Layers of silica nanorods as viewed through a scanning electron microscope (top). This new anti-reflective material appears darker (bottom left) than other anti-reflective coatings. Photo: E. Fred Schubert and Jong Kyu Kim,Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
Experts estimate that products utilizing nanotechnology could top $1 trillion per year by 2015.
This technology – which works at the scale of atoms and molecules to create materials not found in nature – is having a big impact already. But that impact is mostly behind the scenes, according to a leading nanotechnologist, Mark Ratner at Northwestern University.
Ratner told Earth & Sky about the two biggest processes using nanotechnology right now, from an economic point of view. One is that nanotechnology is now used to make the hard drives of most new computers. And the other major use, he said…
Mark Ratner: ... has to do with the way gasoline is made, and about something called catalytic cracking, where you basically take the oil, separate it, and then break the big oil molecules down to the smaller molecules that your car actually uses, like octane.
In other words, oil refineries are using nanotechnology to produce gasoline and other products from heavier crude oil.
Mark Ratner: And that’s now done using little nanoscale–sized holes in a naturally occurring material called zeolites. And that’s a huge industry that’s underlying all of the gas that we use in the United States and pretty much around the world. So it’s probably a 100 billion dollar a year industry.
