Nanostructured materials

Nanostructured materials may be defined as those materials whose structural elements-clusters, crystallites or molecules-have dimensions in the 1 to 1 00 nm range. The explosion in both academic and industrial interest in thes e materials over the past decade arises from the remarkable variations in f undamental electrical, optical and magnetic properties that occur as one pr ogresses from an 'infinitely extended' solid to a particle of material cons isting of a countable number of atoms, This review details recent advances in the synthesis and investigation of functional nanostructured materials, focusing on the novel size-dependent physics and chemistry that results whe n electrons are confined within nanoscale semiconductor and metal clusters and colloids. Carbon-based nanomaterials and nanostructures including fulle renes and nanotubes play an increasingly pervasive role in nanoscale scienc e and technology and are thus described in some depth. Current nanodevice f abrication methods and the future prospects for nanostructured materials an d nanodevices are discussed.