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Nanotechnology Interaction with Environment

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Handbook of Environmental Materials Management

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Abstract

Nanotechnology is the manipulation of matter at the nanoscale. The National Nanotechnology Initiative defines nanotechnology as the manipulation of matter with one or more external dimensions of less than 100 nanometers (one billionth of a meter). The field of nanotechnology is a broad and multidisciplinary area that includes a variety of scientific endeavors such as organic chemistry, molecular biology, materials engineering, semiconductor physics, and fabrication, to name a few. Nanotechnology has the potential to create numerous new solutions to current social, economic, and technological challenges. Novel materials and devices manufactured using nanotechnology have applications in medicine, electronics, energy conversion and storage, water purification, and consumer products. However, the implications of unethical and uncontrolled use of nanotechnology have created an ongoing debate in the scientific community. For example, concerns about the toxicity and environmental impact of these new solutions are fears commonly associated with this emerging field. The growing number of applications that utilize nanotechnology has resulted in the generation of waste containing synthetic (or engineered) nanomaterials. Recent exponential growth in the development of nanomaterials (NMs) and nanoproducts is premised on the provision of novel benefits to the society, but these NMs and nanoproducts have increased in quantity and volume from few kilograms to thousands of tonnes over the last 15 to 20 years, and their uncontrolled release into the environment is anticipated to grow dramatically in future. However, their potential impacts to the biological systems are unknown.

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  1. Faculty of Agriculture and Environment, Agricultural University of Tirana, Tirana, Albania

    Rigers Bakiu

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  1. Rigers Bakiu
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  1. Dept. of Chemistry and EVSC, New Jersey InstTech, 151 D Tiernan-NJIT Dept. of Chemistry and EVSC, Newark, New Jersey, USA

    Chaudhery Mustansar Hussain

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  1. Department of Chemistry and Environmental Sciences, New Jersey Institute of Technology, Newark, NJ, USA

    Chaudhery Mustansar Hussain Ph. D

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Bakiu, R. (2018). Nanotechnology Interaction with Environment. In: Hussain, C. (eds) Handbook of Environmental Materials Management. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-58538-3_150-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-58538-3_150-1

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