What's Next In The Nanotechnology Wave?
Seshadri Ramkumar and Arvind Purushothaman
Nonwovens and Advanced Materials Laboratory
Texas Tech University
Lubbock, TX
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Nanoscience is considered to be one of the key technologies of the 21st century, which will play an important role in high-tech sectors such as material science, electronics and even energy. Miniaturization of instruments and products has revolutionized the electronics industry which has provided a platform for the nanotechnology to have practical applications. The textile industry has yet to fully utilize the benefits of nanoscience to that extent as in the case of semiconductor industry. In fact, major developments involving nanotechnology in the textiles industry have been in the finished applications using nano formulations and in the field of filtration. In the case of filtration using nanofilters, a handful of companies have been successful in the past decade in using nanofiber webs in their filtration products. The important barrier to the mass utilization of nanofiber webs in the textile industry has been lack of productivity in the electrospinning technology. More recently, there have been some developments to overcome this barrier, which will speed up the exploitation of nanofibers for applications in filtration, medicine and even for energy storage. Another aspect that will play an important role in the greater utilization of nanoproducts in consumer products is the toxicity issue with submicron and nano-sized materials. There are conflicting theories on the health—effects of nanomaterials. Governments around the world are investing heavily to understand the health issues surrounding nanomaterials. Thorough knowledge of toxicity and health issues related to submicron fibers and nano materials that find applications in the textile industry is much needed for our industry. This article will throw some insight on the scalability issues with regard to the manufacturin
