Nanomaterials are defined as materials in which at least one length
dimension is below 100 nanometers. In this size regime, these materials
exhibit particular - and tunable - optical, electrical or mechanical
properties that are not present at the macro-scale. This opens up the
possibility for a plethora of applications at the interface of
materials, chemistry, physics and biology, many of which have already
entered the commercial realm. When nanomaterials are blended with other
materials not necessarily in the nanometer regime, the resulting
nanocomposites can exhibit dramatically different properties than the
bulk material alone, leading to an enhanced performance in terms of, for
example, increased thermal and mechanical stability.
This book presents the synthesis, characterization and applications of
nanomaterials and nanocomposites, covering zero-dimensional, elemental
nanoparticles, one-dimensional materials such as nanorods and
nanowhiskers, two-dimensional materials such as graphene and boron
nitride as well as three-dimensional materials such as fullerenes,
polyhedral oligomers and zeolites, complemented by bio-based
nanomaterials, e.g., cellulose, chitin, starch and proteins.
Introductory chapters on the state-of-the-art of nanomaterial research
and the chemistry and physics in nanoscience and nanotechnology round
off the book.
