Nanofabrication Towards Biomedical Applications - C. S. S. R. Kumar
Preface
Within a short span of a decade nanotechnology has evolved into a truly interdisciplinary
technology touching every traditional scientific discipline. The effect of
nanotechnology on biomedical fields has been somewhat slower and is just beginning
to gain importance as seen from a recent search on research publications. Of
the total number of nanotechnology related publications which are approximately
2500 in the year 2002-2004, only about 10% of them were related to biomedical
sciences. Even though, the effect of nanotechnology on biomedical field is slow, it is
bound to gain momentum in the years to come as all biological systems embody
nanotechnological principles. Slowly but surely, nanomaterials and nanodevices are
being developed that have design features on a molecular scale and have the potential
to interact directly with cells and macromolecules. The nanoscientific tools that
are currently well understood and those that will be developed in future are likely to
have an enormous impact on biology, biotechnology and medicine. Similarly, understanding
of biology with the help of nanotechnology will enable the production of
biomimetic materials with nanoscale architecture. The comparable size scale of
nanomaterials and biological materials, such as antibodies and proteins, facilitates
the use of these materials for biological and medical applications. Also, in recent
years the biomedical community has discovered that the distinctive physical characteristics
and novel properties of nanoparticles such as their extraordinarily high surface
area to volume ratio, tunable optical emission, magnetic behavior, and others
can be exploited for uses ranging from drug delivery to biosensors.
Viewing from the point of biomedical researchers, it is very difficult to fathom
out relevant literature and suitable information on nanotechnological tools that
would have profound impact on biomedical research as most of the literature is published
in physico-chemical journals. It is our endeavor to support the biomedical
community by providing the required information on nanotechnology under one
umbrella. We are pleased to introduce to our readers a book that covers various facets
of nanofabrication which we hope will help biologists and medical researchers.
The book covers not only the scientific aspects of nanofabrication tools for biomedical
research but also the implications of this new area of research on education,
industry and society at large. Our aim is to provide as comprehensive perspective as
possible to our readers who are interested in learning, practicing and teaching nanotechnological
tools for biomedical fields. We, therefore, designed the contents of the
book to have four major sections: (1) Synthetic aspects of nanomaterials, (2) Characterization
techniques for nanomaterials (3) Application of nanotechnological tools
in biomedical field and (4) Educational, economical and societal implications.
The first section of the book provides information about the fabrication tools for
nanomaterials. Fabrication of nanomaterials is by now a very well developed area of
research and it is impossible to cover all aspects. Traditionally, synthetic approaches
to nanomaterials have been divided into two categories: “top-down” and “bottomup”.
“Top-down” practitioners attempt to stretch existing technology to engineer
devices with ever-smaller design features. “Bottom-up” researchers attempt to build
nanomaterials and devices one molecule/atom at a time, much in the way that living
organisms synthesize macromolecules. Therefore, in this volume we made an
attempt to explore wet chemical methods for fabrication of metallic nanoparticles,
synthetic approaches to carbon nanotubes, and approaches to building of nanostructured
materials from low-dimensional building blocks. A fascinating account of biomimetic
approaches to building materials from nanostructures is dealt in two chapters
– “Nanostructured collagen mimics in tissue engineering” and “Molecular biomimetics:
Building materials the nature’s way, one molecule at a time”. We hope to
cover other synthetic aspects in subsequent volumes.
Download
*
Preface
Within a short span of a decade nanotechnology has evolved into a truly interdisciplinary
technology touching every traditional scientific discipline. The effect of
nanotechnology on biomedical fields has been somewhat slower and is just beginning
to gain importance as seen from a recent search on research publications. Of
the total number of nanotechnology related publications which are approximately
2500 in the year 2002-2004, only about 10% of them were related to biomedical
sciences. Even though, the effect of nanotechnology on biomedical field is slow, it is
bound to gain momentum in the years to come as all biological systems embody
nanotechnological principles. Slowly but surely, nanomaterials and nanodevices are
being developed that have design features on a molecular scale and have the potential
to interact directly with cells and macromolecules. The nanoscientific tools that
are currently well understood and those that will be developed in future are likely to
have an enormous impact on biology, biotechnology and medicine. Similarly, understanding
of biology with the help of nanotechnology will enable the production of
biomimetic materials with nanoscale architecture. The comparable size scale of
nanomaterials and biological materials, such as antibodies and proteins, facilitates
the use of these materials for biological and medical applications. Also, in recent
years the biomedical community has discovered that the distinctive physical characteristics
and novel properties of nanoparticles such as their extraordinarily high surface
area to volume ratio, tunable optical emission, magnetic behavior, and others
can be exploited for uses ranging from drug delivery to biosensors.
Viewing from the point of biomedical researchers, it is very difficult to fathom
out relevant literature and suitable information on nanotechnological tools that
would have profound impact on biomedical research as most of the literature is published
in physico-chemical journals. It is our endeavor to support the biomedical
community by providing the required information on nanotechnology under one
umbrella. We are pleased to introduce to our readers a book that covers various facets
of nanofabrication which we hope will help biologists and medical researchers.
The book covers not only the scientific aspects of nanofabrication tools for biomedical
research but also the implications of this new area of research on education,
industry and society at large. Our aim is to provide as comprehensive perspective as
possible to our readers who are interested in learning, practicing and teaching nanotechnological
tools for biomedical fields. We, therefore, designed the contents of the
book to have four major sections: (1) Synthetic aspects of nanomaterials, (2) Characterization
techniques for nanomaterials (3) Application of nanotechnological tools
in biomedical field and (4) Educational, economical and societal implications.
The first section of the book provides information about the fabrication tools for
nanomaterials. Fabrication of nanomaterials is by now a very well developed area of
research and it is impossible to cover all aspects. Traditionally, synthetic approaches
to nanomaterials have been divided into two categories: “top-down” and “bottomup”.
“Top-down” practitioners attempt to stretch existing technology to engineer
devices with ever-smaller design features. “Bottom-up” researchers attempt to build
nanomaterials and devices one molecule/atom at a time, much in the way that living
organisms synthesize macromolecules. Therefore, in this volume we made an
attempt to explore wet chemical methods for fabrication of metallic nanoparticles,
synthetic approaches to carbon nanotubes, and approaches to building of nanostructured
materials from low-dimensional building blocks. A fascinating account of biomimetic
approaches to building materials from nanostructures is dealt in two chapters
– “Nanostructured collagen mimics in tissue engineering” and “Molecular biomimetics:
Building materials the nature’s way, one molecule at a time”. We hope to
cover other synthetic aspects in subsequent volumes.
Download
*