PDMS is viscoelastic, meaning that at long flow times (or high temperatures), it acts like a viscous liquid, similar to honey. However at short flow times (or low temperatures) it acts like an elastic solid, similar to rubber. It is known for its unusual rheological properties and its applications range from contact lenses and medical devices to elastomers, in shampoos (as dimethicone makes hair shiny and slippery), caulking, lubricating oils and heat resistant tiles.PDMS is also used as a component in silicone grease and other silicone based lubricants, as well as in defoaming agents, mold release agents, damping fluids, heat transfer fluids, polishes, cosmetics, hair conditioners etc.

I eagerly waited to apply this lotion on my hands and when I did, I found it better than any other lotions I used till date. But I wonder why it is made fragrance-free. Maybe for quick absorption( random thought). Anyway it is a good product and I liked it very much.

Well, I watched a T.V show-Doing Da Vinci-on Discovery, telecasted in India today. It was good.Actually it was about the construction of a catapult designed by none other than Leonardo Da Vinci. A Leonardo man organized the group of a builder,carpenter et all to construct it. Here are the related videos.And I like The Vitruvian Man ,which is one of the finest works by  Da Vinci based on the correlation of human proportions with geometry by the ancient Roman architect Vitruvius in Book III of his treatise De Architectura. It is a symbol of symmetry of human body. Anyway ,let me come to the main point-Engineering. According to me, Leonardo Da Vinci is the epitome of the engineer/artist.

Engineering is nothing but designing and inventing new technology with the help of scientific knowledge.And here are a few design areas in chemical engineering:
Chemical Plant Design
Chemical Process Modeling
Process Design
Process Simulation
Coming to chemical processing, you need some process simulators to simulate the material and energy balances. And here is the useful list of chemical process simulators,dynamic process simulators, design data, information and advice and Design Projects.

Well, let me start with  Richard P.Feynman .He suggested that lifeless machines could move around in our body through the blood vessels and do surgeries, and the entire Encyclopaedia Britannica could be written on the tip of a needle. His celebrated talk, ‘There’s plenty of room at the bottom’ delivered fifty years ago (on December 29, 1959, at the annual meeting of the American Physical Society at the California Institute of Technology)envisaged the era of nanotechnology – the technology of nanometer scale objects.

Nanotechnology heralds a new revolution. Many people have become conversant with this fact. In many educational institutions, separate courses and subjects on  nanotechnology have been introduced, as it has so much demand.Nanotechnology can be defined as the design,characterization,production and application of structures, devices and systems by controlling shape and size at the nanometer scale.A nanometer is one billionth of a meter.The prefix “nano-” comes from the Greek word nanos, meaning dwarf. We are now able to manipulate atoms easily through a technique which has been found dating back to 1991-The scanning tunneling microscope(STM). In 1985, a buckyball(round molecule consisting of 60 carbon atoms and also known as Buckminster fullerence), has been discovered.And since 1991, we started creating nanostructures(carbon nanotube).

TEM images of prepared mesoporous silica nanoparticles with mean outer diameter

Nanomaterials
 They could be defined as those materials which have structured components with size less than 100 nm at least in one dimension.Two principle factors cause the properties of nanomaterials to differ significantly from other materials-increased relative surface area and quantum effects. They can be synthesized in many methods-Plasma arcing,chemical vapor deposition,sol-gels, electro deposition and ball milling.And they have applications in  fields like:
Materials Technology-Harder metals, flexible/dense ceramics and insulators(super plastic), filters in replacement of body parts and metal-car types,unusual color paints, smart magnetic fluids, film precursors, magneto resistance spin valves, sunscreens, lipsticks, wear and scratch resistant hard coatings and lubricants.
Materials science is practiced by many companies and is intellectual offspring of conventional chemical engineering and our new nanoscale powers.
 Information Technology-Quantum electronic devices, photonic crystals, efficient display devices, electron spin operated computer ships and information storage-high density data storage.

Biomedicals-Tagging of DNA and DNA chips with bio-sensitive nanoparticles, controlled drug delivery and bio-implant materials. 

Energy storage-Hydrogen storage devices, improved fuel efficiency, fabrication of fuel efficiency, fabrication of ionic batteries and magnetic refrigeration.

Molecular manufacturing
Kim Eric Drexler first got this idea. He thought of using DNA to make computers. And soon expressed his ideas through his book Engines of Creation.Molecular nanotechnology describes engineered nanosystems (nanoscale machines) operating on the molecular scale.It is especially associated with the molecular assembler, a machine that can produce a desired structure or device atom-by-atom using the principles of mechanosynthesis.
more…

But we have to wait  for some serious breakthrough’s to take place.Robert Freitas who is a senior researcher at the nonprofit foundation Institute for Molecular Manufacturing in Palo Alto, California told one interviewer that the kind of nanomedicine he envisions is “at least 10 to 20 years away”; in a different interview he put the number at 40 years. Another nanotech expert says molecular manufacturing is 20 or 30 years away.So in the coming years, there could be many discoveries and inventions.Let us wait and see.

The History of Nanotechnology from Ken Hama on Vimeo.
More videos…
Here are a few nanotechnology blogs…

 The United Nations has designated 2010 the International Year of Biodiversity and International Year of Youth.

Eco-friendly cars have been launched in India like Reva before, and many other attempts are making their way. But, still there usage is comparably less than other emission cars, which are gaining significant growth these days. And if the green technology cars don’t dominate fast, then there could be a serious threat to our environment. But, the problem with electric cars is that they require serious battery power for large distances. 
Anyway, by using them, we can bring about some good change in our environment.
Here is the PDF on role of chemical engineers in green engineering.

ChEngineer Folderland
ChemeSoft
ENGCEN

Now, let me explain it in my own way:
1. I’ll start with an example- For manufacturing chemicals, RAW MATERIALS are required. This is Chemistry(it’s all about elements and compounds, atoms and molecules…).
2. In order to transport the raw materials from one place to another in industries, you need some equipments like pipes, pumps, valves etc. And many Unit Operations must be conducted. Principles like Heat Transfer, Thermodynamics, fluid dynamics etc could be applicable. So this is Physics.
3.For the purpose of calculations, Mathematics is an inevitable resource:)

4.Lastly, very important products get manufactured.

From many decades, we have been exploiting many non-renewable fuels. Though we discovered new alternatives, but some fuels like fossils are still in use today.They contribute to climate change and global warming. According to many environmental activists and representatives of the most vulnerable nations in the world, climate change should be viewed first and foremost as an ethical challenge rather than an economic or political one. Engineers could play a key role in solving them.

Here are the five lessons from the Copenhagen Climate Talks. 

And below is the Mann “Hockey Stick” graph( source:Wiki), showing two thousand years of temperatures according to different reconstructions, each smoothed on a decadal scale. The unsmoothed, annual value for 2004 is also plotted for reference.

Carbon dioxide during the last 400,000 years and the rapid rise since the Industrial Revolution.

Apart from global warming, there is another issue which is constantly bothering us-The Ozone Layer Depletion. In the same novel, the brilliant ecologist addresses the Ozone Hole.

Source: World Meteorological Organization, Scientific Assessment of Ozone Depletion: 1998, WMO Global Ozone Research and Monitoring Project – Report No. 44, Geneva, 1998.

Substances like CFC’s, methyl chloroform, carbon tetrachloride,halons and methyl bromide damage the protective ozone layer.It has been shown that CFC’s and other widely-used chemicals produce roughly 84% of the chlorine in the stratosphere, while natural sources contribute only 16%.And even one atom can destroy nearly 100,000ozone molecules. And constant usage of those chemicals has resulted in the annual ozone “hole” over Antarctica that has occurred during the Antarctic Spring since the early 1980s.However,  the good news is that the natural ozone production process and lesser use of  chemicals mentioned above will heal the ozone layer soon.

Lastly, let us consider Air Pollution. It could influence our health to a great extent and through AQI(Air Control Index), we can determine the air quality. And here is the AQI of some places in India. Daily, I face a lot of pollution while going to college. The air carrying gases like SO2, NO2, SPM( Suspended Particulate Matter) and other chemicals make me go mad.

Without blaming anybody, I blame myself. Many times, I traveled on bikes and cars( not those, which use green fuels), and now I want some change. Let us:
1.be frequent pedestrians and stop using vehicles for short distances.
2.not burn leaves and other wood that release smoke and other gases.
3.use battery-based or gas-fuel vehicles.
 At least some way or the other, we can reduce air pollution.

Before completing this post, I included this( Beautiful Information site), which got some space in my Inbox under the name ‘google alerts’. In this site you find many visualizations, infographics and diagrams and the author seems to be a good innovator. When scrolled twice on the homepage I found a post related to global climate change. It is  about “The Climate Deniers vs The Consensus” and has a visual map of the arguments for and against human-caused global climate change . I hope you like it.