Nanotechnology includes nanostructure technology and nanomaterial technology. Nanostructure technology is a high-tech in nanotechnology. Although a breakthrough has been made, it cannot be applied. However, nano-material technology is not required because of its wide application. Anything with functionality is called a material, and all that is required is that the materials brought by nano-scale structural units are nano-materials.
All the nano-structural units of matter have changed their properties, and any new properties may frame new functions, so that new materials can be prepared. Therefore, it should be said with certainty that although the application of nano-materials can not represent the main application level of nano-technology, it has been deliberately applied now.
Because of professional problems, many experts confuse the application of nano-structure technology and nano-material technology, saying that it is nano-material in the laboratory, and how many years will it take to be applied.
In fact, history has proved that any such prediction is a failure. Not only are nanomaterials widely used, but also the application of nanostructure technology has begun. One of the "Top Ten Scientific Breakthroughs" selected by American Science magazine 200 1 is the application of nano-computing circuits. We should welcome the arrival of new technology, not exclude it.
Nanotechnology is a new interdisciplinary field gradually developed in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Its rapid development will bring revolutionary changes to almost all industrial fields in the 20th century. At present, governments and enterprises in developed countries are investing heavily in the research and development of nanotechnology, trying to seize this strategic commanding height of science and technology in the 2 1 century. Paying attention to the progress of nanotechnology and organizing and deploying the development plan of nanotechnology in China as soon as possible will have a far-reaching impact on the development of China in the new century.
Background of nanotechnology
What is nanotechnology? Nanometer is the unit of measurement, which is one billionth of a meter1000, which is roughly equivalent to one millionth of a hair. The so-called nanotechnology is an intermediate field of nano-scale between non-micro and non-macro. It is a brand-new technology to understand nature and change the mode of production, work and lifestyle. It is a bridge between nanotechnology and product platforms containing nanotechnology. It brings people's technological innovation to a new level and space, and greatly expands the field of people's innovation. In fact, nano-materials have existed in nature for a long time, such as animal teeth, shells, shark skin, lotus leaf surface, coral reefs, meteorites and so on. In ancient China, the coatings of pigments, inks and bronze mirrors were all nano-materials. However, although they used nanotechnology to prepare nanomaterials, they didn't know the importance of nanomaterials, but they were in the spontaneous stage. It was after the 1960s that they really synthesized nanomaterials artificially according to their own will. 1963, Japanese scientist Ryoko Kubao proposed for the first time that material particles were reduced to nanometer scale and their properties suddenly changed. 1967, Japanese scientist Ryoji Ueda artificially prepared nano-scale metal particles for the first time by evaporation. At that time, Japanese scientists called nano-particles ultrafine particles. It was in 1984 that Professor Gleiter, a German scientist, first prepared a solid composed of particles with a scale of 5 nanometers, which he called nano-scale materials. The concept of nanotechnology was first proposed by American science fiction writer Eric? Zuikesler proposed it in 1986, and the journal of nanotechnology was officially published in 1990 in Bachi.
Nanomaterials are the most active and important part of nanotechnology. They are isomorphic with nano-biology, nano-electronics, nano-machining, nano-tribology, nano-metrology, nano-chemistry, nano-physics and other disciplines, which constitute the connotation of nano-technology. The connotation of nanotechnology includes various fields. As far as nano-materials are concerned, it includes the preparation technology of nano-materials and the technology that nano-materials penetrate into various high-tech and all traditional industrial fields. It is particularly noteworthy that nano-materials are not only the concept of scale, but more importantly, they have characteristics that are not available at the micro and macro levels. People can use these new characteristics to synthesize new materials that do not exist in nature or exist in nature but have not been imitated by human beings, and use brand-new nanotechnology to apply these materials to various fields, promote social and economic development, improve national defense strength and people's quality of life, which is why governments around the world pay enough attention to the development of nanotechnology. For a developing country like China, this is a golden opportunity. In the past 500 years, we have lost the lessons of the country's rapid development twice, and this opportunity of the country cannot be missed again. Jonathan spence, a professor of China's modern history at Yale University, published an article in Newsweek on June 5438+ 10, 2000. When analyzing China in the 20th century, he mentioned that China magically became a super-advanced country in the 20th century, and nanotechnology was an important choice. It is exciting that our country is not behind the developed countries in the technical level of nano-materials and nano-technology, and is already at the leading level in some aspects. The opportunity is rare, and our government is far-sighted and attaches great importance to nanotechnology, which will become a major decision of our strategy of rejuvenating the country through science and education.
Present situation abroad
In March 2000, the American government announced the start-up plan of nanotechnology to the whole world. In this tens of thousands of words report completed by 26 American scientists in half a year, it is clearly stated that nanotechnology will trigger a new industrial revolution in 2 1 century. The German Ministry of Science and Technology also mentioned in its report on the development of nanotechnology that nanotechnology is one of the leading technologies in 2 1 century. Professor laurel, a famous Nobel Prize winner, said that if the countries that attached importance to micron technology in the 1970s have now become developed countries, then the countries that attach importance to nanotechnology from now on may become advanced countries in the 20th century. Emma Chuang, former chief scientist of IBM, said that micron technology triggered a new information revolution in the 1970s, and nanotechnology is likely to become the core of the new information revolution. In the important documents of the US government and Congress, information technology, biotechnology and nanotechnology are called the leading technologies of the industrial revolution in 2 1 century. The connotation of leading technology refers to its ability to penetrate into various fields, cross-integrate with various technologies and demonstrate and drive emerging industries. At the end of the 20th century, computer and information expressway technology penetrated into various fields, which had a far-reaching impact on people's mode of production, work and lifestyle, and was called the leading role of new technologies at the turn of the century. 1in March 1998, Neal Lane, assistant to the president of the United States for science and technology, said in response to a question from Congress that nanotechnology is likely to have more influence on various fields than computers and become one of the leading technologies in 2 1 century. Facts have proved that the penetration of nanotechnology into high-tech fields such as information, biomedicine, energy environment, aerospace, ocean and advanced manufacturing technology has already appeared, and the all-round penetration of nanotechnology into national defense has achieved initial results, and the cross-integration of nanotechnology into traditional industries shows great potential. Nanotechnology is playing a great role in the transformation and upgrading of traditional industries, increasing high-tech content and improving product competitiveness. The injection of nanotechnology into traditional industries has enhanced the vitality of traditional industries, and the future is in the ascendant.
The US budget for nanotechnology research and development in fiscal year 2004 was close to $850 million, an increase of 65,438+00% over the previous year. On February 3, 2003, President Bush signed the "2 1 Century Nanotechnology Research and Development Act", approving the investment of about $3.7 billion in the four years from fiscal year 2005.
France began to implement the national three-year plan for nanotechnology investment in 2003: from 2003 to 2005, it invested 50 million euros in basic research on nanotechnology; Establish five nanotechnology research centers and the "national micro-nano research network" project; The largest industrial investment project in France 10 years-French Electronic Nanotechnology Center "Alliance -Klohr 2" was officially launched on February 27th, 2003.
From 2002 to 2006, the EU allocated 654.38+0.3 billion euros for nanotechnology research.
In the next six years, Britain will allocate 90 million pounds to support the development of commercial nanotechnology in enterprises and universities, and hope to attract 200 million pounds of additional investment.
The German Federal Ministry of Education and Research approved the investment in the Nanotechnology Competence Center to build a stronger interdisciplinary cooperation network and play a catalytic role in promoting interdisciplinary research in the field of nanotechnology.
Before 2007, South Korea invested 654.38+000 billion won to establish a new "nanotechnology research center" to realize the close cooperation between universities and enterprises, and to integrate the nano projects and nano research facilities independently carried out by scientific research institutions and enterprises at present. It is planned to invest 2.04 trillion won in the nano field before 2065.438+00.
Present situation of nano-scale development in China
China's strategy of reform, opening up and sustainable development has achieved rapid economic development in China, making China's GDP rank sixth in the world after the United States, Japan, Germany, France and Britain, which is very valuable for a developing country with a weak foundation. In the era of 265438+the first 20 years of the 20th century, challenges and opportunities coexist. It is very important for our country to assess the situation, seize the opportunity and achieve leapfrog development in several fields. At present, the new industrial revolution with nanotechnology, information technology and biotechnology as the core is quietly emerging, and all countries are almost at the same starting line. In this critical period of technological renewal and turning point, it provides an excellent opportunity for China to achieve leapfrog development in several fields, and we can't miss this opportunity again.
China is a developing country. After the reform and opening up, the national economy has maintained sustained and rapid development, attracting worldwide attention. Our country has a weak foundation and mainly relies on traditional industries. Although the high-tech industry has developed rapidly in recent years, its contribution to China's GDP is still very small, and there is still a big gap compared with developed countries. China's national conditions determine that China's overall thinking of developing nanotechnology is different from that of the United States, Japan and Europe. We should have China's own characteristics and find a new way to develop nanotechnology, which is to take nanotechnology as an opportunity to solve the urgent problems in the current national economic development and supporting industries. Nanotechnology first cuts into traditional industries, adjusts product structure and injects high-tech content, which is helpful to the upgrading of traditional industries and GDP growth in China. At the same time, look for opportunities to penetrate into high-tech industries, pay special attention to the application of nanotechnology in the fields of environment, energy, medicine, national defense, etc., cultivate emerging nano-industries, and gradually form industrial chains, so that the starting points of these industries will be at the technological commanding heights in this field in 2 1 century, laying the foundation for realizing the leap-forward development in the above fields in China. In information, aerospace, biotechnology, new materials and other aspects, the application level of nanotechnology has a certain gap with developed countries, but there are also local opportunities. As long as we choose the right entry point, it is entirely possible to form a new product platform with independent intellectual property rights in some aspects, and then develop into a nano-high-tech industry.
According to the overall development trend of international nano-materials and technologies, combined with China's national conditions and the needs of China's rapid economic development in the next five to ten years, we will choose nano-materials and technologies that play an important role in social development and national strength enhancement, fully penetrate into traditional industries and high-tech industries, form a new nano-industrial chain with independent intellectual property rights, enhance the international competitiveness of products, and make contributions to the realization of China's third-step strategic goal. Develop nano-materials and technologies in several key areas to form nano-industry. Industrialization of special nano-materials such as carbon nanotubes, high-efficiency energetic nano-materials, nano-rare earth materials, high-brightness nano-fluorescent materials and important metal nano-materials; Key nanomaterials in information industry, such as nanotechnology in network communication (optical communication and microwave communication) and nanotechnology in high-definition and high-resolution digital display technology; Rational use of energy and development of key nano-materials and technologies in energy; Optimize the key nano-materials and technologies in the resource environment; Nanomaterials and technologies in biological and pharmaceutical industries.
The development of nano-materials and technology in China should adhere to the market orientation and pay attention to the combination of nano-technology with existing high-tech and traditional technologies. Scientific and technical personnel engaged in nano research and development should be combined with other professionals and entrepreneurs; Entrepreneurs are the main force in the industrialization of nano-scientific and technological achievements, and scientific and technological personnel play a leading role; It is necessary to select the right target, breakthrough point and breakthrough point to shorten the transformation cycle of nano-scientific and technological achievements; We should attach importance to the protection of intellectual property rights, encourage the application for invention patents, and pay special attention to the application for foreign invention patents; It is suggested that governments at all levels set up a rapid response fund for nanotechnology research and a venture capital fund for nanotechnology development.
China has a high understanding of the importance of nanotechnology and has given it some support. The Ministry of Science and Technology, National Natural Science Foundation of China, China Academy of Sciences and other departments have set up climbing plans and related key and major projects since the Eighth Five-Year Plan and the Ninth Five-Year Plan. Last year, the Ministry of Science and Technology launched the national key basic research project of nano-materials. China's total funding for nanotechnology through these projects is equivalent to about US$ 7 million, which is far behind that of developed countries.
According to incomplete statistics, during the ten years from 199 1 to 2000, * * funded more than 92 million yuan, and made a number of basic research achievements in the synthesis and preparation of nano-materials, performance and characterization, testing new technologies and theories, system assembly and devices, MEMS and so on.
After entering the tenth five-year plan, nanotechnology has shown a rapid development momentum. According to the requirements of the National Outline of Nanotechnology Development, the National Natural Science Foundation of China has further increased its investment, with a total investment of 654.38+96 billion yuan in 20001-2003 and 800 funded projects. The following schematic diagram is the initial statistics of the funding amount and funded projects of the National Natural Science Foundation of China since 13, and the actual funding amount is even higher than this statistics.
Number of supported nano-projects [Click to enlarge] Number of supported nano-funds [Click to enlarge]
Among them, the investment in nanotechnology projects involved in the 863 Program
(1) Special layout:
State appropriation: 200 million yuan: the 102 project has been arranged, and the state appropriation is 654.38+52 million yuan.
The first batch: 63 projects were allocated by the state/kloc-0.09 million yuan, and 378 million yuan was raised by itself.
The second batch: 39 project countries allocated 43 million yuan and raised 65,438+59 million yuan by themselves.
(2) Layout of key projects
State appropriation: 92 million yuan; Arrangements for the first three years: 19 project.
The state allocated 52 million yuan, and local governments raised 295 million yuan.
Invest more than 600 people every year.
China's nanotechnology research, especially in nanomaterials, has made important progress and attracted international attention. From 65438 to 0995, the German Ministry of Science and Technology analyzed the relative leading degree of various countries in nanotechnology. China tied for fifth place with France in nanomaterials, while Japan, Germany, the United States, Britain and Northern Europe ranked the top four. From the funded projects, China's research strength mainly focuses on the synthesis and preparation of nano-materials, scanning probe microscopy, molecular electronics and the application of a few nano-technologies. However, due to the limitation of conditions, the research work can only be concentrated in some areas with low hardware requirements. Although scientists in China have made some excellent research achievements in several fields of carbon nanotubes and nanomaterials, the overall level of nanotechnology in China still lags far behind that in the United States, Japan and Europe, especially in nano-devices.
At present, China has a relatively capable nanotechnology research team, mainly concentrated in relevant research institutes of Chinese Academy of Sciences, and a number of well-known domestic universities such as Peking University, Tsinghua University, China University of Science and Technology, Nanjing University and Fudan University. In order to concentrate the main force of nanotechnology research on this system, Peking University and China Academy of Sciences also set up their own nanotechnology research centers.
On June 5438+1October 1 1, the Fifth Plenary Session of the 15th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) adopted "the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China's Proposal on Formulating the Tenth Five-Year Plan for National Economic and Social Development", which clearly stated that the progress of new materials and nano-science should be regarded as an important task of scientific and technological progress and innovation in the Tenth Five-Year Plan. This laid an important foundation for the rapid development of nanotechnology in China at the beginning of 2 1 century.
The significance of developing nanotechnology in China lies in: firstly, nanotechnology will have a great impact on our society, economy and national security in the 2nd1century. The 2 1 century, characterized by the era of knowledge economy, will be an era of rapid development and wide application of life science and information technology. Nanoscience and technology will promote the rapid development of almost all technologies, including life science and information technology. Western developed countries are actively planning to realize knowledge monopoly. At present, western countries and enterprises have classified nano-core technology as absolute state secrets and commercial secrets, and strictly restricted exports to China. Secondly, the development of nanotechnology will greatly enhance the scientific and technological competitiveness of China. Nanotechnology emerged in the early 1980s, which belongs to a brand-new field of science and technology for all countries in the world. Although there is still a big gap between China and developed countries, we are basically in step with the international advanced level in the field of nano-materials. As long as we take appropriate measures, we can completely catch up with the developed countries. Third, nanotechnology will promote the transformation of traditional industries in China. Because real nanotechnology, especially nanomaterials, has the characteristics of low investment, quick effect and broad market prospect in transforming traditional industries, it is easier to popularize in China enterprises which mainly focus on traditional industries. Therefore, the application of nanotechnology has been widely responded by business circles in China, which has laid an important dynamic foundation for the development of nanotechnology in China. At present, there are 102 enterprises involved in nanotechnology in China. In order to enhance China's international scientific and technological competitiveness and economic competitiveness, promote the smooth implementation of the third-step development strategy, and ensure China's future sustainable development and national security, we must vigorously strengthen the research and development of nanotechnology and mobilize multidisciplinary, cross-sectoral and cross-industry forces to participate in this field.
The main problems of nanotechnology in China are insufficient interdisciplinary integration, lack of important experimental facilities, weak basic research and less information exchange. In order to overcome and solve these problems, so that China can seize the opportunity and catch up, it is especially recommended that:
(1) The development strategy of nanotechnology in China should be determined at the national level, and the short-,medium-and long-term plans for the development of nanotechnology in China should be formulated; Coordinate the development of basic research, applied research and development research, promote the industrialization of scientific and technological achievements, and assist relevant departments to formulate technical standards for nanotechnology-related products as soon as possible.
(2) Establish a national "nanotechnology expert advisory group". To assist the government in formulating and researching strategies for developing nanotechnology in China.
(3) Establish a national nanotechnology research and engineering center, focus on investing in a technology platform that can provide services for the development of nanotechnology, and organize and coordinate the participation of scientific research institutions, universities, national laboratories and industry.
(4) Adhere to the policy of "doing something, not doing something", give full play to advantages and highlight characteristics. It is necessary to strengthen the construction of research bases, improve infrastructure conditions, increase investment in scientific and technological projects, and attach great importance to intellectual property protection. At present, nano research in China should mainly focus on creating and preparing nano materials with excellent performance, designing and preparing various nano devices and devices, and detecting and analyzing the properties and phenomena of nano regions. Nanomaterials are the foundation of nanotechnology, and China has a considerable foundation. This layout should pay more attention to the combination with industrialization, especially with traditional industries, and actively absorb the participation and investment of enterprises; The research level and application level of nano-devices indicate the overall level of nano-technology in a country, which has the greatest correlation with information industry, society, economy and national defense, and needs the largest investment. However, China has invested the least in this field and has a weak foundation, so it should actively organize its strength and aim at a clear application purpose, but in the past 20 years, it will still focus on basic research and applied basic research; The detection and characterization of nano-domain characteristics is the experimental basis and necessary condition for the development of nano-materials and nano-devices. We should attach importance to basic research and applied research, and at the same time consider combining with industrialization.
(5) Strengthen the construction of information network platform and promote the information exchange of nanotechnology at home and abroad.
(6) Establish, train and attract nanotechnology talents with the National Nanotechnology Research and Engineering Center as the carrier.
Application of nanotechnology
Feyneman, a famous Nobel Prize winner, predicted in 1960s that if the arrangement of objects on a small scale was controlled, objects would acquire many unusual features. The material he said is now nano-material. Nano-materials research is a hot spot in materials science at present, and nano-technology is recognized as the most promising research field in 2 1 century. Nano-materials have fundamentally changed the structure of materials and opened up a new way to overcome the long-standing unsolved problems in the field of materials science research. Its application is mainly reflected in the following seven aspects:
Application in the field of ceramics
With the wide application of nanotechnology, nano-ceramics are produced, hoping to overcome the brittleness of ceramic materials and make ceramics as flexible and machinable as metals. Many experts believe that if we can solve the technical problem of restraining grain growth in the sintering process of single-phase nano-ceramics, it will have the advantages of high hardness, high toughness, low temperature superplasticity and easy processing.
Applications in Microelectronics
Based on the latest physical theory and the most advanced technical means, nano-electronics will build an electronic system according to a brand-new concept, develop the potential ability of materials to store and process information, and realize a revolutionary breakthrough in information collection and processing. Nanoelectronics will become the core of the information age in the next century.
Application in bioengineering
Although molecular computers are still in the ideal stage, scientists have considered the application of several biomolecules to make computer parts, among which bacteriorhodopsin is the most promising. The biomaterial has special thermal, optical, chemical and physical properties and good stability, and its unique light cycle characteristics can be used to store information, thus playing the role of replacing the current computer information processing and information storage, and improving the storage and information processing capacity of unit volume substances by millions of times. Application in Optoelectronic Field The development of nanotechnology makes the combination of microelectronics and optoelectronics closer, and greatly improves the performance of optoelectronic devices in the transmission, storage, processing, operation and display of optoelectronic information. The application of nanotechnology to the existing radar information processing can improve its capability by 10 to several hundred times, and even put the ultra-high resolution nano-aperture radar on the satellite for high-precision ground reconnaissance. Recently, researchers at MIT sent excited barium atoms into the laser one by one, and each atom emitted a useful photon with amazing efficiency. Application in chemical industry Nano-TiO2 _ 2 powder can be added to cosmetics in a certain proportion, which can effectively shield ultraviolet rays. Adding metal nanoparticles into chemical fiber products or paper can greatly reduce the electrostatic effect. Spongy lightweight sintered body composed of nanoparticles can be used for separation and concentration of gas isotopes, mixed rare gases and organic compounds. Nanoparticles can also be used as conductive coatings, printing inks and solid lubricants. The researchers also found that carbon nanotubes can be used to make nano-reactors with their unique pore structure, large specific surface area (the surface area per gram of carbon nanotubes is as high as hundreds of square meters) and high mechanical strength, which can limit the chemical reaction to a very small range.
Application in medicine
Researchers have successfully used nanoparticles to separate cells and gold nanoparticles to treat local lesions to reduce side effects. In addition, the virus inducer based on nanoparticles has made a breakthrough, and now it has been used in clinical animal experiments, and it is estimated that it will serve human beings in the near future. By studying the application of nanotechnology in biomedicine, we can understand the fine structure of biological macromolecules and the relationship between them and their functions on the nanometer scale, and obtain life information. Scientists envision using nanotechnology to create molecular robots that circulate in the blood, detect and diagnose various parts of the body, and perform special treatments.
Application in molecular assembly
How to synthesize nano-materials with specific size, uniform particle size distribution and no agglomeration has always been a problem that researchers try to solve. At present, nanotechnology has penetrated into the manipulation of a single atom. Soft chemistry, combined with host-guest template chemistry and supramolecular chemistry, is becoming the main assembly and tailoring means to realize molecular surgery. As an emerging science and technology with the most market application potential, nanotechnology is undoubtedly important. Many developed countries have invested a lot of money in research, just as Academician Qian Xuesen predicted: "The structure around nanometer and below nanometer will be the characteristics of the next stage of scientific and technological development, which will be a technological revolution and another industrial revolution in 2 1 century."