Insight

Nanotech takes off in SA

Lani van  Vuuren, Water Wheel

Some deem it as big as the industrial revolution or the dawn of the information era. Now South Africa has officially joined the nanotechnology race following the launch of two Nanotechnology Innovation Centres. 

Nanotechnology has captured the attention of governments, researchers and industries worldwide. A new generation of technology it holds the potential to revolutionalise the world we live in. Its possibilities seem endless, bound only by the limits of the imagination. Independent research firm Lux Research predicts that by 2014, the market for manufactured goods incorporating nanotechnology would be worth US$2,6-trillion. 

There are already more than 500 products being sold that claim they are made with nanoscale or engineered nanomaterials, from nanotube-infused graphite tennis rackets to antimicrobial bandages. 

Nanotechnology is the art, science and engineering for manipulating objects at the nanoscale. We are talking minute scales here. One nanometre is about one million times smaller than a millimetre. Or to put it another way, one nanometre is about 10 000 times narrower than a human hair or ten times the diameter of a hydrogen atom. 

At this size materials often take on unique and sometimes unexpected properties. 

Nano-sized gold, for example, can appear red rather than metallic yellow. Nano-sized carbon tubes are many times stronger than the same weight of steel, while bulk carbon (i.e. graphite or coal) can be very brittle. This means that at the nanoscale, materials can be tuned to build faster, lighter, stronger and more efficient devices and systems, as well as new classes of materials. In the water sector, nanotechnology can be applied to develop more costeffective and high-performance water treatment systems as well as instant and continuous ways to monitor water quality, among others. 

Nanotechnology is a multi-disciplinary research and development activity, bringing together chemists, physicists, biotechnologists, and engineers. To date, nanoscale research and development has been rather on a small-scale in South Africa, driven mostly by individual researchers' interests. A recent investigation by the University of Pretoria on behalf of the Water Research Commission (WRC) into local nanotechnology found that the country's nanoscale research is below what one would expect in light of its overall publication output. At present, the country's nanoresearch is distributed at a number of universities with a sub-critical concentration of researchers. This is set to change, however.

Government's interest in the potential of nanotechnology has led to the National Nanotechnology Strategy, which will see the coordination of nanoscale research and development at a national level. Joseph Molapisi, Manager: Emerging Research Areas at the Department of Science & Technology (DST) explains that the explosive interest in nanotechnology internationally meant that the South African government could no longer ignore its potential. "Our interest lies in its socio-economic potential."

South Africa is one of the first countries to have an official nanotechnology strategy. It is an ambitious long-term plan which seeks to position the country as a player in this emerging area of science and technology. The focus areas are very clear, namely water, energy, chemical and bioprocessing, mining and minerals, and advanced materials and manufacturing. Molapisi is quick to point out that government’s investment in nanoscale research is not “for the of it”. “The activities we support are aimed towards identified,tangible measures to address some of the countries social challenges while enhancing our industries’ competitiveness. For example, we would like to see the development of marketable products such as low-cost filters to provide clean drinking water, medical devices to detect and treat diseases more effectively, and enhanced nanomaterials. ”

An initial sum of R170-million over the 2006/07 period has been secured from Treasury to support the development of this field of science. “This is a drop in the ocean compared to the investments being made by other countries and much less than we initially anticipated, however, we realise that we are competing with other, more pressing needs in the country,” says Molapisi. Due to its multidisciplinary nature nanoscale research is an expensive business, and it is hoped to get more buy-in from the private sector who will eventually be the beneficiaries of the research outcomes. “Many industries still see nanotechnology as pie-in-the-sky research, thus it is difficult to attract them, especially in the early stages,” notes Molapisi. South Africa is also set to play a leading role in nanoscale research and development in the Southern African Development Community. A workshop is being planned later this year to discuss how the southern African countries can pool their resources to enhance their nanotechnology knowledge. South Africa already has cooperation agreements with countries such as France andArgentina to enable its researchers to gather crucial experience.

South Africa’s first two Nanotechnology Innovation Centres (NICs) were launched at CSIR and Mintek last year. The activities at these centres are strongly aligned with DST’s nanotechnology strategy. At the CSIR, the focus is on the design and modelling of novel nano-structured materials. The centre at Mintek, which is collaborating with the WRC, the Medical Research Council, as well as the universities of Johannesburg, the Western Cape and Rhodes, is focusing on research in the fields of sensors, biolabelling and water nanotechnology.

More information:

 Article courtesy of the Water Wheel. To see the full article go to: www.wrc.org.za

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