Nanotechnology Substitutes for Chemicals

14 July 2007

A European report is considering the ways in which Nanotechnology can be used to develop substitutes for hazardous chemicals. This aspect of Nanotechnology research is long overdue, as “green” Nanotechnology has typically focused on cleaning up chemical pollution, not eliminating it to begin with. Already however the technology is being exploited commercially to do just that, such as in the case of coatings. Coatings for ship hulls usually use chemicals to prevent bacterial adhesion. However, the same results were accomplished without chemical coatings, by using nanoparticles to fabricate the ship’s hull in a way to repel the bacteria.

Other applications exist as well. In the domain of flame retardants, for example, nanoparticles can replace the existing Bromine that is used as the principal element in the retardant and which functions by consuming oxygen. Nanoparticles can achieve the same effect using the right elements to create an oxide layer.

Volatile Organic Compounds, which are toxic and common by products in many commercial applications, is another example. While Nanotechnology cannot directly replace the VOCs, they can be involved in their manufacture in such a way as to render them harmless.

Soldering is another example; this is a common bonding process that uses lead and tin, which are known to be toxic. Nanoparticles can serve as substitutes and provide an alternative filler type glue that is clean and environmentally friendly.

The European project exploring these substitutions points out an important detail: nanoparticles themselves can be toxic. Thus, it is important to balance the potential pros gained from substitution to the cons of potential toxic side effects from the nanoparticles. The report concludes that direct and complete substitution of nanoparticles for existing processes will not always be practicable, but incremental improvements, at the very least, will still be feasible.

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