Nanotechnology + products

Nanotechnology can be applied to so many products in our everyday life. It is already exploding with “nanotechnology enhanced” products. Experts say that consumer products is an area where the impact of the nanotechnology will be recognized by the majority of people.

There's various types of ways that nanotechnology can be applied to the product we own. For sports people, there are tennis balls that last longer, tennis rackets that are much stronger, golf balls that fly straight in to the air, nano ski wax that is easier to apply and more effective than standard wax; and these products are just few of the many that are around us. These products all use nanostructured materials to give them enhanced performance. It is a great way to make money because sports players in general are a big market to target. 

However, there are also studies of risks that nanotechnology in product might give on us. According to the book named Journal of Industrial Ecology Vol. 12 Issue 3, some risk factors are:

1.Environment, health, and safety information on nanomaterials and nanotechnologies is scarce
2.There is no single index to measure the toxicity of nanomaterials.
3.Nanotechnology nomenclature is still in development, with no shared understanding.
4.The ready environmental transport of nanomaterials increases chances of exposure. 
5.Nanomaterials are not easily monitored in real time.
6.Nanomaterials may have system-level human health and environmental risks, where attention to one set or system overlooks the greater impacts. 

But these are still being researched and improved, so we need time to understand the side effects and other possibilities. Still, I think it is a big step for us to even make nanostructured products that I mentioned before.

Other than the sporting world, nanotechnology is also applied to clothing, electronic, and biotech world. The world around us is stacked with applications that nanotechnology makes possible. It will be easy to find the applications all around you. There are also other lists of thing that nanotechnology have influenced:

-Commodities
-Construction
-Energy
-Environment
-Food
-Industrial
-Information and Communications Technology
-Medical
-Precision Engineering
-Textiles and Garments
-Transportation

Final Project Idea: I saw that there was a bulletproof nanotechnology vests and t-shirts, it will be cool to see a bullet made with nanotechnology that will counter the bulletproof vests and t-shirts. A stronger bullet with stronger guns, like a sniper rifle.



Work Cited:

Erhmann, Bob, and Terry Kuzma. "National Nanotechnology Infrastructure Network." Nanotechnology Products. Pennsylvania State University/Center for Nanotechnology Education and Utilization, n.d. Web. 15 Feb. 2016.

Vance, M. E., Kuiken, T., Vejerano, E. P., McGinnis, S. P., Hochella, M. F., Jr., Rejeski, D. and Hull, M. S. (2015) Nanotechnology in the real world: Redeveloping the nanomaterial consumer products inventory. Beilstein Journal of Nanotechnology, 6, 1769-1780.

Wardak, A., Gorman, M. E., Swami, N. and Deshpande, S. (2008), Identification of Risks in the Life Cycle of Nanotechnology-Based Products. Journal of Industrial Ecology, 12: 435–448. doi: 10.1111/j.1530-9290.2008.00029.x