Green Nanotechnology in Solar cells by Rani Jarkas

Green nanotechnology is the development of clean technologies, "to minimize potential environmental and human health risks associated with the manufacture and use of nanotechnology products, and to encourage replacement of existing products with new nano-products that are more environmentally friendly throughout their lifecycle” As the growing needs to protect our environment are increasing, many scientists are looking into ways to develop clean, affordable, and renewable energy sources, with a smaller environmental footprint and minimise pollution.

[caption id="attachment_203" align="aligncenter" width="260"] Solar Panels[/caption]

One major project that is being worked on is the development of nanotechnology in solar cells. Solar cells are more efficient as they get tinier and solar energy is a renewable resource. A group of researchers are making solar power significantly more efficient by scooping up more of that wasted energy.

Researchers at Stanford University have found a way to trap light in organic solar cells. The idea is that the longer light is in the solar cell the more electrons will be generated. The researchers found that by making the organic layer much thinner than the wavelength of light and sandwiching the organic layer between a mirror layer and a rough layer the light stayed in the solar cell longer and excited more electrons.

Researchers at Michigan Technological University have developed a honeycomb like structure of graphene in which the graphene sheets are held apart by lithium carbonate. They have used this "3D graphene" to replace the platinum in a dye sensitized solar cell and achieved 7.8 percent conversion of sunlight to electricity.

Researchers at Los Alamos National Lab have demonstrated a solar cell that uses a copper indium selenide sulfide quantum dots. Unlike quantum dots containing lead or cadmium the copper based quantum dot is non-toxic as well as low cost.

[caption id="attachment_202" align="aligncenter" width="300"] A field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) image of 3D honeycomb-structured graphene. [ranijarkas.wordpress.com][/caption]
MIT researchers have made major strides toward developing solar cells that are inexpensive, efficient, flexible, and transparent using a design that combines two special components: nanowires and graphene. Tests with assembled solar cells showed that incorporating the nanowires pushed up device efficiency and that there was no performance penalty for replacing a conventional high-cost, brittle electrode with their version made of abundant, inexpensive carbon.

拉尼.亚卡斯（Rani Jarkas）：纳米技术在医学中的应用

在我之前写的博客中（http://ranijarkas.wordpress.com），我谈到了一些我在多年来从事与纳米技术相关工作中所获得的一些经验和见解。我相信你一定经常听到“纳米技术”一词，但不管我们对它多么耳熟能详，纳米技术仍然是一个谜。我们看不到它，我们也感觉不到它。而事实上，纳米技术已应用在消费产品、医疗、食品等更多的领域。今天让我们专注于探讨纳米技术在医学上的应用。

纳米技术被称为“ 二十一世纪的技术”，其在医药领域的应用可以彻底改变我们未来检测和治疗疾病的方式。有些技术是想象出来的，有些正在测试的不同阶段，而另一些我们今天已在应用。

纳米技术在医学上正在研发的一门技术是利用纳米颗粒向癌细胞等特定类型的细胞输送药物、热、光或其他物质。纳米颗粒可作为药物载体来吸引病变细胞，从而可以直接处理这些细胞。这种技术可减少对体内健康细胞的伤害，并可以在早期发现疾病。美国国家癌症研究所创造了癌症纳米技术联盟，希望可以吸引更多对纳米医学的投资以突破对各种癌症的检测、诊断和治疗。

纳米技术专家拉尔夫•梅克尔博士（Dr. Ralph Merkle）曾经说过，“如果我们能降低成本并利用纳米技术的进步提高医疗技术质量，我们就可以更广泛地解决医疗问题以减少人类的苦难。”

有一点是可以肯定的，未来纳米技术医学的发展将会有更广泛的用途，并可以挽救许多的生命。就像伯纳德.马库斯（Bernard Marcus）所说，“纳米技术在医学上的应用无疑会对人类的生存产生重大的影响。”

Nanotechnology in Medicine by Rani Jarkas

In my previous blogs (http://ranijarkas.wordpress.com/), I shared some of my thoughts and insights obtained from my work and experience in the nanotechnology industry. I am sure you must hear about “nanotechnology” a lot, but no matter how much we hear about it, nanotech remains something of a mystery. We can’t see it, and we certainly can't feel it. And the truth is nanotechnology has found a place in consumer products, medical treatment, the food industry and so much more. Let’s focus on the discussion on its application in medicine today. I will continue to write more about nanotech in the near future.

The use of nanotechnology, "the technology of the 21st century," in the field of medicine could revolutionize the way we detect and treat disease in the future. Some techniques are only imagined, some are at various stages of testing, while some are actually being used today.

One application of nanotechnology in medicine currently being developed involves employing nanoparticles to deliver drugs, heat, light or other substances to specific types of cells, such as cancer cells. Particles are engineered so that they are attracted to diseased cells, which allows direct treatment of those cells. This technique reduces damage to healthy cells in the body and allows for earlier detection of disease. The National Cancer Institute has created the Alliance for Nanotechnology in Cancer in the hope that investments in nanomedicine could lead to breakthroughs in terms of detecting, diagnosing, and treating various forms of cancer.

The nanotechnology expert Dr. Ralph Merkle once said, “If we can reduce the cost and improve the quality of medical technology through advances in nanotechnology, we can more widely address the medical conditions that are prevalent and reduce the level of human suffering.”

One thing is sure that nanotechnology medical developments over the coming years will have a wider variety of uses and could potentially save many lives. Just like what Bernard Marcus said, “Nanotechnology in medicine is going to have a major impact on the survival of the human race.”

Rani Jarkas’ Interests in Nanotechnology

K. Eric Drexler popularized the word 'nanotechnology' in the 1980's. Soon nanotechnology became an accepted concept, the meaning of the word shifted to encompass the simpler kinds of nanometer-scale technology. Nanotechnology, in its traditional sense, means building things from the bottom up, with atomic precision. This theoretical capability was envisioned as early as 1959 by Nobel Prize winner in physics Richard Feynman. The physicist spoke of storing all the information in all the world's books on "the barest piece of dust that can be made out by the human eye." He imagined shrinking computers and medical devices, and developing new techniques of manufacturing and mass production. In short, a half-century ago he anticipated what we now call nanotechnology—the manipulation of matter at the level of billionths of a meter.

Rani Jarkas, a founder and chairman of the longest-standing firm in the nanotechnology investment arena, has been educating and advising investors on how to capitalize on the growth in nanotechnology since 2003.

“Nanotech is a technology to break a matter down to the smallest size of particles to increase its efficiency tremendously, which might provide solutions to meet demand of safe water, energy, healthcare and food products with less labour and limited land at low-cost. The application of nanotechnology can bring tremendous growth in industrials and help making low-cost solar energy generation, environment conservations, construction sector, precise cancer treatment, medical diagnosis, and defense technology. ” Rani Jarkas said in his keynote presentation.

BRIEFINGWIRE: Rani Jarkas, the Leading Player in the Game Answers Your Question: Why Invest in Nanotechnology?

BRIEFINGWIRE: Rani Jarkas, the Leading Player in the Game Answers Your Question: Why Invest in Nanotechnology?.

BRIEFINGWIRE: Rani Jarkas Proves Again To Be a Global Nanotechnology Investment Leader

BRIEFINGWIRE: Rani Jarkas Proves Again To Be a Global Nanotechnology Investment Leader.