Honestly, I didn’t really know what “nanotechnology” was before this class. However, since Professor Vesna’s covers so much about this topic in her class, I finally felt inclined to search it up. Nanotechnology is the engineering of functional systems at the molecular scale of size 100 nanometers or smaller. I think it’s a fairly new field, so there is a lot of potential for growth. Not only that, it can be utilized in diverse and flexible ways from conventional devices, such as curling irons, to high-tech gadgets to medicine.
Regents Professor Zhong Lin Wang and other nanotechnology researchers from Georgia Tech recently developed a “power shirt” with the ability to generate electricity from the wearer’s physical movement and use that energy to charge small electronic devices, like a cell phone. What makes this possible is a microfiber nanogenerator that is composed of two fibers. When those two fibers rub together, it can generate a small electrical current that would be harvested for energy. This microfiber nanogenerator would potentially be woven into garments or even curtains or tents, where the energy could come from wind motion. . Combining current flow from many fiber pairs woven into a shirt or jacket could allow the wearer’s body movement to power a range of portable electronic devices. The fibers could also be woven into curtains, tents or other structures to capture energy from wind motion.
Another invention made possible by nanotech is the Nokia handset that can detect diseases. Developed by the Applied Nanodetectors Ltd., the cell phone contains a nanotech chip with sensors that can identify certain gases, such as CO2, nitric oxide and ammonia, that build up within the body depending on the condition. Using the emitted breath of users, the nanochip detector would be able to determine if a person was suffering from, say, asthma and communicate that quickly through simple red and green symbols and texts. If condition was marked positive, developers say, the handset would immediately notify the user’s doctor.
Read more about the cell phone breathalyzer: http://www.techchee.com/2009/02/22/nano-breath-cell-phone-checks-bad-breath-for-diseases/
Michie Cao
check out new fuel cell…
This is brilliant! And so is the approach Timely I’m contemplating the role of green electricity with our product….