Trends Identified
Nanotechnology
Nanotechnology focuses on manipulating matter at the atomic and molecular scale, generally at less than 100 nanometres in size. At this size, and using other scientific disciplines, the characteristics of matter can be changed. This will create new and unique properties with profound and diverse applications. Advances in nanotechnology, at the interdisciplinary frontier where physics, chemistry and biology meet, will be a key enabler of technological advance, involving: new additives and coatings; materials and sensor development; and medical treatments and heath diagnosis.
2010
Global strategic trends - out to 2040
UK, Ministry of Defence
Nanotechnology
Beyond its role in plastics, nanotechnology can also help accelerate fuel efficiency trends, through a combination of lowering the weight of vehicles and thus increasing efficiency, improving tire efficiency, and nanocatalysts that make fuel consumption more efficient.
2018
The bigger picture- The impact of automation, AI, shared economy on oil demand
The 2° Investing Initiative
Nanotechnology
Nanotechnology 26 is a field of enormous promise and big challenges. It is reported to have high potential for increasing innovation for sustainable development in the energy, water, chemical, medical and pharmaceutical industries. 27 Nanoimprint lithography is expected to lead to large-scale manufacturing of nanotechnology products with various positive and negative sustainable development challenges. Nano-products might revolutionize many fields including medicine, electronics, energy and water, as well as food industry in the coming years. At present, there are high expectations about high-performing nanomaterial solar cells and nano-technology applications for decentralized water and wastewater treatment, and desalination. 28 Recently, scientists in Singapore have demonstrated converting CO 2 into methane using light and amine-functionalized titanium dioxide nanoparticles – this would allow storing intermittent solar energy in the form of natural gas which could then be burned in a carbon neutral way. The implications of unethical and uncontrolled use of nanotechnology have created an ongoing debate in the scientific community around concerns about their toxicity and environmental impact (e.g., nanowaste). 29, 30, 31 The OECD and IUCN are currently working with several governments to develop suitable and efficient regulations and policies, and urge a more unified and collaborative approach at all levels to address this potentially hazardous issue through experience- and knowledge-sharing, coordinated research activities, development of guidelines for producers, users and waste-processing facilities 32, 33 and examination of existing guidelines or policies. 34 ANNEXES | 121 As nanotechnology can be damaging to environment and human health, it requires effective policies and frameworks to manage all stages of their life-time, including manufacturing, distribution and use, as well as safe disposal or where possible effective recycling. 35, 36 There are many promising future, inorganic and organic nanomaterials . Examples include perovskites, gold nanoparticles, graphene, carbon nanotubes, carbon nanodots and conducting polymers. Carbon based nanomaterials are very interesting as they rely on abundant carbon and have much potential as high performance substitutes for many materials that are scarce and highly resource intensive in their extraction process. Iron, cobalt, and nickel nanoparticles can be alternatives to scarce metals like platinum, rhodium, and gold for catalysis . For example, layered iron and nickel nanomaterial are a more sustainable alternative to rare-earth “supermagnets”.
2016
Global sustainable development report 2016
United Nations
Nanotechnology
Application of scientific knowledge to manipulate and control matter in the nanoscale (ranges between approximately 1 and 100 nm) in order to make use of size and structure dependent properties and phenomena. Nanoscale materials have unique electromagnetic, thermal and optical characteristics which are distinct from those associated with individual atoms or molecules or with bulk materials are essential in solving many of the problems facing humanity. These materials could have new possibilities of applications by making lighter, stronger, smarter, cheaper, cleaner and more durable consumer and engineered products.
2017
Science & Technology Foresight Malaysia
Malaysia, Academy of Sciences Malaysia
Nanostructured materials and reagents for water purification processes
In the short term we can expect to see the emergence of nanostructured materials and reagents for water purification processes (water treatment, raw food processing). With the transition to these technologies, the problems of drinking water supplies and efficient purification of household and industrial sewerage will largely be solved, in particular by using various types of hybrid membranes with embedded nanoparticles. It is possible to significantly intensify water purification processes using membranes with an asymmetric (gradient) distribution of nano-particles by restructuring membrane pore and channel structures. Such an effect can occur upon implementation of electromembrane technologies, allowing for an increase in the electro-catalytic activity of particles in a water dissociation reaction which enables higher speed electrodialysis purification of water in extreme currents. Ion-exchange and membrane materials containing nanoparticles of metals are used for further removal of dissolved oxygen from water, which is extremely important for a number of processes in today’s electronics industry. Ion-exchange and filter membranes will be widely used in food production and processing.
2016
Russia 2030: science and technology foresight
Russia, Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation
Nanostructured composite materials with special properties (including conductive, magnetic and optical)
Nanostructured composite materials with special optical properties (including photon crystals) will be particularly in demand by 2030. In the medium term we can expect to see the use of systems with sensory properties, for example, the ability to change the range of intensity of emitted light in conjunction with certain reagents. There may significant improvements in key functional parameters of fibre-optic communications lines providing safely screened multichannel methods to transfer data – speed and quality of the transfer – by using nanostructured materials, on the one hand, with extremely high levels of immunity to interference and, on the other hand, which are not a source of radiation. The application of photon crystal and micro-structured fibres opens up new opportunities to use fibre-optics in physical value sensors.
2016
Russia 2030: science and technology foresight
Russia, Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation
Nanostructured Carbon Composites
Emissions from the world’s rapidly-growing fleet of vehicles are an environmental concern, and raising the operating efficiency of transport is a promising way to reduce its overall impact. New techniques to nanostructure carbon fibres for novel composites are showing the potential in vehicle manufacture to reduce the weight of cars by 10% or more. Lighter cars need less fuel to operate, increasing the efficiency of moving people and goods and reducing greenhouse gas emissions. However, efficiency is only one concern – another of equal importance is improving passenger safety. To increase the strength and toughness of new composites, the interface between carbon fibres and the surrounding polymer matrix is engineered at the nanoscale to improve anchoring – using carbon nanotubes, for example. In the event of an accident, these surfaces are designed to absorb impact without tearing, distributing the force and protecting passengers inside the vehicle. A third challenge, which may now be closer to a solution, is that of recycling carbon fibre composites – something which has held back the widespread deployment of the technology. New techniques involve engineering cleavable “release points” into the material at the interface between the polymer and the fibre so that the bonds can be broken in a controlled fashion and the components that make up the composite can be recovered separately and reused. Taken together, these three elements could have a major impact by bringing forward the potential for manufacturing lightweight, super-safe and recyclable composite vehicles to a mass scale
2014
Top 10 emerging technologies for 2014
World Economic Forum (WEF)
Nanostructured bio-compatible materials
In the near future we can expect active development in technology to create nanostructured bio-compatible materials for medical use, primarily in two areas: 1 developing materials to manufacture implants and substitutes for various tissues (for example, oxide or phosphate bio-coatings are applied to strong and relatively light titanium implants to prevent rejection by living tissues); 2 the creation of materials with properties and structures similar to those found in the human body. One example is bone implants with a porous structure based on calcium phosphate. Ideally, medical materials should complement natural fabrics. With the emergence of nanostructured bio-compatible and bioresorbable implants, the structure of the prostheses and implants market, together with the principles and approaches to prosthetics, have changed significantly. The introduction of new technologies will make it possible to increase the active life of humans, reduce population disabilities, and improve people’s quality of life.
2016
Russia 2030: science and technology foresight
Russia, Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation
Nanosensors and the Internet of Nanothings
The Internet of Things (IoT), built from inexpensive microsensors and microprocessors paired with tiny power supplies and wireless antennas, is rapidly expanding the online universe from computers and mobile gadgets to ordinary pieces of the physical world: thermostats, cars, door locks, even pet trackers. New IoT devices are announced almost daily, and analysts expected to up to 30 billion of them to be online by 2020. The explosion of connected items, especially those monitored and controlled by artificial intelligence systems, can endow ordinary things with amazing capabilities—a house that unlocks the front door when it recognizes its owner arriving home from work, for example, or an implanted heart monitor that calls the doctor if the organ shows signs of failing. But the real Big Bang in the online universe may lie just ahead. Scientists have started shrinking sensors from millimeters or microns in size to the nanometer scale, small enough to circulate within living bodies and to mix directly into construction materials. This is a crucial first step toward an Internet of Nano Things (IoNT) that could take medicine, energy efficiency, and many other sectors to a whole new dimension. Some of the most advanced nanosensors to date have been crafted by using the tools of synthetic biology to modify single-celled organisms, such as bacteria. The goal here is to fashion simple biocomputers that use DNA and proteins to recognize specific chemical targets, store a few bits of information, and then report their status by changing color or emitting some other easily detectable signal. Synlogic, a start-up in Cambridge, Mass., is working to commercialize computationally enabled strains of probiotic bacteria to treat rare metabolic disorders. Beyond medicine, such cellular nanosensors could find many uses in agriculture and drug manufacturing. Many nanosensors have also been made from non-biological materials, such as carbon nanotubes, that can both sense and signal, acting as wireless nanoantennas. Because they are so small, nanosensors can collect information from millions of different points. External devices can then integrate the data to generate incredibly detailed maps showing the slightest changes in light, vibration, electrical currents, magnetic fields, chemical concentrations and other environmental conditions. The transition from smart nanosensors to the IoNT seems inevitable, but big challenges will have to be met. One technical hurdle is to integrate all the components needed for a self-powered nanodevice to detect a change and transmit a signal to the web. Other obstacles include thorny issues of privacy and safety. Any nanodevices introduced into the body, deliberately or inadvertently, could be toxic or provoke immune reactions. The technology could also enable unwelcome surveillance. Initial applications might be able to avoid the most vexing issues by embedding nanosensors in simpler, less risky organisms such as plants and non-infectious microorganisms used in industrial processing. When it arrives, the IoNT could provide much more detailed, inexpensive, and up-to-date pictures of our cities, homes, factories—even our bodies. Today traffic lights, wearables or surveillance cameras are getting connected to the Internet. Next up: billions of nanosensors harvesting huge amounts of real-time information and beaming it up to the cloud.
2016
Top 10 Emerging Technologies of 2016
World Economic Forum (WEF)