Nanoarchitectonics, now

Abstract

Polymers, biomaterials, and soft-matter science not only encompass the world around us but, as a subdiscipline of materials science, they are of ever increasing importance both from the fundamental and applied viewpoints. Explorations in the use of soft materials have significantly expanded our ability to conceive and realize novel functional nanostructures. An important cornerstone for the construction of such functional nanostructures is the development of methods for integrating molecular building blocks into welldefined organized assemblies. Research efforts on this matter are often referred to as “nanoarchitectonics”, a concept originally proposed by Masakazu Aono as a new paradigm based on the arrangement of nanoscale structural components into a predefined configuration that creates a novel functionality through mutual interactions among those units.