Essays

Nanoparticles and Dendrimers: Hopes and Illusions

Pierre-Gilles de Gennes ; École Supérieure de Physique et de Chimie Industrielles de la Ville de Paris, 10, rue Vauquelin, 75231 Paris, Cedex 05, France

Abstract

Egon Matijevi} is one of the most inventive sculptors of colloidal particles. In our times, it has become fashionable to make these particles smaller and smaller: as usual, whenever we change scales, new features appear. My aim here is to discuss some of the hopes – deep or naive – and some of the difficulties which are met with these ultradivided colloids.
The very word »nanoparticle« is ambiguous. When spoken by inorganic chemists, it refers to objects of size 10–50 nanometers. When used by scientists interested in drug release, it means any submicron particle. In the present text, I shall follow the first definition; and I shall restrict my attention to hard, permanent objects (as opposed to, say, flexible polymer coils, or micelles).

Keywords

Hrčak ID:

132422

URI

https://hrcak.srce.hr/132422

Publication date:

1.12.1998.

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