Abstract

Nanotechnology is a collection of different technologies and approaches dealing with manipulating matter with dimensions on the nanometer scale. The growth of nanotechnology has been rapid in recent years and encompasses a range of industries including pharmaceuticals, chemicals, robotics, medicine, agriculture, electronics, national defense, fiber optics, and energy. Nanoparticles with shapes, morphologies, and chemical compositions engineered for specific functions and applications are now common. While estimates of the numbers of new types of nanoparticles being produced in academic and industrial labs that combine these different characteristics are uncertain, it is likely that they run into the hundreds.