ABSTRACT
Nanotechnology is expected to bring a fundamental change in manufacturing in the next few years and will have an enormous impact on life sciences, including drug delivery, diagnostics, nutraceuticals and production of biomaterials (1,2). Engineered nanoparticles (NP) (<100nm) are an important tool to realize a number of these applications. The reason why these NP are attractive for such purposes is based on their important and unique features, such as their surface to mass ratio, which is much larger than that of other particles, their quantum properties and their ability to adsorb
and carry other compounds. NP on the one hand have a large (functional) surface which is able to bind, adsorb and carry other compounds such as drugs, probes and proteins. On the other hand, NP have a surface that might be chemically more reactive as compared to their fine (>100nm) analogs. Many of these special purpose engineered NP are produced in small quantities. In 2003, single-walled and multiwalled nanotubes had a worldwide production of 2954kg. However, the Carbon Nanotechnology Research Institute (Japan) plans on expanding their production from 1000kg in 2003 to 120,000kg per year within the next five years. Although current production of engineered nanomaterials is small, it is evident that production rates will accelerate exponentially in the next few years (3).
