Nanotechnology + Sound

Nanotechnology can be found in many different ways, but I'd never thought it could make the smallest music instrument in the world. The world's smallest music instrument is a miniature guitar made out of crystalline silicon and 10 microns long with six strings that are each about 100 atoms wide. 

The first nano guitar was created in 1997 at Cornell University, and in 2003 the second model actually "played". It made a A 40 megahertz signal that is reportedly one of the highest-pitched tones recorded. Since the nano guitar is outside the range of even the most sensitive microphone, the sound is measured by a computer calculating the reflections of the laser light. The discoveries that came directly out of the nano guitar was that using electric-driven nanostructures to individually modulate the intensity of tiny laser beams could be useful in fibre optic communications.

A number of approaches for self-powering systems exists by scavenging energy from environments using photovoltaic, thermoelectric, and piezoelectric phenomena have been intensively explored. There is a new work by a nanotechnology research team in Korea ( Samsung Advanced Institute of Technology (SAIT)) has now demonstrated that it is possible to use sound as a power source to drive nanogenerators based on piezoelectric nanowires.

Schematic diagram showing the three-way coupling amongpiezoelectricity, photoexcitation and semiconductor.

Image from: Wikepedia.org

Below, there is a link where it explains the work of piezoelectric nanowire:

http://www.nature.com/ncomms/journal/v1/n7/full/ncomms1098.html

     

Schematic of a sound-driven piezoelectric nanogenerator based on zinc oxide nanowires and its power-generating performance. The flexible PdAu-coated PES substrate acting as both a top electrode and a vibration plate was installed above the ZnO nanowire arrays (Image: Dr. Jong Min Kim, SAIT).

Another way to use nanotechnology to sound is, soundproofing abilities with polypropylene/exfoliated graphite nanoplatelet/carbon nanotube composite. Exfoliated graphite nanoplatelets, which are short stacks of 2D graphene sheets, have attracted a great amount of attention and have shown competetive functional properties comparable to those of materials based on CNTs ( carbon nanotubes), making exfoliated graphite nanoplatelets a potential alternative to CNTs and nanoclays for use in composite materials. There is a video on how the soundproofing is done with nanotechnology!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZhUENOQLHsA

It is interesting to see how nanotechnology can be applied to almost anything, even sound system and using that sound to generate power.

Work Cited:

Berger, Michael. "Nanotechnology Energy Generation Using Sound."Nanotechnology Energy Generation Using Sound. NanoWerk, 23 Sept. 2013. Web. 21 Mar. 2016.

Kim, Myung Sub, Jun Yan, Kyung-Min Kang, Kyung Hoon Joo, Yeon-June Kang, and Sung-Hoon Ahn. "Soundproofing Ability and Mechanical Properties of Polypropylene/exfol." Iated Graphite Nanoplatelet/carbon Nanotube (PP/xGnP/CNT) Composite. International Journal of Precision Engineering and Manufacturing, 19 June 2013. Web. 21 Mar. 2016.

McNamee, David. "Hey, What's That Sound: Nano Guitar." The Guardian. Guardian News and Media, 13 Apr. 2011. Web. 06 Mar. 2016.

Xu, Sheng, Benjamin J. Hansen, and Zhong Lin Wang. "Piezoelectric-nanowire-enabled Power Source for Driving Wireless Microelectronics."NATURE COMMUNICATIONS. N.p., 20 Oct. 2010. Web. 23 Sept. 2010.