The ubiquitous uses of Spray-on Liquid Glass

is a revolutionary new Nanoscale invention that is non-toxic, transparent  and can protect almost any surface against any damage from hazards such as water, UV radiation, dirt, heat and or microscopical bacteria.  The material is also breathable, flexible and environmentally friendly, which makes it suitable for an enormous array of everyday products.

"The liquid glass spray (technically termed “SiO2 ultra-thin layering”) consists of almost pure silicon dioxide (silica, the normal compound in glass) extracted from quartz sand.  Water or ethanol is added, depending on the type of surface to be coated. There are no additives, and the nano-scale glass coating bonds to the surface because of the quantum forces involved. According to the manufacturers, liquid glass has a long-lasting antibacterial effect because microbes landing on the surface cannot divide or replicate easily." physorg

Sprayed onto almost any surface, an invisible film 100 nanometers thick some 500 times thinner than a human hair, forms a completely impermeable layer. Central to the product's ubiquity is that it's available in a solution of either alcohol or water dependent on which surface needs to be protected. Spray-on-glass looks as though it will make most cleaning products obsolete, since it can be used on almost any surface in the home, and one spray is said to last a year.



"Several organizations are said to be testing the product, including a train company in Britain, which is using liquid glass on both the interior and exterior of the train, a luxury hotel chain, a designer clothing company and a German branch of a hamburger chain. " Telegraph

According to Nanopool, sometime in the near future, almost every product you purchase will be protected with a highly durable easy-to-clean coating.

"Liquid glass spray is perhaps the most important nanotechnology product to emerge to date. It will be available in DIY stores in Britain soon, with prices starting at around £5 ($8 US)." physorg

The Science of Nanotechnology

is the study of controlling of matter on an atomic and molecular scale. Generally nanotechnology deals with structures sized between 1 to 100 nanometer in at least one dimension. The science of nanotechnology involves developing  materials and manipulatively engineering materials at the nanoscale for devices within that size.

Nanotechnology may be able to create many new materials and devices with a vast range of applications, such as in medicine, electronics, bio-materials and energy production.

In the documentary video below, Stephen Fry narrates the strange new world of Nanoscience.



Read more about Nanoscience and Nanotechnology here and or here;

Seaswarm: Solar powered Oil Skimmer Swarm Robot prototype

is a very smooth autonomous floating robotic system that can re-mediate oil soaked waterways of any scale. Conceived and designed to be used in the gulf was built by a significantly large team of collaborating MIT scientists.

"A Seaswarm has been described as a “rolling carpet” that moves along the surface of the water. It uses a special nanowire mesh developed by Visiting Associate Professor Francesco Stellacci.  The mesh is able to absorb 20 times its weight in oil.  The nanowire is attached to the robotic skimmer like a conveyor belt.  The mesh absorbs oil from the water which is then heated up and burnt locally." Green.Blorge

Perhaps not the only critical thing about this little beauty is that it looks as if I wouldn't cope very well in anything more than undulating wave conditions. Nevertheless, this cool little robotic vacuum cleaner has escaped the lab and got itself into the latest Venice Biennale, where visitors can view it in the Architecture section of the Italian Pavilion, until November 21, 2010.

Here now is a charming little video animation to the exhibit detailing how the vehicle was constructed and how it operates.

Paper Nanotube Battery

Research Professor Yi Cui, (Materials and Science Engineering, Stanford University) here demonstrates a new paper battery that may change the energy storage landscape.

Dip an ordinary piece of paper into ink infused with carbon nanotubes and silver nanowires, and it turns into a battery or supercapacitor. Crumple the piece of paper, and it still works.

We need to bear in mind that this cutting edge development is merely a taste of what may one day be possible! Thus we are left to ponder the issues, such as what the lifespan of the battery is... how soon does the power degrade and are they rechargeable?

Although its conceivably easier to recycle than Lithium or Lead acid, can the nano material be recovered and recycled, if the nano material is toxic, and whether or not the dried nano material creates dust that is hazardous when inhaled ?

World's Tinniest Snowman

was built by the National Physical Laboratory out of two of the tin nano particle beads that are usually used to calibrate electron microscope lenses. It measures just 0.01mm (1/5 the width of human hair).The eyes and smile were milled using a focused ion beam, and the nose, which is under 1 µm wide (or 0.001 mm), is an ion beam deposited on platinum.

"A nanomanipulation system was used to assemble the parts 'by hand' and platinum deposition was used to weld all elements together. The snowman is mounted on a silicon cantilever from an atomic force microscope whose sharp tip 'feels' surfaces creating topographic surveys at almost atomic scales." Read more.

This tinny tinny snowman illustrates, scientists also have a sense of humor and express their good cheer to you, as do I, at the end of the video.

Buckypaper potentially 500 times stronger than steel

Buckypaper, a new revolutionary material 10 times lighter but potentially 500 times stronger than steel when sheets of it are stacked and pressed together to form a composite. Unlike conventional composite materials, though, it conducts electricity like copper or silicon and disperses heat like steel or brass, and could be used to shield aircraft from lightening.

Buckypaper is made from carbon nanotubes - amazingly strong fibers about 1/50,000th the diameter of a human hair that were first developed in the early 1990s. Buckypaper owes its name to Buckminsterfullerene, or Carbon 60 - a type of carbon molecule whose powerful atomic bonds make it twice as hard as a diamond.



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Nano Solar Paper made by printing press

Breakthrough in the production of solar electricity cells: Printing of solar cells (video), using nanoparticle ink. World's first 1GW solar production tool, is just like printing newspapers. Nanosolar is currently one of the great hopes for cheap electricity production.

Nanosolar has developed proprietary process technology that makes it possible to produce 100x thinner solar cells 100x faster .



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Nanowire Mesh: New 'Paper Towel For Oil Spills

Researchers at the MIT Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science have created a membrane or a mat of nanowires with the touch and feel of paper, that can absorb up to 20 times its weight in oil, and can be recycled many times for future use. The oil itself can also be recovered.

According to the scientists this new nano material could also impact filtering and the purification of water and other organic pollutants.

Since the membrane is made of potassium manganese oxide, the nanowire is inexpensive to produce because the nanowires of which it is composed can be fabricated in larger quantities than other nanomaterials. The material is created in a similar way to paper.

Watch a video of this new material absorbing gaseoline (dyed blue) from water.

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A "champion" Photonic Crystal Discovered in beetle, for Future Optical Computers

It appears that a simple creature like a beetle provides scientists with one of the technologically most sought-after structures for the next generation of computing. University of Utah chemists determined that an inch-long beetle from Brazil that glows iridescent green because it evolved a crystal structure in its scales that is like the crystal structure of diamonds. Such a structure is considered an ideal architecture for "photonic crystals" that will be needed to manipulate visible light in ultrafast optical computers of the future.

The microscopic image to the right shows individual scales attached to the exoskeleton of the beetle Lamprocyphus augustus, and how the scales glow iridescent green because the fingernail-like material in the scales has a diamond-like crystal structure that reflects green light.

The beetle’s shiny, sparkling green color is produced by the crystal structure of its scales, not by any pigment. The scales are made of chitin, which forms the external skeleton, or exoskeleton, of most insects and is similar to fingernail material. The scales are affixed to the beetle’s exoskeleton. Each measures 200 microns (millionths of a meter) long by 100 microns wide. A human hair is about 100 microns thick.

Researchers are now trying to design a synthetic version of the beetle's photonic crystals, using scale material as a mold to make the crystals from a transparent semiconductor.

Read further and or reflect on this video of a similar type of green iridescent beetle.

Human Blood Flow To Nanogenerate Electronics

Scientists are working out ways of treating human bodily ills by way of triggering enzyme behaviours in our blood irrigation pathways that may one day fuel future electronic gadgets like cell phones, mp3 players etc. Rearchers say .... Our bodies are good at converting chemical energy from glucose into the mechanical energy of our muscles, .... and our.... nanogenerators can take that mechanical energy and convert it to electrical energy for powering devices inside the body.
However they need ... to grow bigger nanowire arrays to raise the nanogenerators' current to microamperes, and to build a three-dimensional structure to raise the voltage to 0.5 V so that it can be used for powering devices. Although the researchers will have to learn how to control the precise length of grown nanowires.

Hey it seems if human technical persistance may eventually pay dividends in cytoplastic inclusions and green hygenic electronica !