An Introduction to Nature's Nanotech

Did you know that aspects of nature are built on nanotechnology? Brain Clegg, popular science author has written a series of posts (seven in total) exploring the nanotechnology that exists in nature. The series which is sponsored by P2i begins with an introduction which you can read below.

When we think of nanotechnology, it’s easy to jump to the conclusion that we are dealing with the ultimate in artificial manufacturing, the diametric opposite of something that’s natural. Yet in practice, nature is built on nanotechnology. From the day-to-day workings of the components of every single biological cell to the subtle optics of a peacock feather, what we see is nanotechnology at work.
 Not only are the very building blocks of nature nanoscale, but natural nanotechnology is a magnificent inspiration for ways to make use of the microscopic to change our lives and environment for the better. By studying how very small things work in the natural world we can invent remarkable new products – and this feature is the first in a series that will explore just how much we can learn and gain from nature’s nano tech.

As I described in The Nanotechnology Myth the term ‘nanotechnology’ originates from the prefix nano- which is simply a billionth. Nanotechnology makes use of objects on the scale of a few nanometres, where a nanometre is a millionth of a millimetre. For comparison, a human hair is around 50,000 nanometres across. Nanotechnology encompasses objects that vary in size from a large molecule to a virus. A bacterium, typically around 1,000 nanometres in size, is around the upper limit of nanoscale items.

A first essential is to understand that although nanotechnology, like chemistry, is involved in the interaction of very small components of matter, it is entirely different from a chemical reaction. Chemistry is about the way those components join together and break apart. Nanotechnology is primarily about their physics – how the components interact. If we think of the analogy of making a bicycle, the ‘chemistry’ of the bicycle is how the individual components bolt together, the ‘nanotechnology’ is how, for example, the gear interacts with the chain or pushing the pedals makes the bike go.

This distinction is necessary to get over the concern some people raise about nature and nanotechnology. A while ago, when I wrote my book on environmental truth and lies, Ecologic, I had a strange argument with a representative of the Soil Association, the UK’s primary organic body. In 2008 the Soil Association banned nanoparticles from their products. But it only banned man-made nanoparticles, claiming that natural ones, like soot, are fine ‘because life has evolved with these.’

This is a total misunderstanding of the science. If there are any issues with nanotechnology they are about the physics, not the chemistry of the substance – and there is no sensible physical distinction between a natural nanoparticle and an artificial one. In the case of the Soil Association, the reasoning was revealed when they admitted that they take ‘a principles-based regulatory approach, rather than a case-by-case approach based on scientific information.’ In other words their opposition was a knee-jerk one to words like ‘natural’ and ‘artificial’ rather than based on substance.

Of themselves, like anything else, nanoparticles and nanotechnology in general can be used for bad or for good. Whether natural or artificial they have benefits and disadvantages. A virus, for example, is a purely natural nanotechnology that can be devastatingly destructive to living things. And as we will see, there are plenty of artificial nanotechnologies that bring huge benefits.

In nature, nanotechnology is constructed from large molecules. A molecule is nothing more than a collection of atoms, bonded together to form a structure, which can be as simple as a sodium chloride molecule – one atom each of the elements sodium and chlorine – or as complex as the dual helix of DNA. We don’t always appreciate how significant individual molecules are.

I had a good example of this a few days ago when I helped judge a competition run by the University of the West of England for school teams producing science videos. The topic they were given was the human genome – and the result was a set of very varied videos, some showing a surprising amount of talent. At the awards event I was giving a quick talk to the participants, looking at the essentials of a good science video. I pointed out that they had used a lot of jargon without explaining it – a common enough fault even in mainstream TV science.

Just to highlight this, I picked out a term most of them had used, but none had explained – chromosomes. What, I asked them was a chromosome? They told me what it did, but didn’t know what it was, except that it was a chunk of DNA and each human had 46 of them in most of their cells. This is true, but misses the big point. A chromosome is simply a single molecule of DNA. Nothing more, nothing less. One molecule.

Admittedly a chromosome is a very large molecule. Human chromosome 1 is the biggest molecule we know of, with around 10 billion atoms. Makes salt look a bit feeble. But it is still a molecule. The basic components of the biological mechanisms of everything living, up to an including human beings are molecules. Chromosomes provide one example, effectively information storage molecules with genes as chunks of information strung along a strip of DNA. Then there are proteins, the workhorses of the body. There are neurotransmitters and enzymes, and a whole host of molecules that are the equivalent of gears to the body’s magnificent clockwork. These are the building blocks of natural nanotechnology.

So with a picture of what we’re dealing with we can set out to see nature’s nanotech in action and the first example, in the next feature in this series, will show how nanotechnology on the surface of a leaf has inspired both self-cleaning glass and water resistant trainers.

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You can also read this article on the Popular Science website.

OutDoor 2012 & ion-mask™ wins Industry Award

Last week we attended the 2012 OutDoor show in Friedrichshafen, Germany which if you are not familar, is one of the leading outdoor tradeshows in the world. We first attended the show in 2011 highlighting the benefits of our ion-mask technology and you see how we got on then, here.

The event in 2012, however was made special for us as it was announced on the opening day of the show that Trekmates and P2i had won the OutDoor Industry Award 2012 for the PrimaLoft© Mountain Lite Mitt glove featuring ion-mask™:



The DRY + ion-mask Mountain Lite Mitt

The Mountain Mitt won the Accessories category award for its innovation, durability and environmental benefits. You can read more on the Mitt and award here.

Over the course of the show we also took a range on phones, some of which are highlighted at the end of this post or alternatively you can look at our OutDoor album on Facebook. Finally we have also posted a short video showcasing our booth and award which you can watch below:

All in all a very successful show for us!

If you have any questions about our ion-mask technology do let us know...

P2i Visit the British Cycling Velodrome

You may have seen the recent announcement that we have teamed up with UK Sport to coat cycling and sailing equipment with our water repellent nano-coating technology. If not you can read more here.

As you can imagine, we are very excited about this partnership and were delighted that a few P2i staff were given the opportunity to visit the British Cycling Velodrome in Manchester! It was a great honour to experience first-hand what it's like to cycle around a track that athletes have trained and faught valiantly to win events on.

The day which lasted around three hours, began with a tour of the track, lessons on how to use single gear bikes (which also had no brakes) and a few practice runs around the track, culminating in a "competitive" time trial race.

The day was a great experience and really well organized by UK Sport and British Cycling. And although initially nervous, it turns out overtaking and experiencing up to 42 degree angles at top speeds are great fun and the stand out highlight for the team. We definitely have a new found appreciation for the skill, strength and stamina it takes to become a professional in this sport.

Again we are grateful to UK Sport and British Cycling and you can see some of the images from our time at the Velodrome below:

Excited to get started

Final instructions before the first run

Getting to grips with the bike

A bit more confident now

Coming in at the end of the session

The Repellent Files Continued...

Since we first highlighted The Repellent Files back in May we have being busy investigating whether our liquid repellent nano-coating can successfully stop water absorbant products from, well, abosrbing water.

Our first investigation on Teabags was a great success and from there our research went further still, and we started to test our coating on items that dissolve the moment water or any other liquid comes into contact with them, such as coffee and Berocca (Alka Selzter).

We have now posted five different Repellent Files which you can watch on P2i.TV or alternatively we have highlighted each video below:

Case #1: Teabags

Case #2: Berocca

Case #3: The Biscuit Dunk

Case #4: Anyone for Coffee?

Case #5: Sugar Cubes

As you can see our nano-coating technology has proved successful in turning items that we know should absorb and dissolve when in contact with water into products that are now water repellent. If you have any thoughs on items you would like to see featured in this series do let us know either in the comments box below or on our Twitter and Facebook pages, where you can also be kept up to date when the next file is out.



Most Innovative Company of the Year 2012

Have you heard the news! We have been crowned the Most Innovative Company of the Year 2012 by Best in Biz awards EMEA.

We are delighted to have won this award which was judged by distinguished business journalists and industry analysts from around the world.

What made P2i stand out?

Good question. We were awarded 'Gold' by Best of Biz for the developments we have made from low volume processing into a high volume solution that now sees our nano-coating technology applied to millions of smartphones, tablets and hearing aids across the globe.

It was made even more special to win this award as it echoes our achievements of 2011 where we were named Most Innovative Company in Europe by the International Business Awards, received the Fast Growth Business award for Best Use of Technology and were awarded the Borderless Business (Business Hero) award by Management Today. You can read more about these awards from the links below:

• Most Innovative Company in Europe
• Best use of Technology
• Borderless Business

You can find out more about our nano-coating technology for electronics, Aridion, here.

A Brief History of Nanotechnology: Part 5 - A Glimpse at the Future

Over the last few weeks, we've touched on the history of nanotechnology, tracing its roots as far back as the ancient world, examining its emergence as a field of study in the second half of the 20th century and outlining a number of more recent advances. In this, the final instalment of the series, we look at how nanotechnology might develop even further in the not too distant future.

In 2006 a Scientific American article estimated that between 1997 and 2005, "investment in nanotech research and development by governments around the world soared from $432 million to about $4.1 billion and that by 2015, products incorporating nanotech will contribute approximately $1 trillion to the global economy". This increase of investment in and around nanotechnology could have far-reaching effects, impacting everything from how we manufacture products to how we fight diseases, such as cancer. 

One speculative area of nanotechnology that could be very exciting for instance, is molecular manufacturing, which when put simplistically is "the ability to bring materials to life from the simple molecular reconstruction of everyday beings" an idea that Richard Feynman first described in 1959.  And in 1999, claims went even further, stating that molecular nanotechnology "will let us make remarkably powerful molecular computers. It will let us make materials over fifty times lighter than steel or aluminium alloy but with the same strength. We'll be able to make jets, rockets, cars or even chairs that, by today's standards, would be remarkably light, strong, and inexpensive. Nanotechnology will replace our entire manufacturing base with a new, radically more precise, less expensive and more flexible way of making products."

There are also many potential uses for nanotechnology in medicine as well. A preliminary study has indicated that nanoparticles could be used to target and treat cancer in the future by homing in on certain proteins and delivering medication. Meanwhile, researchers have developed artificial muscles that could help propel nanobots through a person's body in order to diagnose and treat medical conditions. These "doctor bots" as they have been dubbed might sound like the stuff of a mad scientist's dreams, but they're a real possibility.

Of course, these statements about the future of nanotechnology as a field are just speculative at the moment and difficult to predict, as are the scientific and societal implications of such developments. But one thing is clear, at least: nanotechnology is a very powerful science, with huge capacity to influence or change many different aspects of our lives.

And with that, our brief look at the history and developments of nanotechnology has come to an end. If you have any questions regarding nanotechnology and nano-coatings in general or are interested to know more about our own technology, just ask. You can find out more about how our nanotechnology is applied to different markets here: http://www.p2i.com/applications

A Brief History of Nanotechnology: Part 4 - The Early 2000s to the Present Day

Our last post explored the emergence of the field of nanotechnology as we know it in the 1980s and 1990s, including seminal developments by scientists such as Eric Drexler, Richard Smalley, and others.

Now we turn our attention towards the early 2000s, which proved to be an exciting time for nanotechnology. The field could now be explored and debated in greater depth. Drexler and Smalley, for instance, famously engaged in a public discussion about approaches to nanotechnology, with Drexler defending his idea of "universal assemblers" and Smalley offering objections.

Meanwhile, concerns about the broader implications of nanotechnology - a potentially very powerful but still relatively new field - were being raised and addressed with consideration given to both the potential benefits as well as risks involved. In 2003 congressional hearings on the societal implications of nanotechnology were raised and in 2004 the Royal Society and Royal Academy of Engineering published a report on the implications of nanotechnology and nanoscience, which you can read here.

Nanotechnology also began to appear more in more commercial settings during the 2000s, including the emergance of our technology and the launch of ion-mask™ on Hi-Tec shoes:

In the early part of the decade, titanium dioxide and zinc oxide nanoparticles were included in sunscreen and cosmetics, and carbon nanotubes were used to make textiles stain-resistant. By 2011 the Project on Emerging Nanotechnologies estimated that there were over 1300 nanotech products publicly available.

In our next and final post of the series, we'll take a closer look at what the future might hold for nanotechnology. If would like to read some of our early posts in this series you can through the links below:

• Part 3: The 80s & 90s
• Part 2: Early Developments
• Part 1: Roots

You can also find out more about our ion-mask™ technology here and as always if you have any questions we would love to hear them.