Aircraft that can change their shape, space elevators made from carbon nanotubes or miniaturised submarines that can seek out and destroy cancer cells within the human body. The visions associated with nanotechnology are as breathtaking as they are utopian. It’s no coincidence that science fiction literature has taken an interest in this new realm of technology. Researchers at EADS Innovation Works are also involved in applications that point to what the future holds in store, but their work in nanotechnology is already much more than pure fantasy.
The nano revolution is already taking shape in the EADS Innovation Works laboratories of Ottobrunn and Suresnes. Here, EADS researchers are working on a wide range of projects and studies related to nanotechnology. One of these deals with the manufacture offibre-reinforced polymer components. Adding nanoparticles to synthetic resin can improve the material's strength to a previously unimagined extent. “The initial results we achieved together with the University of Lyon using the clay-like mineral montmorillonite were very promising,” reports researcher Stephane Bechtel. Introducing a mere 5% of nanoparticle additives, instead of the usual 50 to 100 parts, also brings about a huge reduction in fire risk. The thermoplastics commonly used in many homes - which burn like fuel if not modified - become fire retardant and do not generate toxic gases if a fire does break out. It would even be possible to meet the stringent specifications demanded of materials used in aircraft interiors more cheaply and effectively than with the costly special polymers currently used for the purpose.
Improvements in fibre properties - primarily strength and conductivity - could take a quantum leap through the use of so-called carbon nanotubes. Butthere are two major hurdles to be overcome: a 10,000-fold increase in price compared to standard fibres, andfinding a way to realise production on an industrial scale.
EADS researchers are also working on nanostructured metals, particularly aluminium and titanium alloys, since these offer both improved mechanical properties and high resistance to corrosion. “Traditional metallurgy seeks to find the best compromise, although a gain in one particular direction ultimately leads to a loss in the others. Alloys that have been reinforced with nanoparticles, do make it possible, however, to achieve improvements in all directions,” says Ottobrunn researcher Achim Schoberth. “We're currently researching this new generation of materials in Suresnes, under contract to the European Space Agency, among others,” adds his colleague Sophie Gourdet.
Employing a combination of different sensors to detect smouldering gases, before a fire actually breaks out, represents a significant improvement. The sensors consist of metal oxides having a nano-granular structure. Their large surface area allows them to function as finely calibrated gas sensors. In the field of nanoelectronics, as for other nano-related activities, researchers are continuously keeping an eye on the latest technologies as they apply to the aerospace industry.
EADS has an interest in non-volatile magnetic data storage media, for example, since this type of memory offers the benefits of low power consumption and radiation hardness in addition to higher storage speeds and density.
“While we are still working to expand our knowledge base in certain areas of nanotechnology, progress in some fields, within national and EU-funded projects, has already advanced to a point at which implementation would be feasible,” says Matthias Geistbeck, in charge of research in “Nanotechnologies for Aerospace Applications” at EADS Innovation Works. Several EADS business units have also expressed early interest in targeted product applications based on this key 21st century technology.
Nanotechnology derives its name from the Greek word for dwarf - Nanos. Working with nanostructures - structures with dimensions from 1 to 100 nanometres - means exploring the universe of atoms and molecules, a world invisible to the naked eye. One nanometre is about the length of ten hydrogen atoms, lined up together, or approximately 50,000 times smaller than the diameter of a single human hair. Or to illustrate the point more clearly: The size of a nanoparticle in relation to that of a football is roughly equivalent to that of a football relative to the size of the Earth.
Since material properties are highly dependent on particle size, nanoparticles exhibit physical and chemical characteristics that are clearly different from those of solid matter that are visible to the naked eye. Nanotechnology is therefore not just another step towards miniaturization. Experts believe that opening up this invisible universe will have a greater impact on our daily life than the changes precipitated through computer and information technologies over the past two decades.
In fact, taking advantage of material properties that rely on nano-structures is nothing new. The Romans and the Chinese discovered long-ago how to use metal nanoparticles in glass and ceramics to create colourful effects. Other more recent examples are so-called carbon black - an ultrafine powder used as a filler in the manufacture of rubber tyres since the 1920's - and the titanium dioxide nanoparticles mixed into sun lotions to absorb harmful UV light.
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What sounds more like an invention of Jules Verne, the father of modern science fiction, could soon become reality through nanotechnology, at least to the minds of some scientists. Someday, they hope, we will be able to produce any object we choose by piecing it together, atom by atom. This would bring about a revolution in new materials and machines. Robert Freitas, an American biochemist, dreams about nanomedicine, aworld in which miniature robots voyage through the human body seeking out and destroying pathogens or cancer cells and even repairing chromosomes.
These are visions not (yet) anchored in reality. The scanning tunnelling electron microscope has only just begun to make it possible today to move individual atoms and molecules.
And the tiniest robot components are currently several microns in size. Tinyyes, but still about a thousand times too big for nanotechnology applications. Housewives will unfortunately have to wait a while longer for the brave new nanoworld to arrive.
Introducing a mere 5% of nanoparticle additives, instead of the usual 50 to 100 parts, also brings about a huge reduction in fire risk. The thermoplastics commonly used in many homes – which burn like fuel if not modified – become fire retardant and do not generate toxic gases if a fire does break out.
