Molecular Chemistry of Sol-Gel Dericed Nanomaterials
Chapter One
Molecular Chemistry
and Nanosciences
1.1 INTRODUCTION
Nanosciences study nano-objects, i.e. nanometric-size objects (1 nm 1/4
1 x [10.sup.-9] m) and their transformation into nanomaterials. Unquestionably,
they represent a most promising field of material sciences for the next
few years. The main challenge will be the control of physical and chemical
properties by methods operating at atomic or molecular level.
However, in the mind of many scientists, physics is the major factor in
nanosciences, chemistry playing but a minor role. This opinion is largely
the consequence of the historical development of nanosciences, as
explained in the next section.
The purpose of this book is to amend this view by pointing out the
potential of chemistry in this area. We shall present in Section 1.2 the two
principal approaches in nanosciences (the 'top-down' approach which
relies mostly on physics and the 'bottom-up' approach which is essentially
a matter of chemistry), and relate in Section 1.3 how chem ... read full excerpt from Molecular Chemistry of Sol-Gel Derived Nanomaterials ebook
