What is Nanotechnology?
When you think of “nanotechnology”, what comes to mind? Perhaps you imagine millions of self-replicating robots, building and repairing metal structures at a microscopic level? Or maybe an army of mechanical units that are injected with a syringe into a person’s body, who then seek out and destroy harmful viruses, but what is “nanotechnology” and how does it apply to Nanex’s nano-coatings?
We at Nanex love to dream of the possibilities that science fiction offers for nanotechnology, but we also know it is important to keep our research grounded in the breakthroughs of today’s scientific research: the truth of nanotechnology is just as fascinating as any of the flights of fancy from the best Hollywood blockbusters.
At Nanex, we develop and sell nanotechnology in the form of nano-coatings; but what is that exactly? In simple terms, nanotechnology is anything that is both very small and man-made… but how small, exactly? The central unit of measurement for nanotechnology is the nano-metre, which is one-billionth of a metre. In other words, we develop technology that is at the same scale and size as bacteria. If you were to perceive the world that small, you would be seeing an almost alien landscape: surfaces that you thought were smooth and sleek – such as glass or the tip of a surgical blade – are actually filled with countless fissures, cracks and peculiar forms with amazing affects.
The types of nanotechnology used in our Always Dry and Clean & Coat nano-coatings are nano-polymers: particles made from naturally occurring minerals, cut down to the size and form needed. These nano-polymers are then combined with a liquid delivery agent and become the foundation of Nanex’s nano-coatings.
These nano-coatings each have their own exciting and advanced properties. The Clean & Coatnano-coatings boast abilities ranging from static discharging to scratch resistance, and UV protection. These nano-coatings focus on filling the cracks and fissures found in the nano-scale environment. Imagine dumping small pearls into a bucket full of tennis balls. The pearls slide between the tennis balls and fill in the spaces.
The Always Dry nano-coatings are super-hydrophobic. This means very simply that water molecules when in contact with the nano-coating will behave as though they are terrified of it, balling up into a small bead and running form the super-hydrophobic surface. This same principle is found in the incredible properties of the lotus flower’s leaves and it’s known formally as “the lotus effect”.
The lotus effect refers to the super-hydrophobicity as exhibited by the leaves of the lotus flower, but how does it work? A single drop of water has an exceptionally high surface tension. More so, water droplets tend to minimize their surface by trying to achieve a spherical shape.
On contact with a regular surface this result in wetting of the surface, but in the case of a super-hydrophobic lotus leaf the force between surface and droplet are significantly reduced resulting in a hierarchical double structure formed out epidermis (the lotus leaf’s outermost layer called the cuticle) and the covering waxes.
This same naturally occurring principle is replicated in our Always Dry nano-coatings creating that same amazing effect, so while Nanex may not manufacture armies of tiny machines we think our nano-coatings are incredibly cool and we hope you do too.