NEW TECHNOLOGIES

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Nanotechnology and Medicine

Often hailed as a revolutionary new technology, nanotechnology has the potential to impact almost every area of society.

Nanotechnology involves manipulating properties and structures at the nanoscale, often involving dimensions that are just tiny fractions of the width of a human hair. Nanotechnology is already being used in products in its passive form, such as cosmetics and sunscreens, and it is expected that in the coming decades, new phases of products, such as better batteries and improved electronics equipment, will be developed and have far-reaching implications.

One area of nanotechnology application that holds the promise of providing great benefits for society in the future is in the realm of medicine. Nanotechnology is already being used as the basis for new, more effective drug delivery systems and is in early stage development as scaffolding in nerve regeneration research. Moreover, the National Cancer Institute has created the Alliance for Nanotechnology in Cancer in the hope that investments in this branch of nanomedicine could lead to breakthroughs in terms of detecting, diagnosing, and treating various forms of cancer.

Nanotechnology medical developments over the coming years will have a wide variety of uses and could potentially save a great number of lives. Nanotechnology is already moving from being used in passive structures to active structures, through more targeted drug therapies or “smart drugs.” These new drug therapies have already been shown to cause fewer side effects and be more effective than traditional therapies. In the future, nanotechnology will also aid in the formation of molecular systems that may be strikingly similar to living systems. These molecular structures could be the basis for the regeneration or replacement of body parts that are currently lost to infection, accident, or disease. These predictions for the future have great significance not only in encouraging nanotechnology research and development but also in determining a means of oversight. The number of products approaching the FDA approval and review process is likely to grow as time moves forward and as new nanotechnology medical applications are developed.

To better understand current and future applications of nanotechnology in various fields of medicine, the project has developed two web-based resources that track medical developments focused on cancer and drug delivery systems.

Discussion (conclusion):

1. Can you think of a new device that has not been invented yet that will be useful for humanity?
2. Can you imagine? → → →  (teletransporter→ NOT now, holograms→ now, flying cars→ NOT now , cars that can drive on their own→ now)
3. Do you think google glass will finally be useful?
4. Do you think these new technologies will be useful out of a laboratory? That is to say, in daily life.
5. Which of the three technologies do you think you will be able to use in a few years’ time?

GRAPHENE. Sergi, Claudio, Cosmin

Article: Graphene goes mobile

It's going to be another exciting year for graphene and what better way to start than with a material showcase at the Mobile World Congress. In testament to the power of graphene and its impact on the mobile industry, the Graphene Flagship has been invited to present the inaugural Graphene Pavilion at the 2016 Mobile World Congress (MWC), 22-25 February 2016 in Barcelona, Spain.

​The Graphene Pavilion will be a unique space to explore the latest innovations from both academia and industry and there will be plenty of prototypes and demonstrations on display.

The Graphene Flagship, the European graphene initiative designed to propel graphene forward from the academic laboratory and into European industry and society, will be at the heart of the Graphene Pavilion. This is the the perfect opportunity to visit us and learn more about the Flagship and its interdisciplinary, collaborative approach to research and development.  The Graphene Pavilion will contain industry and academic co-exhibitors all of whom have a shared goal to showcase the latest achievements in graphene research and development for the mobile ecosystem.

Graphene will also be prominently featured within the conference program with the Nobel Laureate Konstantin Novoselov giving a keynote presentation at the start of a six talk session dedicated entirely to graphene and its applications.

As the mobile industry strives to maintain its pace of innovation, Graphene has much to offer - helping to solve problems of flexibility, smart batteries and sensors amongst others. Graphene will help to facilitate the next generation of mobile technology from chips and interconnects for data communication to screens and casings.  For example, the strong and flexible nature of graphene makes flexible displays and bendable batteries possible and its excellent sensing ability can be used in the next generation of wearable electronics and will help to provide the building blocks for the internet of things.  Graphene has been shown to produce excellent supercapacitors, helping to push forward the development of a revolutionary batteries.   

The MWC Graphene Pavilion, curated by Prof. Frank Koppens (from ICFO - The Institute of Photonic Sciences) as Scientific Chair and organised in collaboration with the Graphene Flagship and GSMA, will showcase the best in graphene innovation.

Speaking about the MWC Prof. Koppens says "“The Pavilion shows the future of graphene and its impact on the mobile ecosystem. The impact of graphene applications in the mobile industry will be profound, and we can already see great progress being achieved. Thus, 2016 Mobile World Congress is definitely the right place and time to showcase exciting prototype demonstrations developed by companies and academic institutions".

The area will include live demos and prototypes presented by the main leaders in the field, including industry like Aixtron, Avanzare, AMO, FlexEnable, GNext, Graphenea, Libre SRL, nVision and Zap&Go, alongside academic institutes such as University of Cambridge, Chalmers University of Technology, University of Manchester, ICFO - The Institute of Photonic Sciences, Catalan Institute of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology (ICN2), CNR National Research Council and the Italian Institute of Technology.

With so much to see, we strongly encourage you to visit the Graphene Pavilion during the MWC. Book a meeting in advance through Christophe Eléhn from the Graphene Flagship Dissemination Team. He will help you connect to the right people to learn more about graphene and how it might be used in conjunction with your technology.

Mindmap

Questions:

1. Do you know what is the Mobile World Congress?
2. Would you like to try a graphene smartphone?
3. Do you think that this kind of utility will prosper?
4. What is the most interestig thing in your opinion? Smart batteries? Flexibility? Why?
5. What’s your opinion about the price (nowadays and in the future)?
6. Are the scientists giving too much importance to this material?

Graphene

Graphene Will Change the Way We Live

by MICHIO KAKU 2010

The theory behind the substance graphene was first explored by theoretical physicist Philip Wallace in 1947 as kind of a starting point when he was doing research trying to understand the electronic properties of more complex, 3D graphite. although the name graphene wasn't actually coined until 40 years later, where it was used to describe single sheets of graphite. In other words, it's the name given to a flat monolayer of carbon atoms that are tightly packed into a 2D honeycomb lattice; like a molecular chicken-wire that is one atom thick. It's essentially the basic building block for graphitic materials of all other dimensionalities; it's a stepping stone to building bigger things. Graphene in itself however wasn't discovered until 2004 in its full observable and testable form.

Since then, in the past 6 years, scientists have discovered that the substance retains some amazing properties. Some say that it will be heralded as one of the materials that will literally change our lives in the 21st century. Not only is graphene the thinnest possible material that is feasible, but it's also about 200 times stronger than steel and conducts electricity better than any material known to man—at room temperature. Researchers at Columbia University's Fu Foundation School of Engineering who proved that graphene is the strongest material ever measured said that "It would take an elephant, balanced on a pencil, to break through a sheet of graphene the thickness of Saran Wrap."

If you follow my work, you have surely heard me speak about Moore's Law and the race to find a suitable replacement for silicon semi-conductors. Graphene may in fact be the answer to these problems. The fastest growing problem facing chip engineers around the world is that everyone wants to increase power, make chips smaller and achieve both of these without significantly rising the temperature. The development of graphene transistors would in theory be able to run at much faster speeds and be able to ultimately battle the heat at a microscopic scale.

Just yesterday, two scientists; Konstantin Novoselow and Andre Geim, were awarded the 2010 Nobel Prize in physics for their pioneering work on the discovery of graphene. The award acknowledged graphene's promise to revolutionize the electronics industry and the potential production of lightweight, stronger-than-steel materials among a long list of other coming applications. Putting things into perspective, Geim states that he would "compare this situation with the one 100 years ago when people discovered polymers. It took some time before polymers went into use in plastics and became so important in our lives."

Potential applications for the material include the replacing of carbon fibers in composite materials to eventually aid in the production of lighter aircraft and satellites; replacing silicon in transistors; embedding the material in plastics to enable them to conduct electricity; graphene-based sensors could sniff out dangerous molecules; increasing the efficiency of electric batteries by use of graphene powder; optoelectronics; stiffer-stronger-lighter plastics; leak-tight, plastic containers that keep food fresh for weeks; transparent conductive coatings for solar cells and displays; stronger wind turbines; stronger medical implants; better sports equipment; supercapacitors; improved conductivity of materials; high-power high frequency electronic devices; artificial membranes for separating two liquid reservoirs; advancements in touchscreens; LCD's; OLED's; graphene nanoribbons could be a way to construct ballistic transistors; and nanogaps in graphene sheets may potentially provide a new technique for rapid DNA sequencing.

As I stated, this is only a short-list—imagine some of the applications that haven't been examined yet! Imagine the implications just on the computer revolution alone. IBM has already demonstrated a 100GHz graphene-based transistor and stated that a 1THz processor is on the horizon. The future of graphene holds limitless possibilities into literally every corner of industry and manufacturing, and as the years pass it will likely become a commonplace substance, the way that plastic is today.

http://bigthink.com/dr-kakus-universe/graphene-will-change-the-way-we-live

If you want to know more abou graphene, you will find interesting information here: https://www.theguardian.com/science/2013/nov/26/graphene-molecule-potential-wonder-material

Discussion:

• Would you buy a flexible graphene made mobile phone?
• Which applications do you find the most interesting?
• Can you think of any other different applications?
• Is this really the material of the future? Or will it simply be like all the others?
• Do you think some applications are unreal?
• Does the hexagonal shape ring you a bell?
• Which countries do you think are pionneer in graphene research?