Page 7 - EngineerIt February 2021

Prof Suprakas Sihna Ray

thinner than the diameter of a single
human hair. It is finding application in
One of the sensors developed at the CSIR Nanotechnology Centre. The sensor is used transport, medicine, electronics,
in the breath analysis system to simplify the measurement of glucose levels in the energy, defence, and desalination.
management of diabetic patients The range of industries where
graphene research is making an
impact is substantial. “The potential of
patients. One’s breath may have a high Graphene, the wonder carbon graphene is limited only by our
concentration of acetone which is a Researchers at the CeNAM are also imagination,” Prof Ray said.
warning sign that diabetes is not under working on Graphene, which is an Another area of research of the
good control. If not treated immediately allotrope of carbon consisting of a single CeNAM is in bio plastics and the
with insulin, the ketone build-up can layer of atoms arranged in a two- development of new plastic materials
progress to a dangerous condition dimensional honeycomb lattice. The that are stronger, yet biodegradable. The
known as diabetic ketoacidosis, and name is a combination of "graphite" and CeNAM has established an extensive
even a diabetic coma. the suffix -ene, reflecting the fact that network with key local and international
“We have come a long way in the the graphite allotrope of carbon consists organisations. With nanotechnology
development of the breath analyser”, Prof of stacked graphene layers. being such a specialised field, the centre
Suprakas Sihna Ray told EngineerIT. “We Graphene is many times stronger has partnered with several universities
are now at the industrialisation stage of than steel, yet incredibly lightweight to develop human capital and has
the breath analyser and are supporting and flexible. It is electrically and trained more than 130 post-doctoral
the consortium that will ultimately thermally conductive but also fellows, PHD and Master’s students
manufacture and market the device. The transparent. It is often described as the since the centre opened in 2007.
development of complex medical devices world's first two-dimensional (2D) Currently the CeNAM employs close to
can take between six and seven years. It material and is one million times 100 researchers. n
requires extensive trial periods before the
product can be registered by the South
The ideas and concepts behind nanoscience and nanotechnology started with a talk
African Health Products Regulatory
entitled “There’s plenty of room at the bottom” by physicist Richard Feynman at an
Authority. (SAHPRA)
American Physical Society meeting at the California Institute of Technology (CalTech) on
The outflow of work on the breath
29 December 1959, long before the term nanotechnology was used. In his talk, Feynman
analyser has found its way into other
described a process through which scientists would be able to manipulate and control
products, such as the delivery of active
individual atoms and molecules. Over a decade later, in his explorations of ultra-
ingredients in cosmetic products to
precision machining, Professor Norio Taniguchi coined the term nanotechnology;
increase their efficacy. “We are also
however it wasn’t until 1981, with the development of microscopes that could “see”
working on delivery systems for
individual atoms, that modern nanotechnology began.
medicines and the enhancement of time
It is difficult to imagine how small nanotechnology really is. One nanometre is a
release drug delivery systems to reduce
billionth of a metre (or 10-9 of a metre). Nanoscience and nanotechnology involve the
the number of times a medication has to
ability to see and control individual atoms and molecules. About 30 years ago, the
be taken each day. This will increase
development of the scanning tunnelling microscope (STM) and the atomic force
patient compliance, particularly
microscope (AFM) unlocked the age of nanotechnology enabling scientists and engineers
important in the treatment of TB and HIV
to explore a wide variety of ways to deliberately make materials at the nano-scale to
infections. We are continuing our work
take advantage of their enhanced properties such as higher strength, lighter weight,
on the breath analyser to ultimately
increased control of the light spectrum, and greater chemical reactivity than their larger-
include the detection of other conditions
scale counterparts. n
such as cancer, for example.”
EngineerIT | February 2021 | 5