Nanotechnology: A Gentle Introduction to the Next Big Idea

Consumer Goods

The usual arguments for the importance of nanostructures and nanoscience are made in terms of electronics, and we began this way in the first two chapters. But modern society also depends on consumer goods, to make life easy and pleasant. We've already mentioned Gore-Tex, which certainly improves the life of any camper, and Teflon, which does the same for any cook. There are dozens of other examples of nanoscale-designed smart materials that improve the life of the consumer.

We've already started discussing the potential impact of nanotechnology on our wardrobes, and the first few products of this type are already shipping. Some of them come from a company called Nano-Tex, which uses nanoscale structures to change the physical ...