoForArt project. [http://www.frogheart.ca/?p=9387]

Canada

• National Institute of Nanotechnology (NINT)– Joint federal-Alberta initiative

• Most active provinces– Alberta– Québec– Ontario

• Two areas of strength– Graphite flakes for graphene– CNC (cellulose nanocrystals) derived from forest

products

Environment, health, and safety (EHS)

• Carbon nanotubes, concerningly, long ones resemble asbestos fibres

• The lung appears to be the least protected of the organs

• Silver nanoparticles have raised red flags• US Life cycle of nanotechnology project– $5M for Arizona State University LCnano Network

• Sunblock (nano sunscreen) scandal in Australia [http://www.frogheart.ca/?p=5875]

What does it all mean?

• Dunno!• We live in interesting times and looking at the

other speakers’ topics and other sources, it seems that we are at a juncture of sorts.

• When they talk about golden periods in history, they tend to leave out the crises and social upheavals.

• I think this will be a golden period¬later.