Small science looks at big problems

[img_inline align=”right” src=”http://padnws01.mcmaster.ca/images/Preston_John.jpg” caption=”John Preston will talk about The Perils and Promise of Nanotechnology as part of the Science in the City public lecture on Tuesday, Feb. 12 at 7 p.m. File photo.”]Should we start with the good news or the bad news? The good news is that nanotechnology — the science of the very small — has global impact and the future of the Nanotechnology Revolution is looking bright indeed.

While science on the nanoscale — one millionth of a millimeter — is now utilized in more than 500 everyday products, “Any technology or group of technologies as potent and pervasive as nanotechnology means that at some point, it is inevitable that unintended accidents will occur,” says John Preston, director of the Brockhouse Institute for Materials Research.

This is the premise of Preston's Science in the City lecture, The Promise and Perils of Nanotechnology, a public talk he will give at The Hamilton Spectator Auditorium on Tuesday, Feb. 12 at 7 p.m.

Preston, a professor in the Department of Engineering Physics, notes that the lecture is definitely not going to be all doom and gloom, but wants to make the public aware how chemical and biological properties of materials become size and shape dependent in the nanoregime, which leads to particular problems for regulation and control.

“Materials that are completely inert and safe at the macroscopic dimension could become toxic at the nanoscale,” he says, and uses the classic example of zinc oxide — that thick paste-like cream used to soothe diaper rash and protect against sunburn — as a product that is useful mostly because it cannot pass through the skin.

“Produced on the new nanoscale, zinc oxide can readily pass through the skin and while the good news is that there is no evidence that this leads to harmful effects, no one actually studied in detail what might happen until after they'd developed zinc oxide using this new technology,” says Preston.

The ability to synthesize and characterize materials is where nanotechnology shows so much promise. The research taking place at McMaster's nanotechnology facility, the Canadian Centre for Electron Microscopy, ranges from improving manufacturing processes as basic as making paint stick better by changing its adhesion at the molecular level between the wall surface and the molecule of paint; to medical processes such as creating artificial tissues or developing specific vectors (delivery agents) to target cancer cells; to improving solar cells so that they are more efficient and affordable.

This is a free lecture all are welcome to attend. The talk takes place Tuesday, Feb. 12 in The Hamilton Spectator Auditorium, 44 Frid Street in Hamilton. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. and the lecture begins at 7 p.m.

To reserve your seat, please e-mail sciencecity@mcmaster.ca or by call 905-525-9140, ext. 24934.