Cambridge (MA) - A professor at Harvard University has come up with an innovative way to provide nano power.  It comes to us in the form of a solar-cell nanowire.  The wire itself is comprised of layers of photovoltaic silicon which provide power in the presence of sunlight.  Efficiencies and longevity are up, meaning this new product does not consume itself over time.  It could be providing us with nanopower in the future.


So many nanopower devices are coming our way.  In recent months we've seen micro-batteries.  These new batteries are so small they can fit inside a sheet of paper.  In addition, there are remote resonant power sources which, like today's card reader machines, send out an EM signal that the device receives and converts to minute quantities of energy for engaging a micro-circuit and sending back data wirelessly, typically a 64-bit or 128-bit number.  Still, these devices require complex machines to construct, harness, utilize and maintain.  That's one thing Harvard is hoping to change.

Charles M. Lieber, a renown nanotechnology chemistry professor at Harvard, and colleagues, developed a type of coaxial cable comprised of three layers of various silicon materials.  When exposed to sunlight on the outer-layer, the silicon layers begin an interaction which induces electricity.  So far the efficiency is only around 3.5%, however this would be sufficient to provide power to nanodevices.  In fact, Lieber believes the efficiency could approach that of modern semiconductor-based solutions which are around 20% efficient.  Lieber is asking the question "[is] there a new geometry that will lead to better photovoltaic technology [in general]".

Lieber's long work in nanotechnology has led his team to develop bioterrorism applications that can detect an individual virus (or other particle).  He's also constructed nanowire arrays which can detect individual neuron signals, as well as very small detector for cancer (about the size of a matchbook).  He said if the efficiency can be raised to about 15%, the nanowires could be constructed without the need for a clean room.  This would provide them with commercial potential rather than laboratory hubris.

In looking to the future, and after various problems with construction are overcome, Lieber sees the possibility of nanowire clothing which is comprised of these kinds of power generating threads.  The threads feed in to a central source which allows the very clothes we wear to provide the power necessary for all of our digital devices.


Author's Opinion
Nano devices are becoming prolific these days.  Scientists everywhere have new breakthroughs in nano-technology.  And they're always devices which in 10 to 15 years could revolutionize something.  And so many separate areas of science today are having these same kinds of field breakthroughs.  Significant increases in understanding and potential, yet no real products.

We are seeing the age of computers bring to mankind the new tool, one which remove the totality of his menal burden from the process.  No longer does man have to remember everything about something to wield it.  Man can now move into understanding predominantly only the big concepts, the larger ideas of what's taking place, all the while allowing his computers to work through and maintain the real nitty gritty details.  Formulas and end results, that's the name of the game.  And then, of course, theory about what might be possible from these new findings.

It's a significant departure from mankind's history, one which has fed our sciences into growing exponentially.  "Imagine what tomorrow might hold," likely the school-time chime of many science or chemistry teachers.  Well just look at what we keep finding around every corner of the science world.  Computers have made it impossible for us to keep up with the ever changing face of science, the world, anything really.  I only pray that very same science doesn't get too far ahead of man's ability to step back and say "Okay, we're here.  Now, where exactly is here?" before proceeding even further.

Nanotech miracles?

Oct 23, 2007 20:56     

A well founded prospect for a nanotech superbattery that replaced petroleum in ground transportation would crush the market price of oil and end the terror war or, if it were possible to replace animal feed crops with something made via nanotech, 80% of the world's ariable farmland could be retired from production and the wilderness would be all around us again. May be those two aren't in Mother Nature's rule book but something even more shocking awaits.

charlie report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

Great

Oct 23, 2007 21:23     

great opnion on the author. This should be posted in every scientists coat pocket, notebook, and windsheild.
Korsen report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

though i have to say,

Oct 23, 2007 22:55     

If we were only to remember and focus on the big picture, we lose sight of the nitty gritty and expose ourselves to be controled by someone with the knowledge of the nitty gritty. Have you ever thought of tilting your glass to pour soda so you don't get 95% of those bubbles? Have you ever thought of not adding oil to noodles or salad before you add anything else because it won't stick to the oil? If everyone just walked around weilding swords, the person who understood balance, weight, and force would walk around killing everybody without so much as a scratch on him. This is the concept of the upper upper class elites. They dumb down society and tell them what they want and what they need to buy. Recently monopoly released a version that used fake credit cards instead of the play money. When i saw it, i said, hey! that's a great idea! No more mess, no more wasted time picking apart single bills, no more clutter. Then i realised it's just teaching little girls and boys how to abuse credit cards when they grow up and cast themselves in permanent debt. We need to study the nitty gritty if we want to call ourselves experts, because the definition of an expert is a person who has made every mistake possible in their respective field and knows how to correct them. You cannot call a computer technician an expert if he has never made mistakes. It's deep.

Korsen report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

Well said

Oct 24, 2007 01:52     

@korsen yeah I agree its indeed deep. Its observations like an apple falling which every1 sees but few like newton realise, its relevance. We are hard wired (educated) in such a way that certain things allude us. BUT REMEMBER nanotech is a tool (like a knife) and who wields it and what s(he) intends do with it... AND we have both groups.
companion report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

korsen

Oct 24, 2007 03:53     

lol. silly man, its all about specialisation, and as someone who speaks with so much force and acts so knowledgeable himself, you probably know, but failed to mention, specialization. It comes down to this: the world has evolved into a specialisation society. In high economic countries, its all about getting your degree (specialising) or trade (also specialising) and making your money from what others dont. there is no classes based on knowledge alone. But it does help to have money to get knowledge! Someone with lots of money can afford to take a degree over a trade. But in the end, someone always can hold someone in ransom. be it a mechanic with your car, a builder with your house or a phone clerk with your account details for your mobile phone that he wont process. Not just those technical degree jobs like accountants or economists or poloticians. hell if anything, its those poloticians that can always be held ransom. they dont know anything about value of vehicles, how their plans on mobiles work or anything like that. thats why they have secretaries!

skythra report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

Talk further? See more? Where's the meat?

Oct 24, 2007 06:27     

Put it all in perspective: we can talk and see faster, further, and more than ever before. So what? We are also placing more power to control, in the hands of fewer people than ever at any time in history. More power, more tech = more control. When the Google's of the earth control totally what you can search for, and the sources for information are all now pretty much through the same channels, the potential for abuse is extremely high.

Steve report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

Cyberdyne unavailable for comment.

Oct 24, 2007 07:39     

We welcome our solar-powered nanotech overlords.
Joe report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

wow

Nov 06, 2007 10:54     

We barely even have the full grasp of the consequences of centruy old technology, this should be interesting (read: sad)...
nel report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0