NANO-STRUCTURED PRODUCTS: TECHNOLOGY AND FUTURE

Nanotechnology is understood as the characterization, type, production and use of structures and systems the exact size and shape of which must be measured on a nanometric scale. For these reasons, the ability to handle selectively materials of nanometric size has led the industry to develop raw materials with new properties and significant advantages as compared to the macroscopic world. Thus new products are being designed, or have been designed, which present such innovative features, also in terms of their applications, as to have already influenced our current lifestyle. A case in point is the wireless telephone! According to the US National Science Foundation, the global nano-products market will register a turnover of over 1,000 billion dollars a year in the next 10-15 years! And the key to the growth of this market will be the development of technology that allows products with enhanced unique properties and functionality to move from the laboratory to commercial products. Nanotechnology will therefore be able to spearhead innovation, giving new impetus to a globalized and ever faster trade! In addition to novel materials, nano-enabled products are also likely to include highly efficient catalysts, supercapacitors, fast charge/discharge high-energy batteries, membranes with novel permeation characteristics, and various biometric structures that could have applications in medicine as well as security and identification. But the ability to market nano-structured products will depend on the ability of companies to produce and control this new class of products, meeting the needs of both man and the environment, on the ability of governments to regulate their production and use quickly and effectively, and on the ability of the products themselves to meet the needs and expectations of consumers.