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Graphene, transition-metal dichalcogenides, MXenes and the other members of the flatland family are becoming a rich playground for chemists, enlarging the range of applications these nanomaterials can be used for.
Nanotechnology is advancing at an accelerated pace in applications and novel nanomaterials. To become an enabling technology for a more sustainable society, we identify and assess nanomaterials and applications trends with potentially significant environmental implications.
The mounting environmental pressure on coral reefs calls for a rapid push towards innovative actions. Nanotechnology could help understand and protect present-day reefs to ensure their survival.
The passing of Gordon Moore, an Intel co-founder, is a good time to reflect on the achievements of the semiconductors industry and how nanomaterials could allow Moore’s law to outlive its formulator.
Increasing the capacity of biological nitrogen fixation (BNF) is an effective strategy to enhance food security while simultaneously reducing the carbon and nitrogen footprint of agriculture. Nanotechnology offers several pathways to enhance BNF successfully.
Nanomedicines are complex drugs where components that have typically been regarded as excipients may now be considered part of the active ingredient. The distinction between the active ingredient and excipients for nanomedicines has important consequences for regulatory review and product development. The dissimilarity in the review of the recent ribonucleic acid (RNA)-based lipid nanoparticles highlights the need for further regulatory alignment on this topic.
Recent advancements in DNA nanotechnology are enabling the construction of both aesthetically pleasing and functional structures using synthetic DNA strands, paving the way for practical applications in various fields.
Since the early 1990s, the intersection of genetics and nanomedicine has found a home in the clinic as one of the game changers of the past decade, holding great promise in fighting diseases by rapidly developing much-needed therapeutic platforms, from cancer to infectious or genetic diseases. And this revolution was just triggered by the amazing evolving world of messenger RNA and its ‘cues’.
Waste containing nanomaterials — or nanowaste — is an emerging safety concern worldwide, warranting specific environmentally sound waste management and regulation.
Let’s motor through the fog of molecular machine terminology, not only by defining our own words clearly, but by embracing the coexistence of multiple meanings in a rational and structured manner.
Perovskite quantum dots have been proven promising for photonic and optoelectronic applications, particularly, as bright and narrow band emitters for display technology. Despite the advantageous properties, the stability issues have to be resolved to unleash the full industrial potential of perovskite quantum dots in display technology.
Using our company’s CO2 electrolysers as a model, we describe the challenges involved in incorporating nanomaterial catalysts into industrial-scale electrolysers and suggest ways to more efficiently realize the performance improvements of academic-scale novel nanomaterials at industrial scales.
The recent advent of transition metal dichalcogenides moiré materials is a promising platform for studying correlated electron phenomena and moiré exciton physics.
The transition from a linear ‘take–make–dispose’ economy to a circular economy is gaining momentum. Although there are many opportunities for using nanotechnology to enable circularity, the knowledge gaps related to (eco-)toxicological hazards and the presence of nanomaterials in waste streams constitute significant challenges.