What is nanotechnology?
Nanotechnologies are technologies dealing with dimensions measured in billionths of a meter, or nanometres (nm). To give an idea, 1 nm is the length of a chain of 5 to 10 atoms, and a human hair is about 80 000 nm in diameter.
Scientists exploit the unique properties that tiny nanoparticles or arrangements of materials at the nanoscale can have to create new materials, structures and devices used in fields as diverse as medicine, foods, electronics, information technology, energy supply and distribution and environmental protection.
