Nanoscience and nanotechnology are the study and application of extremely small things and can be used across many fields, including chemistry, biology, physics, materials science, and engineering.
It’s hard to imagine just how small nanotechnology is. One nanometer is a billionth of a meter, or 10-9 of a meter. To put that into context:
- There are 25,400,000 nanometers in an inch.
- A sheet of newspaper is about 100,000 nanometers thick.
- On a comparative scale, if a marble were a nanometer, then one meter would be the size of the Earth.
Nanoparticles can occur naturally (for example, viruses or bushfire smoke), incidentally (diesel, combustion exhausts) and through engineering processes (carbon nanotubes).
Knowing how to safely manage the risks associated with nanoparticles is essential. The Nanotechnology process document details the requirements for the safe handling, transport, fabrication, storage and disposal of nanoparticles utilised or generated during research or teaching and learning activities at RMIT.
Nanoparticles can cause physiological effects due to exposure through inhalation, ingestion and skin penetration. Nanoparticulate forms of some materials show unusually high reactivity, especially for fire, explosion and in catalytic reactions. There is also risk of adverse chemical reactions with other materials, and environmental contamination.
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