The Future of Products

After traditional materials and manufacturing methods have been exhausted companies will begin to explore new methods of creating products. Most recently the focus has been on 3D printing and how it could user in a new manufacturing revolution. But even after 3D printing becomes widely adopted companies will once again start looking for what’s next. As products get more complex, faster and smaller the final goal becomes clear – Nanotechnology products or Atomically Precise Manufacturing.

It would probably shock people to know that of the products they use every day already contain some level of nanotechnology or nano-particles. Products such as fabric, medical equipment and sporting goods have been created which incorporate nanotechnology and each year the list grows. In some areas entire product lines have been created or radically transformed through nanotechnology. One such example is Quikclot, a product for treating everything from nosebleeds to gunshot wounds in the battlefield. Quickclot works by utilizing the component Zeolite, which adsorbs water, but leaves behind the platelets to promote rapid coagulation of blood (Nano Werk). A live saving product made possible by nanotechnology.

 

QuickClot uses Zeolite to cause rapid coagulation 

of blood by the removal of water molecules.

Other products are subtler in their application of nanotechnology, but the impacts can be just as profound. Take for example stocks created by Vladimir Rudenov, a Russian scientists that uses silver nanofibers in the socks creation. His goal is to curb the smell feet. “Scientifically speaking, smelly feet are a result of bacteria digesting organic matter in our sweat (Trend Updates).” The silver nanofibers woven into the sock fabric inhibit the bacteria from growing, resulting in less smell. Another product changed by the inclusion of nanotechnology.

 

Silver nanofiber socks are capable of inhibiting the growth 

of bacteria which is the leading cause of foot odor.

One of the earliest industries to adopt nanotechnology also has some of the widest ranging applications. The sporting goods industry is always looking for a competitive edge and its no wonder that they have been one of the earliest adopters of nanotechnology.  Nanotechnology has been used in everything from preventing air loss in tennis balls, strengthening tennis racquets/golf shafts, increasing abrasion resistance in kayaks and improving ski wax (Understanding Nano). All of these sporting good applications have one common goal – to increase performance of the product. And while that will regularly be the primary focus for sporting goods, that is not always the case for other industries. 

 

Wilson DC1 Tennis balls used nanotechnology to slow the air escaping. 

This resulted in tennis balls that stayed firm longer.

As long as products have been designed there has always been the struggle between increasing performance and adding features; usually with cost being the deciding factor. Adding features is also often looked down upon in the design world as “featuritis” or “feature-waring,” the inclusion of features that don’t benefit the design of the product, but were added because they simply could. Nanotechnology now offers entirely new opportunities to both of those challenges in ways that may not break the design budget and the features added also increase the total performance for the product.

Nanotechnology offers exciting new solutions that will require clever thinking and ingenuity, but once properly implemented we will all wonder how we ever lived before.

Resources:
“Nanotechnology Products.” National Nanotechnology Infrastructure Network. National Nanotechnology Infrastructure Network, 9 Nov 2015. <http://www.nnin.org/news-events/spotlights/nanotechnology-products>.

“Blood Clotting Nanotechnology Picked by U.S. Military as First-Line Hemostatic.” Nano Werk. Nano Werk, 14 May 2008, 9 Nov 2015. <http://www.nanowerk.com/news/newsid=5723.php>.

“Nano-Enhanced Socks To Treat Smelly Feet.” Trend Updates. Trend Updates, 9 Nov 2015. <http://trendsupdates.com/nano-enhanced-socks-to-treat-smelly-feet/>.

“Sporting Goods with Nanotechnology.” Understanding Nano. Understanding Nano, 9 Nov 2015. <http://www.understandingnano.com/sporting_goods.html>.

Boyd, Andrew “Nanotechnology.” The Engines of Our Ingenuity. The Engines of Our Ingenuity, Nano, 3 Feb 2009, 9 Nov 2015. <http://www.uh.edu/engines/epi2461.htm>.