About the theme

Nanotechnology can be considered as a set of activities or mechanisms that occur on an extremely small scale, but that have implications in the real world. Such mechanisms are beyond the perception of the human eye and operate on a scale called nanometrical (a nanometer is the billionth fraction of a meter).

Nanotechnology opens the possibility of manipulating atoms and molecules and has already been used to manufacture semiconductors and integrated circuits (chips) - e.g. for computers and cell phones -, and to fabricate devices that combine organic and inorganic components. Biology integrated with electronic and mechanical technology will doubtlessly be one of the biggest markets for nanotechnology, creating possibilities of analytical tools and implants that connect computers and advanced devices through neural links, which will certainly be of real benefit to humans.

Among many convergent innovations, nanoscience and nanotechnology join this long endeavour as alternatives for the study of phenomena and manipulation of materials on atomic, molecular and macromolecular scales, where properties differ significantly from those observed on a macro scale and the design, characterization, and the production of control size structures, parts and systems can be performed on a nanometric scale, or 10-9.

Present in many day-to-day products, such as sunscreens, sports footwear, cell phones, fabrics, cosmetics, vehicles and medicine, among others, it is also very active in several sectors, such as: energy, agriculture, water treatment, ceramics and finishing materials, compound materials, plastics and polymers, airspace, naval and automotive industries; steel industry, dentistry, textiles, cement and concrete, microelectronics, disease diagnosis and prevention, and pharmaceutics.

Definition

Nanotechnology aims at preparing, studying the behavior and exploring the properties of materials on a nanometric scale that generally ranges to less than 100 nm (nanometers).

Understanding the scale

When discussing nanotechnology, the first thing to do is shifting the scale with which the world is observed. This is not about just the way the eyes see things. We have to change the way the brain thinks. That is the best way to go into the small great world of nanotechnology.

 

History

As the centuries went by, the concept of the composition of matter evolved, to the extent that new scientific methods and equipment were perfected and incorporated into science (HAWKING, 1988). Manipulating atoms and/or individual molecules on a nanometric scale - nanomanipulation- is a relatively recent idea, which only gained greater consistency after 1959, when Richard Feynman, one of the most famous scientists of the 20th century and winner of two Nobel prizes (ERIC DREXLER, 1992) showed that there are no physical reasons that would prevent devices from being made through the manipulation of individual atoms. He proposes that such manipulation was not only perfectly possible, but that it would also inevitably result in the fabrication of useful devices and incredible applications for every field of knowledge (FISHBINE, 2002).

The word used to name the science on a nanoscale suggested by Feynman, or more precisely the term nananotechnology, appeared only in 1974, when a researcher from the University of Tokyo, Norio Taniguchi, made the distinction between engineering on a micrometric scale (e.g. microelectronics) and the new field of engineering, on a submicrometria scale, that was starting to emerge (FISHBINE, 2002; TANIGUCHI, 1996).

Significant advances in nananotechnology were not noted until the early 1980s due to the lack of new instruments that allowed nanomanipulation, such as scanning probe (SPM), scanning tunneling microscopes (STM), near-field (NFM) and atomic force (AFM) microscopes. These instruments have become the "eyes" and the "fingers" needed to measure and manipulate materials on the nanometric scale (FISHBINE, 2002; SAKAKI, 1999), thus allowing the manipulation of atoms, molecules, proteins, DNA, etc.

Nanotechnology in agriculture and Embrapa's role

Scientific advances are continuous, irreversible and increasingly assimilated to become part of daily life. Nanotechnology is the result of such advances and resulted from the combination and evolution of several fields of human knowledge, including chemistry, materials science, biology, electronics, computing and physics.

As once happened with electricity and computers, nanotechnology will soon be present in almost every facet of daily life, and because it is an integrated science, it offers the chance to interfere in several economic segments, and agriculture is no exception.

In developing countries the application of nanotechnology in production systems or the food industry will especially bring unprecedented impacts, as it will be able to generate benefits to, according to calculations by the United Nations, an estimated five billion people in the upcoming years. These benefits are not only from the economic standpoint, but also direct or indirect ones like better quality of life, increase in food production per cultivated area, improved quality in agro-industrial processes and a higher number of consumers' having access to new products.

Different agriculture-based economies like Brazil, India, Thailand, Mexico, South Africa and Argentina, among others, have established specific nanotechnology and nanoscience programs, mostly focused on applications in the agro-industrial, environmental, pharmaceutical and food sector.

Embrapa's Nanotechnology Research

The goal of the nanotechnology research led at Embrapa is to improve human intervention, through the development of tools that allow control over events, facilitating decision-making to obtain better traceability, productivity and quality. For that purpose, a network was organized (Agronano)that counts on over 150 researchers from Embrapa and 53 different institutions, encompassing the entire domestic territory.

Nanotechnology in Agriculture

Just like in other areas of knowledge, nanotechnology is of extreme importance for agribusiness in general terms. Nanotechnology can generate an improvement in quality associated with environmental monitoring and damage reduction. In special, precision agriculture, product traceability, certification, biofuel production, the inputs (fertilizers, pesticides) industry, production of drugs for veterinary use, food industry, and several other sectors related to the agroindustry will inevitably benefit from the advances of nanotechnology.

The goal of nanotechnology in agriculture is to improve such human intervention, through the use of sensors that enhance control over events and facilitate decision-making to obtain better traceability, productivity and quality. One example is precision agriculture, which today can aggregate and adapt advanced technologies to improve efficiency in production.

Nanotechnology has also worked to develop biossensors and high-sensitivity transducers that allow the identification and quantification of chemical and organic compounds, or impurities or composition changes, either in plants, fruits, or soils.

Irrigation controllers or high-performance sensors are known as the electronic "tongues" "noses" and "eyes" that will certainly invade the market soon, generating great potential for analyses and decision-making.

Nanotechnology's potential for agribusiness

Despite Brazilian agribusiness' position of world leader today, continuous investment is essential in new technologies, so that the country keeps growing and opens new markets in such a dynamic sector of the economy (BANCO DO BRASIL, 2004; ALVES, 2001). Thus nanotechnology offers extremely promising opportunities to improve the competitiveness and the performance of agricultural processes and products in several areas, to add value to products, and to seize market niches where Brazil will have competitive advantages due to its tropical characteristics, some of which will be briefly described below (MATTOSO, 2005; DURÁN et al., 2005, ETC GROUP, 2004).

The importance of nanotechnology in agribusiness starts at the beginning of the production chains, significantly contributing to improving the performance, efficiency and economical use of inputs (fertilizers, pesticides, etc.), through the development of nanoparticles and nanocapsules for the controlled release of fertilizers and pesticides into the soil and of drugs for veterinary purposes (MATTOSO, 2005; DURÁN et al., 2005, ETC GROUP, 2004).

In recent years in Brazil there has been increasing pressure for the development of agricultural inputs that have better quality and performance, in light of higher access to foreign products as well as the need to reduce the environmental impact associated with the use of such inputs. There is an increasing demand for fertilizers that offer greater absorption by plants, do not become segregated during the stages of formulation and transportation, and are easier to handle and apply. Effective pesticides are also more and more desirable not only due to economic advantages, but especially to reduce environmental impacts, human toxicity during their application and the load of pollutants released into the environment.

Thus, the application of nanotechnology in the agricultural sector aims at improving the functional efficiency of products like nutrients, chemically synthecized pesticides (herbicides, insecticides and parasiticides) or products of a biological nature (microorganismos with specific action against a target pest), as well as the safety in handling such products, reducing risks of toxicity for farmers, high concentrations in the farm and environmental contamination. Such approach is in line with the requirements demanded by efforts to preserve quality of life and to reduce the risks of environmental contamination.

Brazil annually saves 1.5 billion dollars in nitrogen fertilizers in soybean crops alone, especially thanks to the research by Embrapa and partner institutions that developed biological nitrogen fixation for such crops, which demonstrates the potential that aggregating new technologies can have in this sector.

Nanotechnology can also significantly contribute to improving the performance of agricultural products and to the development of new applications, adding value, opening new markets and ultimately helping the country move on from the position of simple producer of commodities like fresh food to generate a range of other products sustainably obtained from renewable sources, as the most recent case of agroenergy.

From the moment we start to learn, master and increasingly manipulate plants, animals, and other agricultural products in general at nanotechnology level, we will be able to better explore the properties of their constituents and be capable of, from the same soybean grains, for example, extract food, milk, edible oil, fuel oil, ink, plastic, rubber, drugs and other products whose potential is still unknown. Thus, the development of new uses for agricultural products is an area that can significantly be stimulated by exploring nanotechnology.

Amongst plant components, lignocellulosic ones contain properties that are promising in terms of replacing synthetic materials, e.g. sisal fibers that can already replace fiberglass in some applications in the plastic and automobile parts industries. Due to increased concern with environmental pollution and the issues with increased waste that generates more undegradable gargage, the use of biodegradable natural products like polymers from agriculture to manufacture plastics and biodegradable packaging is a pressing need.

Besides expanding the market through the availability of new added-value products, the development of technologies that revert residue into raw material - like as the extraction of plant nanofibers or nanoparticles of silica from agroindustrial waste in order to produce plastic nanocomposites or other products of industrial interest, - is essential to optimize efficiency in the industry, and could contribute to adding value and profitability to agricultural products, and improve national competitiveness and economic stability (MATTOSO, 2005; DURÁN et al., 2005; ETC GROUP, 2004).

In agroindustry there are countless areas where nanotechnology can give an expressive contribution to increase the sector's competitiveness. An example is the improvement of the performance of agro-industrial processes and products, through the development of separation membranes and/or barriers for some agro-industrial processes and active intelligent packagings for food and drink and water purification, through the control of nanostructures, which have enormous importance in this sector.

Food agroindustry has faced enormous losses during the storage, transportation and distribution of fresh, pre-cut and packed foods. In order to reduce quantitative and qualitative food losses during storage, transportation and distribution, there is an ongoing development of (active and intelligent) packaging systems that not only monitor the quality of foods but also the conditions of the environment that surrounds them. Such packaging can also indicate if the cold chain has been disrupted and reveal the products' history during the main stages of commercialization.

The packaging can regulate plant products' respiration rates, reduce the process of food and/or perishable product degeneration through the action of microorganisms in real storage and conservation conditions, increasing their shelf life, and also introduce elements that can retain undesirable components of such foods, which deteriorate their quality, and/or composites that work as antimicrobial agents that can improve the product's sensorial characteristics, increasing their conservation time with subsequent opening of new markets for exports and extremely significant profits (MATTOSO, 2005, DURÁN et al., 2005; ETC GROUP, 2004).

Nanotechnology in the Food Industry

Generally speaking, it can be said that the focus of nanotechnology in agriculture and foods certainly differs from traditional applications. In foods, because they are often perishable livings bodies, multiple techniques are required and best practices should not be ignored and rather implemented in the different segments of the chain. Embrapa, for instance, has been researching edible coatings and intelligent packagings that, once directly applied to fruits and vegetables, prolong the product's shelf life and ensure nutritional quality.

Despite the many possibile applications of nanotechnology, there are still natural market limitations, either because they are  economically impracticable or due to their complexity, making adoption on an industrial scale difficult. In any case, the technological advance is an irreversible phenomenon and nanotechnology applied to agroindustry is considered a welcome innovation.

Nanotechnology in Brazil

In the world context, the United States are without a doubt the leader in nanotechnology research. In Brazil, we have several university, institutes and research groups working on aspects of nanotechnology. Embrapa Instrumentation was a pioneering institution in nanotechnology research aimed at agribusiness in South America. Having started operations in 1996, it conducted initial studies to establish the foundation for the development of a series of sensors, composites and films. From then on, the center located in São Carlos has trained researchers in the area, and today it counts on a group of excellency that is able to follow and promote advances of knowledge on the subject.

Embrapa Instrumentation obtained unprecedented results in agribusiness-aimed nanotechnology as they developed a sensor system known as "Electronic Tongue", through which layers of macro-molecules produced with nanometric control offer a large surface area whose sensitivity that can reach 1000 timest the one of a human tongue. Ongoing studies have been demonstrating the electronic tongue's potential for the characterization of coffees, juices, milk, wine and water.

Embrapa Instrumentation also researches sensors to identify and quantify bacteria in water and foods; disposable low-cost sensors to quantify ethylene, and thus identify fruit maturation levels in the harvest site; and edible, ultrathin and invisible films, that work as active packaging to be directly applied on minimally processed fruits and vegetables, extending shelf life and preserving product appearance without losing nutritional qualities.

Embrapa's National Laboratory of Nanotechnology for Agribusiness

The Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation (MCTI), through FINEP (Financier of Studies and Projects), supported the establishment, in São Carlos, of the first National Laboratory of Nanotechnology for Agribusiness (LNNA), in which about R$ 8 million were invested. LNNA is a landmark in the consolidation of an infrastructure with advanced equipment dedicated to Nanotechnology, which has given Brazil more ability to advance and generate innovations in such a promising area.

The main lines of research at the lab consist in the development of sensors and biosensors for food certification, quality control and traceability; development of new uses of agricultural products, characterization and synthesis of new materials, such as polymers and nanostructured materials with specific properties, fine films and active surfaces to fabricate intelligent, edible packaging and surfaces; nanoparticles, composites and fibers for the development of reinforced materials using natural products, such as sisal, jute, coconut and other fibers for industrial applications; organic and inorganic nanoparticles for the controlled release of nutrients and pesticides onto soils and plants, and of pharmaceuticals for veterinarian use; development of nanomanipulation methodologies and nanocharacterization of materials; nanobiotechnology for the characterization of genetic material and gene nanomanipulation; characterization of materials of agribusiness interest to obtain unknown information about soil and plant particless, bacteria and pathogens of agricultural interest.

Agricultural machinery and equipment

The nanotechnology present in the processors of computers and miniature devices can be adapted to be used in agricultural tractors, machines and implements, as well as in the whole food processing chain. The generation of soil composition, humidity, and temperature maps not only allows adapting plantation or sowing to such conditions, but also the real-time monitoring of the presence of diseases and of soil nutrient levels, and helps to define the ideal period for the harvest, which reduces losses and rationalizes the application of inputs. These processes are already advanced on a global scale and Embrapa has been a pioneer, with strong performance in the sector.