Research on Nano-scale Measurement of Nanomaterials

In a recent hearing by the US House Subcommittee on Research and Science Education on the current status of nanotechnology in the US on March 11, 2008, the committee chairman, Mr. Brian Baird, after listening to the witnesses on the barriers to commercialization, made a remark, "Certainly, the commercialization of nanotechnology, like any developing technology, is complex," said Baird. "However, nanotechnology has some unique challenges. The development of nanomaterials and devices most often requires highly specialized and expensive instruments. In addition, the scale-up of nanotechnology requires unique processes that have very low error rates. Furthermore, quality control in nanomanufacturing requires lengthy evaluations and expensive equipment." There is a consensus among the technical community and the small business who try to capitalize on the nanotechnology opportunity that very specialized equipment are needed to see (image), measure (probe), model and manipulate at a very small scale.What Mr. Brian Baird did not mention in his statement is the fact that nanoscale characterization and measurement is at the heart of nanotech advances. Expertise, equipment, and facility are required to conduct state-of-the-art nanotechnology research and development. For example, nanoparticles are very important raw materials for self-assembly, insertion into materials, creating 3-D structures using genetic algorithm, and developing into completely new multi-functional materials. But if one cannot see, observe, and probe a single particle or assembled entity consistently to understand its composition, mechanical properties, functional abilities, with precision and certainty, then the probability of these new materials turned into products one day may not be there.The launch of nanotechnology programs around the world has provided tremendous impetus to discover new materials. This has opened up a wave of creativity and innovations in a new class of materials, called nanomaterials. Three classes of nanomaterials are being developed and some of them have been commercialized. These are: 1) nanoinserted materials, 2) nanostructured materials, and 3) self-assembled multi-functional materials.While nanomaterials are being generated rapidly, the characterization of this class of materials poses real challenges. The US NNI report on Instrumentation and Metrology acknowledges the inadequacies of current instrumentations and calibration procedures and recommends a focused effort to improve and develop new instrumentations in order to realize the full potentials of nanotechnology. As a result, NNI has been providing funding for NIST and others to develop advanced instrumentations to keep up the infrastructural support for the US Nanotechnology industries as evidenced by the formation of the US NanoBusiness Alliance. Accurate measurement and testing of nanomaterials are critical for continual improvement and development of this class of materials as well as for future applications.