The long view of nanotechnology development: the National Nanotechnology Initiative at 10 years

A global scientific and societal endeavor was set in motion by the nanotechnology vision formulated in 1999 that inspired the National Nanotechnology Initiative (NNI) and other national and international R&D programs. Establishing foundational knowledge at the nanoscale has been the main focus of the nanotechnology research community in the first decade. As of 2009, this new knowledge underpinned about a quarter of a trillion dollars worldwide market, of which about $91 billion was in US products that incorporate nanoscale components. Nanotechnology is already evolving toward becoming a general-purpose technology by 2020, encompassing four generations of products with increasing structural and dynamic complexity: (1) passive nanostructures, (2) active nanostructures, (3) nanosystems, and (4) molecular nanosystems. By 2020, the increasing integration of nanoscale science and engineering knowledge and of nanosystems promises mass applications of nanotechnology in industry, medicine, and computing, and in better comprehension and conservation of nature. Nanotechnology’s rapid development worldwide is a testimony to the transformative power of identifying a concept or trend and laying out a vision at the synergistic confluence of diverse scientific research areas. This chapter provides a brief perspective on the development of the NNI since 2000 in the international context, the main outcomes of the R&D programs after 10 years, the governance aspects specific to this emerging field, lessons learned, and most importantly, how the nanotechnology community should prepare for the future.     

Nanotechnology research directions for societal needs in 2020: summary of international study

The paper examines the progress made in nanotechnology development since 2000, achievements at ten years, and opportunities in research, education, innovation and societal outcomes by 2020 worldwide.     

Structural characterization and photoluminescence of nanocrystalline Ho-doped BaTiO<Subscript>3</Subscript> derived from sol–gel method

Nanocrystalline Ho-doped BaTiO₃, with average nanocrystals size of 20 nm, have been prepared using a sol–gel combustion technique. The structural and morphological properties of the powders have been investigated by X-ray powder diffraction and high resolution transmission electron microscopy. Chemical states of the holmium on the Ba_0.97Ho_0.03TiO₃ ceramic surface were analyzed using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. Furthermore, their photoluminescence properties were analyzed.     

On the Representation of Compact Nilpotent Rings by Triangular Matrices

We prove that every compact nilpotent ring R of characteristic p > 0 can be embedded in a ring of upper triangular matrices over a compact commutative ring. Furthermore, we prove that every compact topologically nilpotent ring R of characteristic p > 0, is embedded in a ring of infinite triangular matrices over \mathbbF_p^w(R)\mathbb{F}_{p}^{w(R)}.     

Development of a screening method for the determination of xenobiotic organic pollutants in municipal landfill leachate using solvent extraction and comprehensive GCxGC-qMS analysis

In the present study, we propose a method for the evaluation of different classes of xenobiotic organic compounds enclosed in the municipal landfill leachate using comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography coupled with quadrupole mass spectrometry (GCxGC-qMS). Here we show that, due to high peak capacity of comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography, in a single run it is possible to separate compounds with different physical-chemical properties (such as aliphatic and aromatic compounds, polyaromatic hydrocarbons, phenols, phthalates, aldehydes, ketones, nitrogen containing compounds, organo-phosphoric flame retardants etc.), compounds which have proved to be endocrine disruptors, compounds that are persistent, bioaccumulative and toxic, carcinogenic, mutagenic, teratogenic, reprotoxic or harmful for the environment. Even though a solvent extraction method has been optimised, the extraction step still remains the main problem for a comprehensive characterization of all classes of organic toxicants enclosed in the municipal landfill leachate.

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(1‐Adamantyl)methyl Glycidyl Ether: A Versatile Building Block for Living Polymerization

(1‐Adamantyl)methyl glycidyl ether (AdaGE) is introduced as a versatile monomer for oxyanionic polymerization, enabling controlled incorporation of adamantyl moieties in aliphatic polyethers. Via copolymerization with ethoxyethyl glycidyl ether (EEGE) and subsequent cleavage of the acetal protection groups of EEGE, hydrophilic linear polyglycerols with an adjustable amount of pendant adamantyl moieties are obtained. The adamantyl unit permits control over thermal properties and solubility profile of these polymers (LCST). Additionally, AdaGE is utilized as a termination agent in carbanionic polymerization, affording adamantyl‐terminated polymers. Using these structures as macroinitiators for the polymerization of ethylene oxide affords amphiphilic, in‐chain adamantyl‐functionalized block copolymers.

     

Dynamic polymer membranes displaying tunable transport properties on constitutional exchange

Functional dynamic polymers, “dynamers”, are used to design new membrane materials. Our efforts involve the synthesis and the fabrication of dynamic thin-layer supported solid membrane films. The transport performances of (permeability, selectivity and partition coefficients) are evaluated by using the solution-diffusion model. The membrane performances designed to transport ionic salts NaCl and KCl depend and are based on encoded molecular features of the monomeric subcomponents. Thanks to the possibility to combine the structural and functional features of different monomers, the heteropolymeric membrane materials can exhibit very different properties from their original homopolymeric components. In the examples developed here, this strategy revealed itself as a versatile way for the synthesis of new membranes presenting different permeabilities and preserving their selectivity (SK_+/Na₊∼1.4)$(S_{{\text{K}}^{+}/\text{N}{\text{a}}^{+}}\sim 1.4)$.     

Mixed supramolecular cation-carrier and anion-carrier facilitated transport for the selective alkali cations transport

In this paper, we describe the study of the membrane transport properties of mixed supramolecular macrocyclic cation-carriers [1·K]⁺, [2·Na]⁺ and phenylureidoarene anion-carriers [3–5·I]⁻ through bulk liquid membranes. Our efforts involve the evaluation of the transport performances of these systems designed to transport ionic salts NaI and KI and strongly depending on encoded molecular features of the anion-carrier subcomponents.     

Oxidation by CO2 of Au0 species on La2O3-supported gold clusters

The IR spectra that characterize La(2)O(3)-supported gold clusters show that the original Au(0) species can be oxidized by CO(2) during the catalytic CO oxidation reaction, indicating that CO(2) is the actual gold oxidizing agent.