Recent advances in nanoscience and technology

Abstract

The word "nano" has become very popular throughout the world and it has brought revolution in the traditional concept on material dimensions. Nanomaterials are defined as materials that have dimensional size on a nanometer scale of 1-100 nm and exhibit distinct physico-chemical properties than bulk materials. Scientists, to some extent, believe that nanoparticles constitute another state of matter! Nanostructure materials resolve a number of common problems associated in the fields of industrial, engineering and biomedical sciences. These materials are being utilized in various applications including bio-markers, solar cells, electronic devices, advanced ceramics, new batteries, engineered catalysts, functional paint and ink, magnetic resonance imaging, targeted drug delivery, and lighting technologies, etc. As nanoscale devices have become more of a commercial reality, the industrialization of nanoscale materials has been limited by the need for new material compositions and the development of high-throughput automation for materials preparation. © 2009 Bentham Science Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved.