Nanotechnology Revolution There are several exciting potentials for the application of nanotechnology in medicine.
Some techniques are being tested, and some are still in the Ideal stages. Nanotechnology in medicine includes applications of nanoparticles currently being developed and longer-term research involving manufactured nano-robots to make cellular repairs.
Whatever you want to call it, the application of nanotechnology to medicine has the potential to fundamentally alter how disease and damage to the human body are detected and treated in the future. Many methods considered science fiction only a few years ago are now making remarkable strides toward becoming a reality. In this emerging nanotechnology, nanomaterials like carbon nanotube demands have increased daily. Carbon Nanotubes A carbon nanotube is an allotrope of carbon that looks like a tube of carbon atoms. Carbon nanotubes are extremely strong and complex to break but remain lightweight. A kind of carbon with a nanometer-wide and micrometer-long structure is called a carbon nanotube (CNT). CNT comprises enrolled cylindrical graphitic sheets wrapped into a nanometer-sized cylinder.
CNT Types There are two different types of carbon nanotubes,
1. Single-walled carbon nanotubes- made up single cylindrical graphene layer
2. Multi-walled carbon nanotubes - made up of multi-cylindrical graphene layer With that said, multi-walled carbon nanotubes are enjoying considerable demand in the market, which can be an excellent opportunity for the players in the future. These carbon nanotubes are used extensively in anti-static plastic parts, battery additives, etc.
Properties of Nanotubes
These lightweight carbon nanotubes have different properties, such as electrical conductivity, strength, elasticity, electron emission, thermal conductivity, and expansion. Some other notable properties are
- The carbon nanotubes' density is one-fourth that of steel
- Regular hexagons make to the crystalline structure of carbon nanotubes
- Chemically, carbon nanotubes are unreactive. Thus, they are stable chemically,
- Carbon nanotubes are hence corrosion-resistant.
- The carbon nanotubes are brittle. They are rigid like a diamond (the most complex natural material in nature)
- Carbon nanotubes are highly flexible.
Applications
Textile, food, medicine, construction, woodworking, papermaking, printing, agriculture, steel production, and polymer chemicals are just a few industries where carbon nanotube demands are high. In Medicine - In addition to drug and gene therapies, CNTs have been extensively used in tissue regeneration, biosensor detection, treatment of broken bones, chiral drug enantiomer separation, drug extraction, drug, and pollutant analysis, among other uses. Additionally, CNTs have recently been identified as a promising antioxidant. In Agriculture - Because of the success of nanotechnology applications, there is a growing interest in applying nanotechnology to agriculture and food systems. Sustainable agriculture is the need of the hour; Carbon nanotubes are used as plant growth regulators, biosensor making, pesticide analysis, and much more. In Engineering - Carbon nanotubes are also used as antennas for radios, reinforcement of turbine blades, electrochemical supercapacitors, and much more. CNTs applications play a vital role in food, environment, textile, papermaking, printing, etc.,
Uses
- Bulletproof jackets are made from carbon nanotubes.
- Carbon nanotube composite materials are being used in sporting goods.
- Carbon nanotubes have the potential to be used to construct aircraft and spacecraft bodies.
- Because of their semiconducting properties, carbon nanotubes can be used to fabricate high-performance nanoscale thin-film transistors to replace silicon-based transistors.
- Carbon nanotubes can be used to fabricate biosensors and electrochemical sensors.
- Because of their excellent electrical properties, carbon nanotubes are used to fabricate electrodes to study electrochemical reactions.
Final Thoughts
Carbon nanotubes would be widely used in various applications as demand and production increased. Carbon nanotubes will become everyday human needs in this and future generations, and carbon nanotubes will help meet all those needs.
