Nanomaterials is a field which takes a materials science-based approach to nanotechnology. It studies materials with morphological features on the nanoscale, and especially those which have special properties stemming from their nanoscale dimensions. Nanoscale is usually defined as smaller than a one tenth of a micrometer in at least one dimension,[1] though this term is sometimes also used for materials smaller than one micrometer.
figure 2-9. Smart Materials and Technologies
The term 'nanotechnology' has attracted considerable scientific and public attention over the past few years. The prefix 'nano' indicates the the dimensional scale of a thing or a behavior is on the order of a few billionths of a meter and it covers a territory as large, if not larger, than thatrepresented by micro-scale. For comparison, the head of a pin is about one million nanometers across whereas a DNA molecule is about 2.5 nanometers wide. Given that individual atoms are nanometer size (for example, 5 silicon atoms is equivalent to one nanometer), then the ability to build structures one atom at a time has been a provocative objective for materials scientists. In its simplest form, nanotechnology conceptually offers the potential to build 'bootom up,' creating materials and structures with no defects and novel properties.
( Smart Materials and Technologies- for the architecture and design professions, pg. 44)
Reference:
Addington, Michelle, and Daniel Schodek. Smart Materials and Technologies: for the architecture and design professions. Oxford: Architectural Press, 2005.
