Amazing nanoproducts

Parts fritted from nanometric ceramic powders - © CEA

The practical applications of nanotechnologies potentially touch on every field: health, energy, transport, communication, environment, defence, etc. There are plans to construct nanomaterials with a minimum amount of raw materials, manufacture pinhead-size memories able to hold the contents of all the world's libraries, carry drugs in nanocapsules that will release them directly into diseased cells, and detect and neutralise micro-organisms and pesticides in soil and water. The revolution is already underway. More than 300 "nano" products are already on the market: dirt-proof textiles covered with a film of silver nanoparticles, self-cleaning glass coated with thin layers of titanium oxide, and toothpaste containing calcium-phosphate nanoparticles to fill minute cracks in teeth.