Nanotechnology

Nanotechnology is science, engineering and technology conducted at the Nano scale, which is about 1 to 100 nanometers.

Nano science and nanotechnology are the study and application of extremely small things and can be used across all of the other fields of science, such as chemistry, biology, physics, science of matter, and engineering.

Nano Sphere

How it all started

The ideas and concepts of  Nano science and nanotechnology started with a lecture entitled “There’s Plenty of Room at the Bottom” by a physicist Richard Feynman at an American Physical Society meeting at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) on December 29, 1959, long before the term nanotechnology was used. In his lecture, Feynman described a process in which scientists would be able to manipulate and control individual atoms and molecules. Over a decade later, in his explorations of ultra-precision machining, Professor Norio Taniguchi coined the term nanotechnology. It wasn’t until 1981 that modern nanotechnology began; with the development of the scanning tunneling microscope that could “see” individual atoms.

It’s hard to imagine just how small nanotechnology is. One nanometer is a billionth of a meter, or 10-9 of a meter. Here are some illustrative examples:

  • There are 25,400,000 nanometers in an inch
  • A sheet of newspaper is about 100,000 nanometers thick
  • On a comparative scale, if a marble was a nanometer, then one meter would be the size of the Earth

Nano science and nanotechnology involves the ability to see and to control individual atoms and molecules. Everything on Earth is made up of atoms—the food we eat, the clothes we wear, the buildings and houses we live in, and our own bodies.

But something as small as an atom is impossible to see with human eye. In fact, it’s impossible to see with the microscopes typically used in a high school science class. The microscopes used to see things at the Nano scale were invented relatively recently—about 30 years ago.

Once scientists had the right tools, such as the scanning tunneling microscope (STM) and the atomic force microscope (AFM), the age of nanotechnology began.

Although modern Nano science and nanotechnology are quite new, Nano scale materials were used for centuries. Alternate-sized gold and silver particles created colors in the stained glass windows of medieval churches, hundreds of years ago. The artists back then just didn’t know that the process they used to create their art work actually led to changes in the composition of the materials they worked with.

Today’s scientists and engineers have come up with  a wide variety of ways to deliberately make materials at the Nano scale to take advantage of their enhanced properties such as higher strength, lighter weight, increased control of light spectrum, and greater chemical reactivity than their larger-scale counterparts.

Medieval Stained Glass

Medieval stained glass
windows are an example
of  how nanotechnology
was used in the
pre-modern era.

Size of Nanoscale

Just how small is “nano?” In the International System of Units, the prefix “nano” means one-billionth, or 10-9.Therefore one nanometer is one-billionth of a meter. It’s difficult to imagine just how small that is, so here are some examples:

  • A sheet of paper is about 100,000 nanometers thick
  • A strand of human DNA  is 2.5 nanometers in diameter
  • There are 25,400,000 nanometers in one inch
  • A human hair is approximately 80,000- 100,000 nanometers wide
  • A single gold atom is about a third of a nanometer in diameter
  • On a comparative scale, if the diameter of a marble was one nanometer, then diameter of the Earth would be about one meter
  • One nanometer is about as long as your fingernail grows in one second

The illustration to the right has visual example of the size and the scale of nanotechnology, showing just how small things at the nanoscale actually are.

Nanotechnology in Cosmetics

Introduction

Nanoparticles and other nanostructured materials have unique properties which cannot be obtained when working with a bigger form of the same material. The application of those special properties has been suggested in many industries; however the cosmetic industry is one of them- eager to make the most of the opportunities presented by nanotechnology.

Nano materials have been used to try and improve the performance of a wide range of products, starting off with moisturizers and anti-ageing creams ending on hair care. TianDe uses Nano-technology mostly when delivering active components to our skin.

Benefits of Nanomaterials in Cosmetics

The two main uses for nanoparticles in cosmetic products are UV filtering and delivery of active ingredients.

Titanium dioxide and zinc oxide are both used extensively in sunscreens to prevent UV damage to the skin – the Nano formulations of these materials have been proved to give much better performance than larger particles, reflecting visible light and absorbing UV with very a high efficiency.

A wide range of nanostructures has been proposed as delivery mechanisms for cosmetic ingredients in moisturizers, anti-ageing creams, and other skincare products – from lipid nanoparticles to dendritic or hyper branched polymers. Again, these nanostructured materials show much more efficiency in delivery of the active ingredient to the skin cells.

Lipid nanoparticles are especially effective, as they can merge with the lipid bilayer in cell membranes, making it easy for the compounds which would otherwise not be able to enter the cell to do so.

Lipid nanostructures and dendritic biopolymers provide the additional benefit of being totally non-toxic and biocompatible. This contrasts with the metal and metal oxide nanoparticles, as there are still doubts about their safety for dermal use.

Nano Advantages:

  • The main difference between cosmetic products using Nano-technology and traditional cosmetics is that traditional ones don’t penetrate the skin deep enough; they are just creating a barrier on the skin surface, hydrating it. Therefore, they don’t slow down the aging, and only create a mask while the product is being used, not afterwards.
  • Nano products successfully replace surgery and don’t damage the skin. They prevent or slow down premature skin aging with a deep action at the cellular level.
  • They stimulate the body’s natural processes to maintain the skin tone. They penetrate the epidermal barrier in the deeper layers of the skin, moisturize the skin, stimulate cell renewal and act upon the metabolism of skin cells.
  • Products containing Nano particles: micronutrients, vitamins, collagen, hyaluronic acid – are all natural ingredients that preserve the skin’s youthful appearance. These ingredients are delivered to the skin by the use of Nano-particles, as they are one million times smaller than sand particles; they are able to penetrate the skin deeply.

The Nano-particles acting like a sponge, they have active substances and vitamins that are absorbed only to those cells that need those substances.

The Nano particles:

  1. Penetrate deeply and quickly into the skin where they are needed.
  2. Protect and stimulate the skin’s natural functions.
  3. Substances are completely taken in by the skin without losing useful properties.

The next step in the discovery of  Nano-particles has been creating a so called Nano complex; combining active substances, which stimulate one another and can be pre-programmed to a specific/or solve a specific problem.

These complexes provide optimal living conditions in various areas of the skin cells. They deliver special moisturizing ingredients and restorative compounds in the deepest layers of the skin.

Share this page:

Facebooktwitterredditpinterestlinkedintumblrmail