New Technologies and the Environment---June 19, 2003

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New Technologies and the Environment
June 19, 2003
Barbara Karn, PhD ORD, National Center for Enviro
nmental Research Environmental Engineering Resear
ch Division
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 Come forth into the light of things,
Let nature be your teacher
William Wordsworth
Converging Technologies, including nano, can
enable Sustainability
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Nanotechnology Involves
The ultimate goal of nanotechnology is to build
essentially anything from scratch, atom by atom
Size Things on the nanometer scale where one nano
meter (nm) is a billionth (10-9) meter.
(10 Å1nm) The size of Atoms and Molecules
Ultrafine particles are Fly ash 10-20 mm
Structure How things are put together -- arrang
ed or assembled. It is not just about looking at
very small things. It is the ability to work
observe, manipulate, and build at the atomic or
molecular level in ways different from classical
chemical synthesis
Red blood cells with white cell 2-5 mm Or 200
0nm
DNA 2 nm wide
Novel properties Materials and systems are create
d that exhibit novel and significantly changed
physical, chemical, and biological properties
resulting from their size and structure.
1 nm 10-9 m
Atoms of silicon spacing tenths of nm
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Today's manufacturing methods "move atoms in
great thundering herds." (Ralph Merkle, Xerox)
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Top down technology
Making smaller stuff from herds of materials
Dig
Saw
Cast
Mold
Sinter
Plane
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We get the stuff we want by removing matter
Grind
Lithography
Leading to
Material Waste
Economic Waste
Environmental Harm
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Nanotech is bottom up
Making things by placing atoms precisely
where they are supposed to go
Glenn Harlan Reynolds, 2001
This is how nature does it
A. Using natural ingredients,
B. around room temperature, C. small machines
for assembling, D. in non-toxic solvents, E.
with the end of life disposal accounted for
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If nature can do this from the bottom up
Then surely we can do this.
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How Close Are We Today?
Building of hierarchical structures
Percec, Univ. Penn.
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Nano-Info
Computing
On the market soon
Current
- IBM
-Charles Lieber, Harvard University
Nonvolatile random access memory (NRAM) --
nanotube technology --stores up to 10 times as
much data, is faster, and uses less power .
RAM chip wafer uses many toxic compounds and
solvents
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Nano-Bio
Learn from Nature
Molecular motor runs flagella of E.coli
Nanotech Molecular Motor produces a rotational
force that pumps minute volumes of
pharmaceuticals or opens and closes valves in
nanomechanical devices
Environmental potential for photo scavenging,
info molecules, miniaturization, just-in-time
manufacturing, processing in water at room temp
Although we are inspired by living systems, the
actual designs are likely to owe more to
design constraints and our human objectives than
to living systems.
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Cognitive science -- the interdisciplinary
study of the acquisition and use of knowledge,
including artificial intelligence, psychology,
linguistics, philosophy, anthropology,
neuroscience, and education.
Nanochip implants repair brain circuits to
control memory, replacement limbs, restore
paralysis.
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Learning Strategies the Production Life Cycle
Virtual prototyping Molecular modeling Retro syn
thesis
Design for environment
Rapid prototyping Production-based experiments
Rejeski, 2003
A new approach to environmental protection
Proactive technological ethics
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We can see enough about the future to identify
goals worth pursuing
Eric Drexler, 1986, Engines of Creation
Green, environmentally benign technology is one
of those worthy goals.