The potentials of chemical technology are numerous and a vast area is left unexplored. In fact chemical technology has the opportunity to transform itself in this molecular economy. It has the potential to find common ground with biology, information and communications, nanotechnology and material science. Chemical technology so far has drawn lessons from mathematics, physics and chemistry.
The chemical technology in India has been evolving over the years. Today every sphere of life is attached with chemicals and their reactions. In fact everything here on earth is chemistry, the whole world is depending up on the reactions that are happening in the human body, the external environment, and various other living and non living species.
Chemical reactions take place voluntarily or involuntarily at atomic, subatomic and molecular levels within a given environment. Modifying and moulding these reactions for the benefit of humans is termed as chemical technology.
Chemical technology literally is nothing but making, modifying and using chemicals for the purpose of our day- to - day life. It can be used in pharmaceutical industry for manufacturing medicinal drugs used for curing diseases. It can be used in making fertilizers for improving the agricultural yield. In petrochemical industry it is used to manufacture various kinds of polymers, plastics, fuels, inorganic solvents, toxicology and new materials. Using chemical technology one can develop solid state chemistry for developing composite materials.
So gaining knowledge about various tools machines, techniques, crafts, systems, methods of organization, in order to solve a problem, improve a pre-existing solution in the field of healthcare, drugs and medicines, biology, and fuels, the use of chemical technology plays a vital role in the present day.
Recent developments
Recently, there have been lots of developments that have emerged in the field of chemical technology. Especially in the field of pharmaceuticals and biochemical sector , a lot of innovative medicines have been developed for treating dreaded diseases like cancer, heart diseases, HIV/AIDS and others.
Using chemical technology, many new materials have been developed not only in the field of medicine but also in the field of solid chemistry and petrochemicals, space technology, and information technology. The chemical technology has revolutionized the textile and plastic industry by introducing various new polymers.
Inquisitive researchers have recently discovered a new chemical technology in Hyderabad which will help in visualizing the true pathway as to how a chemical interaction occurs during a reaction process. A team of researchers from Hyderabad Central University (HCU) lead by Prof. D. B. Ramachary have discovered a new chemical technology that will precisely track any chemical or biological interactions in various living species.
According to Prof D.B. Ramachary, the new discovery is a great step forward that will bring in a sea change about perceptions with regard to understanding the internal biochemical interactions and will help in developing more effective drugs for combating various diseases in humans and as well as help in understanding the internal organic reactions in different living things.
Until now, biochemical reactions in organic and inorganic substances were only understood by imagination, but with the discovery of the new chemical technology, one can better understand the functioning of living things at atomic and molecular levels which can help scientists to discover better medicinal drugs to cure mysterious disease.
In fact all living and non-living systems that exist in this world are formed through a variety of chemical and biological reactions that take place in simple atoms/molecules. These reactions help in the catalysis of small amino acids into big enzymes. With a focus in this area, the HCU team, for the first time, has found one such major reaction. The technology developed by HCU enables scientists to clearly see how a reaction takes place.
Along with Prof. D.B. Ramachary, the research team comprised of R. Sakthidevi and K.S. Shruthi. In their intricate study they have found and analysed king-size pre-transition state of asymmetric supra-molecular reaction. To understand the process of chemical and biological reactions in living and non-living systems, first it is necessary to understand the catalytic power of small to big molecules in a variety of chemical and biological reactions. For the last few decades, many chemists and biologists have been working to understand clearly the reaction pathways, particularly the “transition state” of the reactions.
At present “femtosecond spectroscopy” is utilized to understand and predict important chemical reactions. However, this method may not be suitable to study the transition states of sensitive asymmetric reactions.
The research team had used electrospray ionization technique to influence a variety of chemical and biological reactions. This will help in better study of pre- or post-transition states of complex asymmetric chemical reactions.
Historical perspective, opportunities
Historically if one looks, the period between 1960 and 1980 represented a golden period for the global chemical industry. Chemical sciences have intersected with other disciplines to create new technologies. The energy industry was seeing intense activity, spurred by high crude oil prices.
Chemical technology had been contributing with new secondary and tertiary recovery methods. The petrochemical industry had seen a phase of explosive growth. Chemical technology had not only brought in new plastics, elastomers, fibres and chemicals to daily life but have also contributed in developing new drugs and vaccines to safe guard the human health.
With the advancement in chemical technology, a number of new polymers have been discovered during the previous three decades. These new materials have started to make an impact on society.
New breeds of performance materials have made inroads into engineering applications. These ranged from polycarbonate and polyphenylene oxide to thermoplastic elastomers. This golden period for the chemical industry then gave way to the computing industry. Chemical technology took backstage in the midst of tectonic shifts in information technology and communications.
Since 1980 a golden age has been witnessed for information technology and communications. This rise too can be attributed to chemical technology as it had helped in developing new materials that are used in those areas. During the last 20 years, processing power has grown 200 fold to 40 million transistors on a microprocessor. Storage capacity has grown 5,000 times to 30,000 megabits per square inch. And communications capacity has grown 60,000 times to 6,000 gigabits per second on a single optic fibre. The complexity of computing is portending to outgrow the human ability to manage it. Computing sphere of influence promises to extend everywhere. It would impinge areas such as cognitive sciences to create smart devices.
Today technology is taking centre stage in driving economic growth and development. In fact, two-thirds of global growth in GDP in the ensuing future will come from technology sectors.
Though there was a little down for chemical technology during the information technology era, all is not lost for chemical technology. In fact a renewed golden age awaits it. Chemical technology has the opportunity to reinvent itself. Convergence will be the dominant theme of technology in the twenty-first century. Synergies created by different domains would have far greater impact than any single one.
Convergence of nanotechnology, biotechnology and accelerated computing is expected to bring about a new Molecular Economy in the twenty-first century. The world of technology is envisaged to move to the micro, nano and molecular scale.
Chemical technology has the opportunity to transform itself in this molecular economy. It has the potential to find common ground with biology, information and communications, nanotechnology and material science. Chemical technology so far drew lessons from mathematics, physics and chemistry.
Chemical technology today, gives lot of opportunity to learn from biology. It has the opportunity to embrace new biopolymers, biofuels, bioprocesses, biosensors and biopharmaceuticals. Chemical technology also has much to gain from material science. New conductive polymers for electronic components, imaging, devices and fuel cells are on the anvil.
New semi-conductive polymers for LEDs, luminescent displays, storage chips, solar cells and electronic paper are on the horizon. Likewise, chemical technology has a lot to gain from information technology and communications. These opportunities range from chem informatics, fuzzy logic control for process modelling and optimisation and wireless data transmission and sensor networks in process automation.
Finally, chemical technology has to embrace nanotechnology in the ensuing future. The paint and cosmetic industries in particular have the opportunity to transform with nano materials exhibiting compelling properties at the nano level.
It is in the realm of possibility to develop paints that change colour and paints that convert solar energy to power. Chemical technology must embrace a vision of a molecular economy. It must engage with building products and systems upwards from the molecular scale.
At a broader level, the chemical technology will have to shift from processes and products to presenting platforms for creativity. Technology will be much more than the means to translate science into socially useful tools.
Technology will graduate to the means to create platforms for delivering creative solutions in diverse areas to each person on this planet. Today chemical technology is evolving to the most advanced levels. Chemical process modellers and simulators are learning downstream processing and purification of proteins. Polymer scientists are learning from cell biology to create new tissue engineering constructs. Chemical equipment manufacturers are learning bioprocesses to build new fermentors, bioreactors and assist devices.
Pharmaceutical technologists are engaging with pharmacogenomics that tailor drugs for each individual. Pigment technologists are learning nanotechnology to create nano constructs with highly specific colours, shades and hues.
Energy technologists are addressing the opportunity in building miniaturized fuel cell devices to meet diverse distributed energy needs. Above all, chemical engineers and technologists are collaborating and cooperating more than ever before.
As knowledge from diverse disciplines intersects and converges, collaboration and co-operation for horizontal integration is becoming a way of life. Today biology is taking over engineering and chemical engineers are taking over biology. A remixed chemical engineer of the future would probably talk biology to engineers, engineering to biologists and chemical engineering to politicians.