Nanotechnology: the next big idea Week 2: History Maryse de la Giroday 6-week course SFU Liberal...

Nanotechnology: the next big ideaWeek 2: History

Maryse de la Giroday6-week course

SFU Liberal Arts & Adults 55+ program

Certificate students

• For each course, you'll complete a short, typed, double-spaced essay of four to six pages (1,000–1,500 words). Rather than an overview of what the course covered, your essay should be a thoughtful and personal response to one or both of the following questions:

• How did this course contribute to your appreciation and knowledge of the subject?

• How, and in what way, did this course change your way of thinking?

• (http://www.sfu.ca/continuing-studies/programs/seniors-certificate-liberal-arts/program-structure.html

Getting copies of the slide deck from frogheart.ca

• I will be using the course number, SCFC861, in the head for the blog posting with the slides and ‘notes’– Frogheart.ca– e.g. Simon Fraser University –

SCFC861Nanotechnology, The Next Big Idea: course Week 1

• I advise using the blog’s search engine

Review of last week

• Size/scale• Nano = billionth• Graphene/carbon

nanotubes/buckminsterfullerenes = carbon materials

Swiss Cross (Swiss flag)

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_of_Switzerland

Nanoscopy & colour

• The centre image shows lysosome membranes and is one of the first ones taken by Betzig using single-molecule microscopy. To the left, the same image taken using conventional microscopy. To the right, the image of the membranes has been enlarged. Note the scale division of 0.2 micrometres, equivalent to Abbe’s diffraction limit. Image: Science 313:1642–1645. (http://www.frogheart.ca/?p=14830)

Graphene & 3D printing

• Oct. 22, 2014 n/r : Graphene 3D Lab Inc. to Present 3D Printed Graphene Battery [on Oct. 23, 2014]

• http://www.graphene3dlab.com/s/news.asp?ReportID=679892&_Type=News&_Title=Graphene-3D-Lab-Inc.-to-Present-3D-Printed-Graphene-Battery

• Graphene Lab Inc. (http://www.graphene3dlab.com/s/home.asp)

http://www.graphene3dlab.com/s/news.asp?ReportID=679892&_Type=News&_Title=Graphene-3D-Lab-Inc.-to-Present-3D-Printed-Graphene-Battery




Nanotechnology applications

• Environment• Energy• Health• Fashion• Electronics• Visual art/music/dance• Prosthetics• Biomimicry

Environment: mesocosm project at Duke University (1 of 3)

• From the article, Ecosystem experiments to assess the environmental impact of nanoparticles, by Whitney J. Howell published November 25, 2010 on Nanowerk,

• Deep inside Duke Forest, 32 alternate universes sit in quiet rows. They look identical – each with a puddle, some land, a few plants.

• But wholly imperceptible to the naked eye, these plots have distinct and important differences.

• The realms, known as mesocosms, house individual types of nanoparticles as part of a research effort conducted by the Center for the Environmental Implications of Nano Technology (CEINT) based at Duke University


• Each waist-high, 3-foot-by-12-foot box contains nanoparticles coated with a different substance, such as titanium dioxide or silver. By following the coating’s trail through the mesocosm, Wiesner said, researchers can pinpoint how the nanoparticles either positively or negatively alter their surroundings and at what levels they might become toxic.

• For example, nanosilver has anti-microbial properties and could be a powerful disinfectant. But if high concentrations of the particles wipe out all surrounding bacteria and viruses – even those that may be benign or beneficial – the effects on plants and animals are unknown. (http://www.frogheart.ca/?p=2487 Aug. 15, 2011)

http://www.frogheart.ca/?p=2487


• Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) in Duke’s mesocosm• The results indicate little risk to humans ingesting the

particles through drinking water, say scientists at Duke’s Center for the Environmental Implications of Nanotechnology (CEINT). But the researchers warn that, based on their previous research, the tendency for the nanotubes to accumulate in sediment could indirectly damage the aquatic food chain in the long term if the nanoparticles provide “Trojan horse” piggyback rides to other harmful molecules. [emphases mine in http://www.frogheart.ca/?p=14770 re: Oct. 1, 2014 n/r]


Environment: water-cleaning technology from Mexico (1 of 2)

• The methods traditionally used to remove heavy metals from wastewater have limitations because they only withdraw a certain percentage and the remaining amount is very difficult to remove. ...

• According to Monter Ramirez [Gabriel], ... led him to design some structures called dendrimers, which are highly branched molecules with shape similar to a shrub or a tree with multiple branches.

• “Dendrimers adhere and spread on a microfiltration membrane; ie, thin sheets of porous material that are not normally capable of retaining heavy metals due to pore size.

Environment: water-cleaning technology from Mexico (2 of 2)

• Once placed, it achieves total removal of heavy metal ions in the same way a marine anemone would act, using tentacles to concentrate and catch food; in this case, the branches of the dendrimers capture pollutants, “says the researcher.

• He explains that through dendrimers the team converted a microfiltration membrane into a nanofiltration one. “Another advantage of these structures is that they can be washed and reused, plus the captured metals are removed without problem.”

• http://www.frogheart.ca/?p=13659 (June 6, 2014; video)


Energy in Alberta (1 of 2)

• University of Calgary post (http://www.frogheart.ca/?p=14913) Oct. 20, 2014

• A world-leading nanotechnology researcher has come to Canada’s energy capital to become the first Canada Excellence Research Chair (CERC) at the University of Calgary.


Energy in Alberta (2 of 2)

• Bryant says Alberta’s oilsands are a key resource for meeting the world’s energy demands and the status quo is not acceptable.

• “There is a huge desire to extract this energy resource with less environmental impact and, we think, conceivably even zero-impact, because of some of the cool things that are becoming possible with nanotechnology,” says Bryant.

Energy: solar cells (1 of 2)

• There’s no mention as to whether or not Dr Niraj Lal practices any form of meditation or how he came across Tibetan Buddhist singing bowls but somehow he was inspired by them when studying for his PhD at Cambridge University (UK).

Energy: solar cells (2 of 2)

• Dr Niraj Lal, of the Australian National University, found during his PhD at the University of Cambridge, that small nano-sized versions of Buddhist singing bowls resonate with light in the same way as they do with sound, and he’s applied this shape to solar cells to increase their ability to capture more light and convert it into electricity. (http://www.frogheart.ca/?p=14554)

Health: monitoring (1 of 4)

• The team – led by Professor of Chemical Physics at Trinity, Jonathan Coleman, one of the world’s leading nanoscientists – infused rubber bands with graphene, a nano-material derived from pencil lead which is 10,000 times smaller than the width of a human hair. This process is simple and compatible with normal manufacturing techniques. While rubber does not normally conduct electricity, the addition of graphene made the rubber bands electrically conductive without degrading the mechanical properties of the rubber.

Health: monitoring (2 of 4)

• Tests showed that any electrical current flowing through the graphene-infused rubber bands was very strongly affected if the band was stretched. As a result, if the band is attached to clothing, the tiniest movements such as breath and pulse can be sensed.

• http://www.frogheart.ca/?p=14441 Aug. 20,2014


Health: monitoring with gold nanoparticles (3 of 4)

• In less than a minute (the usual is 30 mins.), a miniature device developed at the University of Montreal can measure a patient’s blood for methotrexate, a commonly used but potentially toxic cancer drug. Just as accurate and ten times less expensive than equipment currently used in hospitals

Health: monitoring with gold nanoparticles (4 of 4)

• Roughly, [the device] measures the concentration of serum (or blood) methotrexate through gold nanoparticles on the surface of a receptacle. In “competing” with methotrexate to block the enzyme, the gold nanoparticles change the colour of the light detected by the instrument. And the colour of the light detected reflects the exact concentration of the drug in the blood sample.

• Oct. 27, 2014 announcement in: http://www.frogheart.ca/?p=15004

Fashion

• Catalytic clothing: ... an art/science collaboration between Professor Helen Storey at the London College of Fashion and Professor Tony Ryan, a scientist at the University of Sheffield.

• http://www.frogheart.ca/?p=3927 (video)


Fashion: malaria-repellent (1 of 3)


• Boscia gives details,– The colorful garment, fashioned by Matilda Ceesay ’13,

an FSAD apparel design major from Gambia, debuted at the Cornell Fashion Collective spring fashion show April 28 [2012] on campus. It consists of an underlying one-piece bodysuit, hand-dyed in purple, gold and blue, and a mesh hood and cape containing the repellant. The outfit is one of six in Ceesay’s collection, which she said “explores and modernizes traditional African silhouettes and textiles by embracing the strength and sexuality of the modern woman.”


• Ceesay and Ochanda, who works with FSAD Associate Professor Juan Hinestroza, partnered with Laurie Lange, graduate student in Professor Kay Obendorf’s lab, to refine the process for capturing insecticides on the MOF-coated cloth. Hinestroza called the resulting garment “fashionable and functional, with the potential to create a new generation of durable and effective insecticide mosquito protection nets.” http://www.frogheart.ca/?p=6773 May 15, 2012


Fashion: a $20,000 CNT-infused suit

• Toronto-based luxury bespoke tailoring house Garrison Bespoke will launch the first fashion-forward bulletproof suit tomorrow with a live ammo field-testing event at the Ajax Rod and Gun Club at 11:00 am EST in Ontario (Nov. 2013; http://www.frogheart.ca/?p=11568)

Visual art (1 of 2)

Visual art (2 of 2)

• Needle woman by Kimsooja• Kimsooja’s 46-foot-tall structure features an

iridescent polymer film developed at Cornell, reflecting light with structural colors similar to those in a butterfly’s wings. Creating it involved some diligent problem-solving by materials scientists in the lab of Uli Wiesner, the Spencer T. Olin Professor of Engineering.

• http://www.frogheart.ca/?p=14603 Sept. 15, 2014


Music: spiderwebs and math

• Using a new mathematical methodology, researchers at MIT have created a scientifically rigorous analogy that shows the similarities between the physical structure of spider silk and the sonic structure of a melody, proving that the structure of each relates to its function in an equivalent way.

• http://www.frogheart.ca/?p=5332 Dec. 9, 2011


Dance

• Oct. 16 – 18, 2014 are the Vancouver (Canada) dates when you can catch Compagnie Gilles Jobin performing its piece, Quantum, based on choreographer Gilles Jobin’s residency CERN (Europe’s particle physics laboratory). The Vancouver stop is part of a world tour which seems to have started in New York City (US) and San Francisco (US).

• http://www.frogheart.ca/?p=14880 Oct. 15, 2014• http://www.frogheart.ca/?p=14888 Oct. 16,2014



Prosthetics/human enhancement (1 of 3)

• Artificial skin that can sense as if it were real skin isn’t here yet but scientists at Technion-Israel Institute of Technology have created a flexible sensor that could fulfill that promise. From a July 9, 2013 news item on Azonano,

• Using tiny gold particles and a kind of resin, a team of scientists at the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology has discovered how to make a new kind of flexible sensor that one day could be integrated into electronic skin, or e-skin.


• If scientists learn how to attach e-skin to prosthetic limbs, people with amputations might once again be able to feel changes in their environments. The findings appear in the June issue of ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces. http://www.frogheart.ca/?p=10622 July 9, 2013



• For the first time, robotic prostheses controlled via implanted neuromuscular interfaces have become a clinical reality. A novel osseointegrated (bone-anchored) implant system gives patients new opportunities in their daily life and professional activities.

• In January 2013 a Swedish arm amputee was the first person in the world to receive a prosthesis with a direct connection to bone, nerves and muscles.

• http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2014-10/cuot-mpa100214.php

• http://www.frogheart.ca/?p=14845

Biomimicry/bioinspired/biomimetics

• The most studied butterfly wing is the blue morpho as per Kimsooja art piece for Cornell

• http://www.frogheart.ca/?p=5551 blue morpho video

• or Landrock blue morpho by veritasium video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gc2ZMcchB58

• Nature is being studied as never before


Nano, not as new as you might think

• Leucippus may have been Democritus’ teacher or may have never existed

• Democritus ((5th century BCE in Greece)• Devised an atomistic theory or passed it on from Leucippus• The laughing or sarcastic philosopher• Many consider Democritus to be the "father of modern science"

• Epicurus• Natural Philosophy• (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leucippus [and]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Democritus)

Reverse engineering

• What is it?• Biomimicry could be described as reverse

engineering• Let’s go back to the Romans

Example of reverse engineering

• Roman concrete– Roman concrete, also called opus caementicium,

was a material used in construction during the late Roman Republic through the whole history of the Roman Empire. Roman concrete was based on a hydraulic-setting cement with many material qualities similar to modern portland cement.

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_concrete

Rome’s Pantheon & Oculus (1 of 3)


• Built in the 2nd century A.D., Rome's Pantheon is still the largest unreinforced concrete dome in the world. (Credit: iStockphoto.com)

• In continuous use since 126 AD (CE; common era)

• http://www.history.com/news/the-secrets-of-ancient-roman-concrete

• Oculus: a circular opening in the centre of a dome or in a wall

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oculus

http://www.history.com/news/the-secrets-of-ancient-roman-concrete



• The Pantheon ... is a building in Rome, Italy, commissioned by Marcus Agrippa during the reign of Augustus (27 BC - 14 AD) and rebuilt by the emperor Hadrian about 126 AD.

• The building is circular with a portico of large granite Corinthian columns (eight in the first rank and two groups of four behind) under a pediment. A rectangular vestibule links the porch to the rotunda, which is under a coffered concrete dome, with a central opening (oculus) to the sky.

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pantheon,_Rome

History of cement (1 of 2)

• The secret of Roman success in making cement was traced to the mixing of slaked lime with pozzolana, a volcanic ash from Mount Vesuvius. This process produced a cement capable of hardening under water. During the Middle Ages this art was lost …

History of cement (2 of 2)

• In 1824, Joseph Aspdin, a bricklayer and mason in Leeds, England, took out a patent on a hydraulic cement that he called portland cement because its color resembled the stone quarried on the Isle of Portland off the British coast. Aspdin's method involved the careful proportioning of limestone and clay, pulverizing them, and burning the mixture into clinker, which was then ground into finished cement. (http://www.rumford.com/articlemortar.html)

When did they successfully reverse-engineer Roman concrete? (1 of 4)

• Portland cement (the most common modern concrete blend) lacks the lime-volcanic ash combination, and doesn’t bind well compared with Roman concrete.

• Portland cement, in use for almost two centuries, tends to wear particularly quickly in seawater, with a service life of less than 50 years. Also, the production of Portland cement produces a sizable amount of carbon dioxide, one of the most damaging of the so-called greenhouse gases.


• In addition to being more durable than Portland cement, …, Roman concrete also appears to be more sustainable to produce. To manufacture Portland cement, carbon is emitted by the burning fuel used to heat a mix of limestone and clays to 1,450 degrees Celsius (2,642 degrees Fahrenheit) as well as by the heated limestone (calcium carbonate) itself


• . To make their concrete, Romans used much less lime, and made it from limestone baked at 900 degrees Celsius (1,652 degrees Fahrenheit) or lower, a process that used up much less fuel.

• Source: http://www.history.com/news/the-secrets-of-ancient-roman-concrete (reverse engineering of Roman concrete announced June 2013)




• Over the past decade, researchers from Italy and the U.S. have analyzed 11 harbors in the Mediterranean basin where, in many cases, 2,000-year-old (and sometimes older) breakwaters constructed out of Roman concrete stand perfectly intact despite constant pounding by the sea.

• http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2013-06-14/ancient-roman-concrete-is-about-to-revolutionize-modern-architecture

http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2013-06-14/ancient-roman-concrete-is-about-to-revolutionize-modern-architecture



How did they successfully reverse-engineer Roman concrete?

• Technology used for analysis:– Using beamlines 5.3.2.1, 5.3.2.2, 12.2.2 and 12.3.2 at

Berkeley Lab’s Advanced Light Source (ALS), along with other experimental facilities at UC Berkeley, the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology in Saudi Arabia, and the BESSY synchrotron in Germany, Monteiro and his colleagues investigated maritime concrete from Pozzuoli Bay. They found that Roman concrete differs from the modern kind in several essential ways.

– See more at: http://newscenter.lbl.gov/2013/06/04/roman-concrete/#sthash.FGCsvJPY.dpuf

What is a synchrotron/light source?

• A synchrotron is a source of brilliant light that scientists can use to gather information about the structural and chemical properties of materials at the molecular level.

• A synchrotron produces light by using radio frequency waves and powerful electro-magnets to accelerate electrons to nearly the speed of light. Energy is added to the electrons as they accelerate so that, when the magnets alter their course, they naturally emit a very brilliant, highly focused light. Different spectra of light, such as Infrared, Ultraviolet, and X-rays, are directed down beamlines where researchers choose the desired wavelength to study their samples.

• http://www.lightsource.ca/education/whatis.php

Lycurgus Cup

• Named after King Lycurgus of Thrace who’s depicted on the cup

Lycurgus Cup

• 1600 years old• Made of gold and dichroic glass• Acquired by the British Museum in the 1950s• It took scientists decades to understand why

the colour of the glass changed (1990 according to http://www.ancient-origins.net/news-history-archaeology/1600-year-old-goblet-shows-romans-used-nanotechnology-00793#!bjfuCU Sept. 2, 2013 article

http://www.ancient-origins.net/news-history-archaeology/1600-year-old-goblet-shows-romans-used-nanotechnology-00793



Lycurgus Cup

• The Lycurgus Cup represents one of the outstanding achievements of the ancient glass industry. This late Roman cut glass vessel is extraordinary in several respects, firstly in the method of fabrication and the exceptional workmanship involved and secondly in terms of the unusual optical effects displayed by the glass. (2007 article in the Gold Bulletin can be found at http://master-mc.u-strasbg.fr/IMG/pdf/lycurgus.pdf)

Lycurgus Cup

• In order to produce the dichroic effect on the chalice, Roman artisans are believed to have ground down particles of gold and silver to 50 nanometres in diameter, which is less than one-thousandth the size of a grain of table salt, and then laid these nanoparticles within the glass before it set.

• When metals are the size of nanoparticles, they are able to display iridescent colours, which is what causes the colour to change in the Lycurgus Cup.

Lycurgus Cup

• While there continue to be scientific debates about whether the Romans discovered nanotechnology by accident or whether they deliberately calculated the size and quantity of nanoparticles required to make dichroic glass, no one has been able to replicate the effect, until now.

• (http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/romans-used-nanotechnology-turn-lycurgus-cup-green-red-1600-years-ago-1468746 article dated Oct. 6, 2014)

http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/romans-used-nanotechnology-turn-lycurgus-cup-green-red-1600-years-ago-1468746



Lycurgus Cup

• Researchers at the University of Cambridge & the University of Birmingham made a ‘Lycurgus’ breakthrough

• Plasmonic nanoparticle scattering for color holograms by Yunuen Montelongo, Jaime Oscar Tenorio-Pearl, Calum Williams, Shuang Zhang, William Ireland Milne, and Timothy David Wilkinson. PNAS, Sept. 2, 2014 vol. 111 no. 35 12679–12683, doi: 10.1073/pnas.1405262111

Lycurgus Cup (oops)

• They [researchers University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign] conducted a study last year in which they created a plastic plate filled with gold or silver nanoparticles, essentially creating an array that was equivalent to the Lycurgus Cup. When they applied different solutions to the plate, such as water, oil, sugar and salt, the colours changed. (http://www.ancient-origins.net/news-history-archaeology/1600-year-old-goblet-shows-romans-used-nanotechnology-00793#!bjfuCU )




Lycurgus Cup

• Colorimetric Plasmon Resonance Imaging Using Nano Lycurgus Cup Arrays by Manas Ranjan Gartia, Austin Hsiao, Anusha Pokhriyal, Sujin Seo, Gulsim Kulsharova, Brian T. Cunningham, Tiziana C. Bond, and Gang Logan Liu1. Advanced Optical Materials Volume 1, Issue 1, pages 68–76, January 201 Article first published online: 31 JAN 2013 DOI: 10.1002/adom.201200040

• © 2013 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim

Islamic art (1 of 6)

• Polychrome lustreware bowl, 9th C, Iraq, British Museum (©Trinitat Pradell 2008)

• 9th-17th Centuries: Glowing, glittering “luster” ceramic glazes used in the Islamic world, and later in Europe, contained silver or copper or other metallic nanoparticles. (http://www.nano.gov/timeline_


• Lustreware is a ceramic decorative technique invented by 9th century AD Abbasid potters of the Islamic Civilization, in what is today Iraq. The potters believed that making lustreware was truly "alchemy", because the process involves using a lead-based glaze and silver and copper paint to create a golden shine on a pot that contains no gold.


• The secret to lustreware developed over the centuries, but was kept within one small group of potters who traveled together within the Islamic state until the 12th century, when three separate groups began their own potteries. One member of the Abu Tahir family of potters was Abu'l Qasim bin Ali bin Muhammed bin Abu Tahir. In the 14th century, Abu'l Qasim was a court historian to the Mongol kings, where he wrote a number of treatises on various subjects. His best known work is The Virtues of Jewels and the Delicacies of Perfume, which included a chapter on ceramics, and, most importantly, describes part of the recipe for lustreware.


• Abu'l Qasim wrote that the successful process involved painting copper and silver onto glazed vessels, and then refiring to produce the lustrous shine. The alchemy--excuse me, the chemistry--of the lustreware process was identified by a group of archaeologists and chemists, who reported on their investigations into the nanomechanics of lustreware in 2008, in the Journal of Archaeological Sciences. (http://archaeology.about.com/od/lterms/qt/lustreware.htm)


• Lustre is a nanosized metal-glass composite made of metal copper and/or silver nanoparticles embedded in the glassy matrix (Perez-Arantegui et al., 2001). The metal particle sizes range between 5 nm and 50 nm and form a layer of varying thickness of between 100 nm to 1 μm (Friederick et al., 2004 and Pérez-Arantegui et al., 2004).


• The colour and transparency of the layers are due to the absorption and scattering of light in the layer. A continuous metal layer is transparent for wavelengths below a given value (the Plasmon frequency) and absorbs most of the light for larger wavelengths. Typically the plasmon frequencies for metals lie in the ultraviolet, making the metals colourless and opaque, although for some metals like gold or copper they lie in the visible, 2.4 eV (520 nm) and 2.1 eV (590 nm) respectively, giving the characteristic yellow and red colours. (http://www.sciencedirect.com.proxy.lib.sfu.ca/science/article/pii/S0305440307001665)

Medieval cathedrals (1 of 4)

• The South rose window of Notre Dame Cathedral, ca 1250

Medieval cathedrals (2 of 4)

• 6th-15th Centuries: Vibrant stained glass windows in European cathedrals owed their rich colors to nanoparticles of gold chloride and other metal oxides and chlorides; gold nanoparticles also acted as photocatalytic air purifiers. (http://www.nano.gov/timeline)

http://www.nano.gov/timeline

Stained glass as photocatalytic air purification (3 of 4)

• Research by a team of chemists led by Professor Zhu Huai Yong has shown that nanoparticles of gold, when activated by sunlight, can destroy air-borne pollutants such as methanol and other volatile organic chemicals(VOCs). Such chemicals are often released from new furniture, carpets, and even paint in good condition, contributing to the characteristic 'new' smell, and having adverse health effects. These compounds could be removed from the air by Professor Zhu's purification process, using only sunlight as an energy source.

Stained glass as photocatalytic air purification (4 of 4)

• The process works as the sunlight's electromagnetic field induces a resonance in the oscillations of electrons associated with the gold nanoparticles. The resultant amplification of the gold's magnetic field causes pollutants to degrade.

• Professor Zhu notes that this photocatalytic purification already occurs in numerous churches throughout Europe, built in medieval times and decorated with stained glass windows. Gold was used to create certain tints in the glass and these particles can still be activated by sunlight. (Queensland University of Technology; https://www.qut.edu.au/research/research-projects/photocatalytic-air-purification)

Damascus steel blades (1 of 6)

• A Damascus saber (photo by Tina Fineberg for The New York Times).


• New studies of Damascus swords are revealing that the legendary blades contain nanowires, carbon nanotubes, and other extremely small, intricate structures that might explain their unique features.

• Damascus swords, first made in the eighth century A.D., are renowned for their complex surface patterns and sharpness. According to legend, the blades can cut a piece of silk in half as it falls to the ground and maintain their edge after cleaving through stone, metal, or even other swords.

• http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2006/11/061116-nanotech-swords.html


• … The secret for making the blades died (history does not record how) about 1700 CE and there hasn’t been a new blade since.

• The blades were generally made from metal ingots prepared in India using special recipes which probably put just the right amount of carbon and other impurities into the iron. By following these recipes and following specific forging techniques craftsmen ended up making nanotubes … When these blades were nearly finished, blacksmiths would etch them with acid. This brought out the wavy light and dark lines that make Damascus swords easy to recognize

• (http://www.frogheart.ca/?p=13885)


• High-resolution transmission electron microscopy image of carbon nanotubes in a genuine Damascus sabre after dissolution in hydrochloric acid, showing remnants of cementite nanowires encapsulated by carbon nanotubes (scale bar, 5 nm) (M. Reibold, P. Paufler, A. A. Levin, W. Kochmann, N. Pätzke & D. C. Meyer, Nature 444, 286, 2006).


• Although people were capable of making Damascus steel swords containing ultrahigh carbon contents (1 wt.%) a long time ago, it is surprising that almost all modern steels in use contain C contents below 1 wt.%. However, with future developments of knowledge and technology, it is expected that ultrahigh carbon steels. e.g., Wootz steels, will once again find important applications, because the best of the new is often the long-forgotten past.


• Note from the authors: It would be much appreciated if anyone would like to donate a piece of genuine Damascus blade for our research.

• Corresponding Author：• LUO Haiwen

Email: [email protected]• (http://www.frogheart.ca/?p=12746)

mailto:[email protected]

Golden Japanese nano screens

• Ancient Japanese gold leaf artists were truly masters of their craft. An analysis of six ancient Namban paper screens show that these artifacts are gilded with gold leaf that was hand-beaten to the nanometer scale. Study leader Sofia Pessanha of the Atomic Physics Center of the University of Lisbon in Portugal believes that the X-ray fluorescence technique her team used in the analysis could also be used to date other artworks without causing any damage to them. (http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/07/140702110916.htm)

300,000 year old Russian nanotechnology (1 of 2)

• An Oopart (out of place artifact) is a term applied to dozens of prehistoric objects found in various places around the world that, given their level of technology, are completely at odds with their determined age based on physical, chemical, and/or geological evidence.

300,000 year old Russian nanotechnology (2 of 2)

• In 1991, the appearance of extremely tiny, coil-shaped artifacts found near the banks of Russia’s Kozhim, Narada, and Balbanyu rivers brought about a debate that has continued to this day. These mysterious and minuscule structures suggest that there may have been a culture capable of developing nanotechnology 300,000 years ago.

• http://humansarefree.com/2014/09/the-300000-year-old-nanotechnology.html

Yoga as the first nanotechnology• http://www.nanowerk.com/news/newsid=2674.php (2007 news

item)• … a talk at Assocham's B2B in Biotechnology & Nanotechnology

summit in India this week.• In a talk titled "Bridging the gap: Nanohealth" Baba Ramdev,

who calls himself His Holiness Swami Ramdevji Maharaj, allegedly said that "using yoga to treat a disease is just another example of using nanotechnology in medicine".

• Stretching even further, he said: "Just as nanotechnology has the potential to send nanoparticles within the body system to seek out and treat afflicted parts, pranayam in yoga sends oxygen to the remotest parts inside the body which need oxygen for cure."

http://www.nanowerk.com/news/newsid=2674.php

Decrypting a nano story in the Vancouver Sun (1 of 11)

• Vancouver start-up's wearable particle monitor aims to save lives; Nanozen’s device is half the size of a smartphone (Friday, Oct. 24, 2014)

• Gillian Shaw (digital life)• http://www.vancouversun.com/technology/

personal-tech/Vancouver+company+wearable+particle+monitor/10319183/story.html


• Nanozen founder Winnie Chu was working as a professor in environmental health at the University of B.C., teaching students about environmental monitoring, when she realized particle monitoring methods were falling far short of the need.

• “The current technology is not sufficient to protect workers or the community when concentrations exceed the acceptable level,” she said.

• That realization led Chu to launch a research project in 2004 seeking a better way to monitor nanoparticles in the air. Two years ago she gave up teaching to focus full time on the wearable particle monitor. [emphasis mine]


• Chu said more than 90 per cent of the firefighters who responded to the 9/11 disaster developed lung disease, having walked into a site full of small and very damaging particles in the air.

• “Those nanoparticles go deep into your lungs and cause inflammation and other problems,” Chu said.


• Most of the research I can find focuses on micrsoscale particles such as the work from the University of California at Davis's Delta Group (Detection and Evaluation of the Long-Range Transport of Aerosols). From the Group's World Trade Center webpage,

• The fuming World Trade Center debris pile was a chemical factory that exhaled pollutants in particularly dangerous forms that could penetrate deep into the lungs of workers at Ground Zero, says a new study by UC Davis air-quality experts. [study's lead author, Thomas Cahill, a UC Davis professor emeritus of physics and atmospheric science and research professor in engineering]


• Delta Group made a presentation to an American Chemical Society meeting in 2003 where all of the material discussed (aerosol particles) was measured at the microscale

• No nanoscale material mentioned• Presentation download (WTC aersols

ACS 2003.ppt; 7,500kb• http://delta.ucdavis.edu/WTC.htm

http://delta.ucdavis.edu/WTC%20aersols%20ACS%202003.ppt




• A 2004 (?) New York Magazine article by Jennifer Senior titled 'Fallout' had this to say about the air content,– Here, today, is what we know about the dust and air at

ground zero: It contained glass shards, pulverized concrete, and many carcinogens, including hundreds of thousands of pounds of asbestos, tens of thousands of pounds of lead, mercury, cadmium, dioxins, PCBs, and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, or PAHs. It also contained benzene. According to a study done by the U.S. Geological Survey, the dust was so caustic in places that its pH exceeded that of ammonia. [emphasis mine; Cahill cited in this article]


• There were nanomaterials present according to a 2009 paper but:– CNT of commercial origin, common now, would

not have been present in substantial numbers in the WTC complex before the disaster in 2001.

• Why mention 9/11 in relationship to Nanozen’s sensor?


• Chu said environmental agencies require testing to distinguish between particles equal to or less than 10 microns and smaller particles 2.5 microns or less.

• “When we inhale we inhale both size particles but they go into different parts of the lung,” said Chu, who said research shows the smaller the particle the higher the toxicity. [emphasis mine] The monitor she has developed can detect particles as small as one micron and even less.


• There is only one nanomaterial (nanoparticle) for which there is unequivocal agreement as to the danger to lung tissue: carbon nanotubes, specifically, long carbon nanotubes

• Precisely the opposite of what Chu seem to be saying: “Chu, who said research shows the smaller the particle the higher the toxicity”


• The product has gone through several iterations as Chu has sought to create a monitor that is small and light enough to be truly wearable.

• “Everything is very small, it’s about half the size of an iPhone,” she said. “Workers can put it on their helmet.”

• An app to have the data shown on a cellphone is under development; so far, the real-time data is contained on the device itself.


• Problems with article• Nanozen posting (http://www.frogheart.ca/)• Nanosafety review (

http://www.frogheart.ca/?p=15029) review published Oct. 10, 2014; n/r Oct. 29, 2014

http://www.frogheart.ca/


Don Eigler

• Nano, the Greeks, and moving atoms• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rd2dri9p_

EI• NOTE: CMOS: Complementary metal-oxide

semiconductor– a technology for making low power integrated

circuits.– a chip built using CMOS technology.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rd2dri9p_EI

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rd2dri9p_EI

Nanotechnology: the next big idea Week 2: History Maryse de la Giroday 6-week course SFU Liberal...

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