Enabling quantitative research in nanotechnology with a NanoSight NS300 Particle Characterization Analyzer.

纳米技术为未来的技术提供了许多有希望的解决方案，但也引发了对潜在健康和环境影响的担忧。考虑到这一领域的全球重要性，目前正在进行一项史无前例的研究计划，以确定纳米材料的新性质，调整功能，并更好地了解纳米材料-生物分子相互作用。由于纳米材料的性质通常是由其与外部环境接触的外表面调节的，因此其表面化学、尺寸、表面积以及纳米颗粒的绝对浓度有望直接影响性能。遗憾的是，可用的数据并不一致地与性能相关(等等)以确定纳米颗粒的大小或绝对浓度。因此，很难就某一类纳米材料或不同类别的纳米材料的性能/“毒性”得出有意义的结论。这样的理解不仅将为更好地确定潜在的生物关切(治疗/环境应用)铺平道路，而且还将为纳米材料与化学/物理过程之间的协同创造新的机会。

Nanotechnology offers many promising solutions for technologies of the future, but also raises concerns about potential health and environmental impacts. Considering the global importance of this field, an unprecedented research initiative is currently underway to identify new properties for nanomaterials, tune functionality, and better understand nanomaterial-biomolecular interactions. Because the properties of nanomaterials are typically mediated by their outer surface that interfaces with the external environment, their surface chemistry, size, surface area, and hence the absolute concentration of nanoparticles are expected to directly impact performance. Unfortunately, available data does not consistently relate performance (etc.) to size or absolute nanoparticle concentration. As such, it is difficult to draw meaningful conclusions regarding performance/’toxicity’ within a given class of nanomaterial or across different classes. Such an understanding would not only pave the way for better framing potential biological concerns (therapeutic/environmental applications) but also leads to new opportunities for synergy between nanomaterials and chemical/physical processes.