Questions for Robin Low
In November, 2006, Robin Low answered visitors questions about green nanotechnologies.
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What is green nanotechnology? How can you be sure it is green? Isn't hard to know what the result of nanotechnology is since we're sort of at the beginning of its use?
Nanotechnology has been around for some time now. I believe we have wrinkle-free pants for several years now and they are nano-coated.
Green Nanotechnology is an initiative to ensure that nanotech products are produced in environmentally safe ways and that their risks to humans and the environment are minimized both during the production and consumption.
To ensure that Nanotechnology products is green, every process needs to be analyzed to see if there is a better way that reduces the impact of the manufacturing to the environment.
What would a by-product be of nanotechnology be that current technology can't dispose of?
Nanotechnology is a broad field of applied science and technology focused on controlling and exploiting the structure of matter on a scale below 100 nanometers.
To my knowledge, there are no by-products of nanotechnology that current technology cannot dispose of.
hello,
I had a few questions regarding your production choices. Do you start with the material need first when designing a product, such as the need for cleaner socks leading you to charcoal, or do you know what applications a raw material has, and then design a product around that application?
Is your company public or private?
From one product designer to the next,I want to thank you for designing products geared towards the future that are both appealing as well as functional.
We started with research on nano-bamboo charcoal fabrics, which led us to a lot of other application including socks.
My company is a private company.
I am always interested in making functional products that are both advanced and sustainable.
How expensive is nano technology?
It is a emerging field of technology, and there is definitely costs involved for better products.
However when the technology becomes more common, the price will definitely come down.
Does the iPod Nano really contain nanotechnology inside of it?
I believe in the case of iPod Nano, the word nano means "small", hence it is just a smaller iPod.
Hello,
I just had to ask how do you plan to control things that you cant even see?
How is this possible?
do you use an Electron Microscope to see nano-organisms, and to eventually control them?
Micah
I do not deal with nano-organisms. (Bacteria / Viruses)
An often cited worst-case scenario regarding nanotechnology is "grey goo" - what is "grey goo" and how serious do you think this risk is?
"Grey goo" is an urban myth about runaway nanobots.
“Runaway replicators, while theoretically possible according to the laws of physics, cannot be built with today’s nanotechnology toolset,” according to Dr. Drexler, founder of the Foresight Institute, in California, and Senior Research Fellow of the Molecular Engineering Research Institute (MERI). He added: “Self-replicating machines aren't necessary for molecular nanotechnology, and aren’t part of current development plans.”
According to many researchers, if there are self-replicating machines it is a product of a deliberate and difficult engineering process, not an accident.
The possibility that a large-scale and convenient manufacturing capacity that could be used to make powerful self-replicating weapons in unprecedented quantity, leading to an arms race or war may be a problem, but it will be at least a problem in the distant future.
Is greenyarn Eco-fabric relatively biodegradable or does it take a long time to denature into the soil?
The fabric is as Eco-friendly as Cotton.
The time required for it to fully bio-degrade depends on humidity and temperature.
I've seen bamboo towels and they were wonderfully soft. How is the fiberous bamboo used to get such soft fibers? No charcoal there. Is this considered nano or is it simply a special processing of bamboo and spinning fibers (maybe similar the ancient procedures for making linen from flax)?
Bamboo fiber is naturally very soft, I believe more information can be found on bamboo fiber on bambootex.com
For more information on our Eco-fabric processing, please visit www.greenyarn.com
It says that Greenyarn is producing nanomaterials in environmentally safe ways and trying to reduce risks to humans and the environment. How are you doing that?
Our nano-particles of bamboo charcoal are added into a Rayon Resin and spun into yarn. In our manufacturing process, no other chemicals are added and we do not dye the fabrics.
All our products are tested in international test centers by our distributors for their claimed properties and their safety before we sell them to the public.
For our other companies that we partner to manufacture our products, we select them by looking at their manufacturing process, as we believe in efficient manufacturing process to reduce losses and waste.
We are also looking into using newer sustainable methods in manufacturing and more environmentally alternatives in our products.
I found the Greenyarn socks in a store in Taiwan, and I recently visited Boston and got a pair from a friend in Boston, as I needed the socks to wear, I wore them immediately and threw the packaging away. They were the most comfortable socks I own, and I was wondering what other benefits are there in these nanotechnology socks?
Thank you for buying Greenyarn socks.
The Greenyarn socks are 200 needle count, the most densely knitted socks in the market.
They have the following properties:
Deodorizing,
Antibacterial,
Does not create static,
Emits and absorbs Far Infrared energy to promote blood circulation and metabolism.
All the benefits above come from the Nano-particles of bamboo charcoal and not chemicals.
How did you get involved in this industry? What did you study in school?
My business partner owns a large fabric manufacturing facility, and I took additional courses in advanced technical fabrics in several places including Japan and Taiwan to learn more about my products.
Are there a lot of government regulations regarding nano products that you have to deal with or is it so new that there are no regulations yet?
As my products are not "medical" and not taken internally, There is no regulation on my products.
Although the nano-particles are contained within the fibers of the fabric and does not wash out or come out at all, they are still tested at international test centers to ensure they do not contain any harmful materials which may be added during manufacturing process.
We follow green manufacturing processes and we try to ensure out manufacturing process has least impact on the environment.
Can you make white socks with charcoal?
No, Bamboo charcoal yarn is Grey in color.
Eco-fabric is the "Grey" part of the socks, it cannot be dyed or it will lose its properties.
How is the charcoal integrated into the bamboo fibers and how is it colored lighter colors when charcoal is black?
Eco-fabric fibers contain 5% ~ 7% weight by of nano-particles of bamboo charcoal. It is not PURE bamboo charcoal, hence the color is not black.
It is not dyed to make the yarn black too.