33 Unresolved Questions in Nanoscience and Nanotechnology
Chad A. Mirkin, Sarah Hurst Petrosko, Natalie Artzi, Koray Aydın, Austin Biaggne, C. Jeffrey Brinker, Katherine E. Bujold, Y. Charles Cao, Rachel R. Chan, Chaojian Chen, Pengcheng Chen, Xiaodong Chen, Olivier J. G. L. Chevalier, Chung Hang Jonathan Choi, Richard M. Crooks, Vinayak P. Dravid, Jingshan S. Du, Sasha B. Ebrahimi, Hongyou Fan, Omar K. Farha, C. Adrian Figg, Tanner D. Fink, Connor M. Forsyth, Harald Fuchs, Franz M. Geiger, Nathan C. Gianneschi, Kyle J. Gibson, David S. Ginger, Sishi Guo, Justin Hanes, Liang Hao, Jin Huang, Bryan M. Hunter, Fengwei Huo, Jeongmin Hwang, Rongchao Jin, Shana O. Kelley, Thomas J. Kempa, Youngeun Kim, Sergej Kudruk, Sneha Kumari, Kaitlin M. Landy, Ki‐Bum Lee, Noel J. Leon, Jun Li, Yuanwei Li, Zhiwei Li, Bin Liu, Guoliang Liu, Xiaogang Liu, Luis M. Liz‐Marzán, Jochen H. Lorch, Taokun Luo, Robert J. Macfarlane, Jill E. Millstone, Milan Mrksich, Catherine J. Murphy, Rajesh R. Naik, André E. Nel, Christopher Oetheimer, Jenny Orbeck, So‐Jung Park, Benjamin E. Partridge, Nicholas A. Peppas, Michelle L. Personick, Arindam Raj, Namrata Ramani, Michael B. Ross, Susan E. Ross, Edward H. Sargent, Tanushri Sengupta, George C. Schatz, Dwight S. Seferos, Tamar Seideman, Soyoung E. Seo, Bo Shen, Wooyoung Shim, Donghoon Shin, Ulrich Simon, Andrew J. Sinegra, Peter T. Smith, Alexander M. Spokoyny, Peter J. Stang, Alexander H. Stegh, J. Fraser Stoddart, Dayne F. Swearer, Weihong Tan, Michelle H. Teplensky, C. Shad Thaxton, David R. Walt, Mary Wang, Zhe Wang, Wei David Wei, Paul S. Weiss, Peter H. Winegar, Younan Xia, Yi Xie, Xiaoyang Xu, Peidong Yang, Yiming Yang
Abstract
Significant advances in science and engineering often emerge at the intersections of disciplines. Nanoscience and nanotechnology are inherently interdisciplinary, uniting researchers from chemistry, physics, biology, medicine, materials science, and engineering. This convergence has fostered novel ways of thinking and enabled the development of materials, tools, and technologies that have transformed both basic and applied research, as well as how we address critical societal challenges. In this Nano Focus, we pose and explore 33 questions whose answers could profoundly impact fields such as energy, electronics, the environment, optics, and medicine. These questions highlight the need for deeper foundational understanding, improved tools and techniques, and innovative applications─each with significant societal relevance. Together, they represent a global call-to-action for the scientific community.