The International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) provides a comprehensive definition of material chemistry as the application of chemistry principles to the design, synthesis, characterization, processing, understanding, and utilization of materials, especially those that possess useful or potentially useful physical properties. One area of material chemistry that has attracted a great deal of attention in recent years is based in nanomaterials. But what are exactly the nanomaterials?
Nanomaterials are particles with dimensions between 1 and 100 nanometers, and the prefix “nano” in the International System of Units means one-billionth, or 10^-9. Therefore, one nanometer is one-billionth of a meter. To put this into perspective, a sheet of paper is about 100,000 nanometers thick. Or for example, if the diameter of a marble was one nanometer, then the diameter of the Earth would be about one meter!

There are several ways to classify nanomaterials, including by composition, synthetic route, or dimensions. One approach is to classify them based on their composition, which includes organic-based, inorganic-based, and composite materials.
Organic-based nanoparticles are made up of carbon-based molecules and include polymer nanoparticles, dendrimers, and liposomes. These nanoparticles have unique properties due to their size and chemical composition, and they have a wide range of applications in fields such as drug delivery or imaging.
Inorganic-based nanoparticles, on the other hand, are composed of non-carbon-based elements and can be further classified into different types, such as metal-based, silica nanoparticles, and quantum dots. These nanoparticles have a variety of applications in fields such as electronics, energy, and catalysis.
Composites are formed by combining two or more components in the nanometer scale, resulting in new properties that are different from those of the individual components. Nanocomposites, for example, are composed of a matrix material and a dispersed nanoparticle phase, and they have potential applications in fields such as aerospace, automotive, and biomedical engineering.

Overall, the study of nanomaterials is an interesting field that has the potential to contribute to the advance of many areas of science and technology. Knowing this, let’s go deep in some of this nanomaterials in the following series of post!