Nanomaterials have been one of the most exciting scientific and technical innovations of the past few decades. Due to their very high surface to volume ratios, they exhibit properties that can differ dramatically from those for the same material in bulk. This, and their ability to be designed and synthesized with multiple surface functionalities, has seen them used for a myriad of bespoke applications in industry and medicine.

Their medical applications span delivery systems for drugs, proteins and DNA/RNA to diagnostics, targeted cancer treatments, to theranostics. They have been used very successfully for the first-time to deliver mRNA in vaccines against SARS-Cov-2 and have massive potential for revolutionizing vaccine therapies for a wide range of diseases in the future. In industry, nanomaterials are used in hundreds of applications that exploit their unique physicochemical properties, and they are finding use as antimicrobial materials for sanitizing water, clothing, refrigeration etc.