Nanotechnology (Materials and Applications)

Compared with conventional technologies and sciences, the development of nanoscience and nanotechnology dealing with the synthesis and characterization of nanostructure materials has been quite rapid and intensive, while also unprecedented. Now the technologies based on nanoscience and nanotechnology are exerting a profound and strong impact on every field of conventional technology and science. In fact, all different scientific disciplines, including every single sector (such as nanomaterials, micro and nanomachines, micro and nanoelectronics), have their own paradigm . This is why innovations and industrial developments are profoundly different. However, these fields are strongly interlinked. It is therefore necessary to make our studies more interdisciplinary in order to enable us to understand the nanoworld. Nano sciences and nanotechnologies are leading to a major turning point in our understanding of nature. Such a force has its consequences or in the words of a famous fictional character: every force has its dark side. Our future depends on how we use new discoveries and what risks they bring upon humanity and our natural environment. The ethical implications of this must therefore be discussed. This book presents the possible applications of nano-sized materials in environmental processes. It is by far the most reliable guideline for the selection of nanomaterials to improve the efficiency of environmental processes and for designing nanomaterials for specific environmental processes and pollutants. The impact of nanomaterials on the environment has also been discussed in the book to help avoid causing secondary contamination by use of nanomaterials and to provide proper information about nanomaterials to potential users who wish to use and apply them in environmental technology.