Economic Impact of Nanoparticles
"Nanotechnology has given us the tools to play with the ultimate toy box of nature - atoms and molecules. Everything is made from these, and the possibilities to create new things appear limitless."
Introduction
Nanoparticles and nanotechnology in general, are relatively new fields that show potential in many different industries. Companies have started to try to harness this technology to further develop and improve their products. Here are 3 companies which apply nanoparticles in different ways to improve or create their businesses.
-Horst Stormer, Nobel Laureate
Smith and Nephew: ACTICOAT
Smith and Nephew is a company that has been selling medical products to healthcare professionals for more than a century now. It has grown from a small pharmacy in the late 1800s to one of the largest medical product companies in the world. They grossed almost 4.8 billion dollars alone in 2017 selling medical tools to help in a variety of procedures. Recently, this company decided to implement nanotechnology into their products and created an antimicrobial wound dressing called Acticoat. This dressing utilizes silver nanocrystals to kill bacteria and clean the wound more efficiently. Smith and Nephew has conducted in depth research on the efficiency of this wound dressing and found that this dressing can clean the wound in as little as 30 minutes which is 2-5 times faster than other forms of silver.
Another use of silver nanoparticles is in Nanosilver Manufacturing's (NSM) nanotec ceramic dome water filter. This boasts a filter containing nanosilver and a core of alkaline activated carbon block. This means that the nanosilver destroys bacteria present in the water while the carbon block reduces harmful chemicals that may be present like pesticides and chlorine. This is just one application of nanosilver in water treatment industry. Nanosilver is also starting to be used to treat wastewater because of its antimicrobial properties. However, EPA regulations state that water must have a silver concentration of less than 100 ppb because the effects of drinking nanosilver is unknown.
NSM: Nanotec Ceramic Dome Water Filter
Other companies that have been growing and gaining success are companies that manufacture different types of nanoparticles for use in lab experiments and other companies to use. One of the leading companies distributing nanoparticles is NanoComposix. Since its creation 13 years ago, NanoComposix has grown to be able to produce custom nanoparticles varying in size, material, pH, and even chemical properties. Nanomaterials are created either "top-down" or "bottom-up," meaning created by breaking down larger particles or assembling them from atoms, respectively. The most common way to create nanoparticles is bottom-up which involves controlled chemical reactions to limit self assembly processes and control synthesis. Man-made nanoparticles are still nowhere close to the complexity of the naturally forming nanoparticles which shows how much more these techniques can develop.