Toxicity of Nanomaterials and Recent Developments in Lung Disease [chapter]

R. Asmatulu
2011 Bronchitis  
Introduction Background Nanotechnology is the study of materials, compounds, devices, and/or systems at near atomic or molecular levels [1] . Usually, one of the dimensions of nanoproducts is between 1 nm and 100 nm length in scale. This emerging technology involves fabricating, imaging, measuring, modeling, and manipulating matter at this scale [2] . The goal of nanotechnology is to control individual atoms, molecules, or particles in order to significantly improve the physical, chemical,
more » ... cochemical, and biological properties of materials and devices for various humanitarian purposes. One of the most important aspects of nanotechnology is the greatly improved surface area-to-volume ratio at this level. It includes a broad range of highly multidisciplinary fields, such as engineering, materials science, colloidal science, physics, chemistry, pharmacy, medicine, and biology [3]. Nanomaterials can exhibit entirely different properties than their bulk-scaled conventional materials, enabling them to be appealing materials in many industrial applications [3] . For example, inert materials become catalytic materials (e.g., platinum and gold), opaque substances turn out to be transparent materials (e.g., carbon, copper), melting temperatures of solid materials are greatly reduced (e.g., gold, platinum, titanium), semiconductors become conductors (e.g., silicon, germanium), and non-combustible materials turn into combustible materials (e.g., aluminum) [1-3]. These fascinating behaviors of nanomaterials can be obtained only at nanoscale. Nanomaterials, including nanoparticles, nanotubes, nanofibers, and nanocomposites, in the forms of metals and alloys, ceramics, polymers, and composites are all produced by nanotechnology processes and are considered to be the next generation of materials for manufacturing faster cars and planes, more powerful computers and satellites, more sensitive sensors, stronger materials for structural applications, and better micro-and nanochips and batteries [1]. This is because nanomaterials have outstanding mechanical, electrical, optical, magnetic, quantum mechanic, and thermal properties. Nanomaterials are already found in more than a thousand different products, including bacteria-free cloth, concrete, filtration units, sunscreen, car bumpers, tooth paste, polymeric coatings, solar and fuel cells, lithium-ion batteries, tennis rackets, wrinkle-resistant clothing, and optical, electronic, and sensing devices [2] . In the near future, the use of nanomaterials will www.intechopen.com Bronchitis 96 drastically increase worldwide. It is expected that the global market growth of nanotechnology is on track to reach one trillion dollars, and 50 percent of all new products will be nanotechnology-oriented by the year 2015 [20, 21] .
doi:10.5772/16670 fatcat:pwvgptv2lbgq3nuetxovqfhtw4