Nanoplastics are plastics with nanoscale additives that can make them stronger, more heat and UV resistant, antimicrobial, conductive, and more. Nanoplastics are part of the larger field of nanotechnology, which manipulates molecular and atomic processes to create unique configurations with profound effects on a macro scale. The possibilities for nanoplastics are vast, including smart materials that react to temperature and sound, self-cleaning floors and walls, and cars that heal their own scratches. The burgeoning nanoplastics industry is expected to receive a $12 billion investment in research and development in 2008.
Nanoplastics are plastics that have nanoscale additives to give the material additional properties. These properties vary by application, but nanoscale additives can make plastics lighter yet stronger, more heat resistant, more UV resistant, antimicrobial, more conductive, or add any number of other properties. Nanoplastics is a nascent industry with many exciting theoretical products on the horizon, including smart, self-healing plastics.
Nanoplastics is just one area under the much larger umbrella of nanotechnology. Nanotechnology creates biochemical machinery at the nanoscale. A nanometer (nano for short) is one-billionth of a meter, so nanotechnology deals with molecular or atomic processes. At this level of life, proteins and other chemicals interact to form bonds and carry out processes. Nanotechnology harnesses these natural processes through direct manipulation to create unique configurations that can have profound effects on a macro scale. Nanoplastics is nanotechnology applied to plastics.
Scientists believe nanoplastics will transform our homes and lives in the not too distant future. When computers can be the size of blood cells, nanoplastics can incorporate enormous processing power, becoming “smart” materials. Imagine walls that react to temperature and sound, floors that clean up spills and dirt on their own, and chairs that reform to fit the size and weight of the person sitting on them. A future television made of nanoplastics could project images from the screen towards the viewer, and nanoplastics applied to paint products could lead to cars that ‘heal’ their own scratches.
With the wide range of possibilities facing the burgeoning nanoplastics industry today, it’s no wonder Lux Research forecasts a US$12 billion (USD) corporate investment in nanoplastics research and development for 2008. It is virtually impossible to imagine an area of industry that will not benefit from applied nanoplastics.
Biodegradable plastics, conductive plastics, sun-absorbing smart clothes, rubber bumpers that snap back into shape, and nanoclay that can shapeshift to form anything needed on the spot—these are all hypothetically possible applications of nanoplastics. Until the future arrives, however, nanoplastics will stand in the way of every day improved materials such as sports equipment, dental materials and self-cleaning glass.
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