[Science Popularization] Are household products that claim to use “nanomaterials” just a waste of money?
Release time:
2023-06-08
Since the 1980s, when humans discovered the nanoscale world using scanning tunneling microscopy, nanotechnology and nanomaterials have rapidly advanced over the following decades, making significant inroads into various fields. When materials reach the nanoscale, they often exhibit properties that bulk materials do not possess. This is mainly because the surface atoms of nanomaterials are highly active and exhibit greater reactivity. In addition, the quantum size effect further endows these materials with unique physical and chemical properties, including optical properties, electrical conductivity, catalytic activity, and antimicrobial performance.
The nanometer is a very small unit of length—only “One billionth of a meter,” One ten-thousandth the diameter of a human hair.
It is generally believed that in three-dimensional space, there is one dimension whose size is smaller than... 100 nm Materials that fall into this category can be referred to as nanomaterials. The processes and methods related to the preparation, processing, and application of nanomaterials are collectively known as nanotechnology.
Since the 1980s, when humans discovered the nanoscale world using scanning tunneling microscopy, nanotechnology and nanomaterials have rapidly advanced over the following decades, making significant inroads into various fields.
When the size of a material reaches the nanoscale, it typically exhibits properties that bulk materials do not possess. This is mainly because surface atoms in nanomaterials are highly active and exhibit greater reactivity. Additionally, the presence of quantum size effects endows them with unique characteristics. Special physical and chemical properties, including optical properties, electrical conductivity, catalytic activity, and... Antibacterial Performance Wait.
Take gold as an example: the typical bulk material is a golden-yellow solid with excellent... Electrical conductivity and ductility. When it is transformed into nanomaterials, it can be stably dispersed in a solvent to form a sol, and its color varies depending on the size and shape of the gold nanomaterials.
Among these, gold nanomaterials with absorption of infrared or near-infrared light can also be used for photothermal cancer therapy. As carbon materials with good biocompatibility, when they are transformed from conventional carbon materials into single-layer graphene, Electrical and thermal conductivity performance All have been significantly improved.
“Nanotechnology” Products in Everyday Life
So, do products we see in everyday life that contain nanomaterials also possess such remarkable effects? And how high is the concentration of nanomaterials in these products?
In fact, for nanomaterials, the root of their unique properties lies in their... Nanoscale dimensions.
However, nanomaterials, due to their large specific surface area and highly reactive nature, are not easily stabilized in dispersion. As a result, when used to prepare composite materials, they tend to agglomerate and lose their original properties. Therefore, it is quite challenging to produce products that fully preserve the unique characteristics of nanomaterials.
Meanwhile, nanomaterials are expensive to produce, and it’s extremely challenging to fully rely on nanomaterials to manufacture functional products. For example, consider graphene underwear that boasts multiple functions, such as antibacterial properties and sweat absorption. Although graphene is also a carbon-based material, its production process is highly demanding and difficult to scale up for mass production. The cost of each gram of graphene product is approximately 1,000 yuan. To fully fabricate a single pair of underwear using graphene, even a conservative estimate puts the cost at over 10,000 yuan.
However, the products we’ve purchased—priced at just over a hundred yuan or even tens of yuan—certainly indicate that the nano-material content in these products isn’t very high.
Despite the exaggerated claims surrounding these consumer products, nanotechnology and nanomaterials are indeed playing an increasingly important role in fields such as military and technology.
For example, superhydrophobic materials designed based on the biomimetic structure of lotus leaf surfaces possess— Waterproof, oil-resistant, and dustproof properties, It is of great significance in precision equipment and surface cleaning.
Actually Nanoparticles It’s not just a product of today’s nanotechnology—automotive exhaust and combustion processes also generate large quantities of nanoparticles.
Currently, there is still very limited research data on the biological effects and toxicity of nanomaterials. Preliminary experimental evidence suggests that even substances with identical chemical compositions can exhibit... Microparticles and nanoparticles They may also have different biological effects, which could be beneficial or harmful. Many unknown issues still require further research.
For example, researchers have found that once nanoparticles enter the human body, proteins within the body automatically encapsulate them, preventing the body from recognizing them as foreign invaders and giving them a “stealth” effect. “Will they cause long-term toxicity? That’s currently under investigation, and no definitive conclusions have been reached yet,” Zhao Yuliang explained.
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[Science Popularization] Are household products that claim to use “nanomaterials” just a waste of money?
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