The 2000s have seen the beginnings of the applications of nanotechnology in commercial products, although most applications are limited to the bulk use of passive nanomaterials. Examples include titanium dioxide and zinc oxide nanoparticles in sunscreen, cosmetics and some food products; silver nanoparticles in food packaging, clothing, disinfectants and household appliances such as Silver Nano; carbon nanotubes for stain-resistant textiles; and cerium oxide as a fuel catalyst. As of March 10, 2011, the Project on Emerging Nanotechnologies estimated that over 1300 manufacturer-identified nanotech products are publicly available, with new ones hitting the market at a pace of 3–4 per week.
Contents
Nanotechnology is being used in developing countries to help treat disease and prevent health issues. The umbrella term for this kind of nanotechnology is Nanomedicine.
Nanotechnology is also being applied to or developed for application to a variety of industrial and purification processes. Purification and environmental cleanup applications include the desalination of water, water filtration, wastewater treatment, groundwater treatment, and other nanoremediation. In industry, applications may include construction materials, military goods, and nano-machining of nano-wires, nano-rods, few layers of graphene, etc. Also, recently a new field arisen from the root of Nanotechnology is called Nanobiotechnology. Nanobiotechnology is the biology-based, application-oriented frontier area of research in the hybrid discipline of Nanoscience and biotechnology with an equivalent contribution.
Applications by type
Nano-tech catalyst
Scientists at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory while attempting to create a nanotechnology based catalyst-mediated series of chemical reactions to turn CO2 into a usable fuel have discovered a process to turn the Carbon dioxide into ethanol, which will serve as a way forward to climate change by both decreasing CO2 in the atmosphere and using the ethanol (CH3CH2OH) as an additive to fuels to increase efficiency and thereby decrease consumption. Reportedly it is also related that the process is cheap in cost and efficient in functioning.