Ever heard the quote “There is plenty of room at the bottom”? These were the words of American Physicist Richard Feynman who introduced the concept of nanotechnology in 1959. Nanotechnology, as the name implies, involves the study and application of extremely small dimensions (1 to 100nm) to produce better and stronger materials with improved characteristics than bulk materials. A nanometre (nm) is one billionth of a meter. The diameter of a strand of human hair is, on average, 80,000 nanometres. Imagine working on materials that are 800 to 80000 times smaller than a human hair. Nanotechnology is extensive and interdisciplinary in its approach. It utilizes a powerful combination of skills in the fields including chemistry, biology, physics, material science, medicine, and engineering.
This rapidly evolving technology has gone on to cause great improvements in the way we produce energy, perform medicine, make materials, compute, just to name a few. Historically, the age-long use of nanotechnology can however be traced to Ancient Romans, who used gold and silver nanoparticles to create Lycurgus cups and stained-glass windows of medieval churches. Unknown to these ancient Romans, they were producing materials that will in the future transform the world.
One great example of the application of nanotechnology many of us use daily without even realizing is our phones. Thanks to nanotechnology, these powerful gadgets have gotten slimmer and slimmer year after year with better computing power. The new iPhone 13 uses chips that are 5nm in size. Did you also know that the successes achieved with covid-19 vaccines can be attributed to nanotechnology? Lipid nanoparticles are a vital component of the covid-19 vaccines. These nanoparticles play a key role in protecting and transporting the mRNA effectively to the right place in cells and thus justify the therapeutic abilities of this buzzing technology.
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An application of nanotechnology that many Nigerians can easily relate to is energy and power. Energy insecurity remains a significant anti-development factor in Nigeria, following estimates from the World Bank that electricity access (as a percentage of the total population) still hovers around 55.4%. Households and industries alike have for several years generated their own power and there is almost no Nigerian who has not seen or used a solar panel. Improvement of energy efficiency and energy cost will go a long way in making Nigeria technologically advanced. Nanotechnology has been successfully used in developing nanotech solar cells which can be produced at significantly lower cost than conventional solar cells coupled with improved efficiency. Furthermore, energy storage batteries have also been significantly improved through nanotechnology and these batteries have shown a potential to charge significantly faster than conventional batteries while also providing durability and compactness.
This rapidly evolving technology has gone on to cause great improvements in the way we produce energy, perform medicine, make materials, compute, just to name a few.
Nigeria Security Tracker (NST) estimates that between January 1 and June 30 of this year, about 2,944 Nigerians have been reported kidnapped. This number is already more than the entire figure reported for 2020 (2,860), adding to an estimated $18.34 million in ransom payments. This worrying statistic does not show any signs of slowing down, hence the need for holistic approaches to nipping this anomaly in the bud. Nanotechnology can offer excellent services in the use of biometrics in these premeditated kidnappings, through the thorough analysis of samples from crime scenes. Through this approach, culprits can be tracked down using the faintest but highly reliable forensics.
The United States of America, China, Japan, and the European Union are in the driving seat of this new technology. The African continent remains missing in the several thousand patents and articles published yearly on nanotechnology. Nigeria, an African powerhouse, and a nation endowed with abundant natural and human resources must therefore join in the nanotechnology boom. With the United Nations projection that Nigeria’s population will surpass that of the United States by 2050 and would become the third-largest country with more than 401 million citizens, we foresee tremendous pressure on food, material, and energy resources if strategic and methodical technologies are not enforced towards the sustainable optimization of these resources. The incorporation of nanotechnology in Nigeria however holds great potential to mitigate several future challenges.
This leads us to the question: what can nanotechnology offer Nigeria? In the following articles, we will provide detailed and sector-specific ways in which nanotechnology can aid Nigeria in its quest for global and national excellence.
Sadiku and Soneye are PhD. Candidates of Nanoengineering at the Joint School of Nanoscience and Nanoengineering, Greensboro, North Carolina, USA and can be reached at [email protected] and [email protected]
