Nanosciences and nanotechnologies: health and environment

Nanosciences and nanotechnologies: health and environment The contribution of the chemist to nanotechnologies is the bottom-up approach, which consists in the assembly of functionalized objects from molecular precursors. The synthesis relies on the supramolecular assembly of elemental bricks, each contributing with a specific functionality. In the case of medical applications, mineral or organic nanoparticles find applications in optical or magnetic imaging as well as in therapy through controlled release and vectorization of drugs. This paper describes both the concept of synthesis and the process methods to elaborate these materials at the industrial scale. Moreover the structured assembly of nano-objects into textured ceramics, hierarchical materials, thin films or active coating favours both surface exchange and reactants diffusion. These systems with open structure find applications in energy conversion, photovoltaic and depollution.