Nanomaterials and Nanocomposites. Zero- to Three-Dimensional Materials and Their Composites

Nanomaterials are defined as materials in which at least one length dimension is below 100 nanometers. In this size regime, these materials exhibit particular – and tunable – optical, electrical or mechanical properties that are not present at the macro-scale. This opens up the possibility for a plethora of applications at the interface of materials, chemistry, physics and biology, many of which have already entered the commercial realm. When nanomaterials are blended with other materials not necessarily in the nanometer regime, the resulting nanocomposites can exhibit dramatically different properties than the bulk material alone, leading to an enhanced performance in te…