Throughout history, far-reaching technical advances have changed established paradigms. Nowadays, nanotechnology is emerging as the latest revolutionary development that is expected to profoundly affect how novel materials, capable of delivering solutions that are cost-efficient, environmentally safe, and affording improved technical performance, are designed and manufactured.
Nanotechnology deals with the manipulation and fabrication of objects or structures at, and below, the nanometric scale, with the ultimate goal of developing new materials for specific technological niches. Because the physical and chemical properties of nanomaterials differ from those of bulk materials, they belong by themselves as a unique class. Although nanoscience started off as an academic research field in the mid-1980s, there are already plenty of examples of commercial applications of nanotechnology in the marketplace. Nanomaterials can be found as key components in healthcare, electronics, cosmetics, textiles, information technology, and environmental protection industries. Not surprisingly, the increasing interest they have attracted has translated into a sharp increase in both public and private funding in nanoscience and nanotechnology-related research.
In particular, the size-specific properties of nanomaterials make them a superior alternative to traditional materials in biology and medicine, and specifically for the fabrication of novel biomaterials, in such areas as cancer diagnosis and therapy, implantable devices, drug delivery systems, gene vectors, and tissue engineering, all of which are reviewed in this book. Overall, understanding and controlling the action mechanisms of the nanodevices targeting key biological processes stand out as foremost scientific challenges.
Alongside purely synthetic approaches, Nature itself offers different models and strategies at the nanoscale that can be mimicked with success. Indeed, the study of nanostructures found in many different animals, plants, and other biological systems has shown us ways to develop new materials for energy production, superhydrophobics, adhesives, biosensors, and materials with improved physical and chemical resistance. As far as future technological applications are concerned, these bioinspired nanomaterials are already showing great potential.
This book includes some of the most recent breakthrough research in both bio- and bioinspired nanomaterials. In this respect, it is intended as a navigation guide through some innovative and elegant contributions from a wide group of researchers of high standing in their respective fields, aimed at an advanced and specialist readership community, and relevant in general to readers in research, academia, or private companies focused on high added value contributions.