Environmental Nanomaterials: Occurrence, Syntheses, Characterization, Health Effect, and Potential Applications

摘要

Nanomaterials have long featured in the earth and environmental sciences but their importance and potential have only recently been realized. The impact of nanoscience here has been likened to that of genomics and proteomics on the biological sciences. Earth and environmental scientists are using nanoscience to develop technologies that will play an important role in environmental protection and sustainability. This special issue summarizes some recent advances in this research frontier. The 10 articles in this issue deal with the occurrence of nanoparticles in nature and the urban atmosphere, the chemical and biochemical syntheses of some nanocatalysts, nanosorbents, and carbon nanotubes, some analytical techniques for characterizing nanoparticles, some methodologies for assessing health effects, and the potential use of some natural and synthetic nanomaterials for adsorbing and decomposing pollutants and toxins, and for storing hydrogen. Three of the articles are taken from presentations at the International Symposium on Nanotechnology and Materials for the Environment in Yokohama, Japan (26-27 March, 2003), while the rest represent contributions from academic and industrial researchers.