Warren C. W. Chan, warren.chan@utoronto.ca, Institute of Biomaterials and Biomedical Engineering, University of Toronto, 164 College Street 408, Toronto, ON M5S 3G9, Canada and Darcy Gentleman, dgentlem@chem.utoronto.ca, Department of Chemistry, University of Toronto, 80 St. George St., Toronto, ON M5S3H6, Canada. |
| Nanotechnology's growing applications are fueled by the synthesis and engineering of myriad nanostructures, yet there is no systematic naming and/or classification scheme for such materials. This lack of a coherent nomenclature is confusing the interpretation of data sets and threatens to hamper the pace of progress and risk assessment. A systematic nomenclature that encodes nanostructures' overall composition, size, shape, core and ligand chemistry, and solubility is presented. A typographic string of minimalist field codes facilitates digital archiving and searches for desired properties. This nomenclature system could also be used for nanomaterial hazard labeling. |