Nanoscience
and nanotechnology measure and manipulate matter on the nanometer
scale, 10–9 meters. To put that in scale, the diameter
of a human hair and the thickness of one sheet of newspaper are each
about 100,000 nm. It is very, very, very small! Although nano as a
concept is still unknown to most nonscientists around the world, the
Chinese public is already enraptured with the nano concept. Nanomaterials
show new, unusual, and sometimes totally different properties compared
to their bulk ones. Nanosized gold displays tunable colors,
a lower melting point, and surprising catalytic activity. In fact,
nano is already embedded throughout our day-to-day lives. Sunscreens
with high sun protection factor (SPF) generally contain TiO2 or ZnO nanoparticles to absorb ultraviolet (UV) light. In nature,
the strength of our teeth, lotus leaves’ ability to self-clean,
and the superadhesion of gecko feet are all attributed to unique micro/nanostructures.My first exposure to nanoscience came during the 1980s when I was
a graduate student in Jilin University. At that time, I did not understand
the term nano; nanomaterials were not yet popular and were not even
called nano at the time, referenced instead as “ultrafine”
particles. While in graduate school, beautiful ultrasmall electron
microscopy images quickly drew my attention. I started to work on
the synthesis of pillared clays and related catalysts. Their unique
structures, high surface areas, large interlayer spacing (>2 nm),
and good catalytic activities immediately drew me into the fantastic
“nanoworld”, from whence I have never stopped being
fascinated.My home country of China is one of the pioneering
countries that initiated nanoscience and nanotechnology research.
Over the past decades, Chinese nanoscientists have made a number of
important breakthroughs in various fields of emerging fundamental
research and technology applications of nano. The Jianguo Hou group at
the University of Science and Technology of China demonstrated plasmon-enhanced
Raman imaging with spatial resolution below one nanometer (0.5 nm),
resolving the inner structure and surface configuration of a single
molecule. Chinese scientists from Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) developed highly efficient
nanocatalysts, which can make a direct, nonoxidative high conversion
of methane, exclusively to ethylene and other organic molecules. Yanlin Song and co-workers from the Institute of Chemistry, CAS, developed a
pollution-free green plate technology using controllable features
of functional hydrophilic/lipophilic nanomaterials with digital technology
for the next generation of green nanoprinting. This advanced technology
has eradicated contamination, lowered costs, and gained a better printing
effect compared with the traditional techniques, leading the print
industry into a new age of greenization and digitalization. The Shoushan Fan group from Tsinghua University developed
superaligned carbon nanotube arrays, which can easily be converted
into continuous, transparent, and highly conductive films for various
applications, including carbon nanotube touch screens on mobile phones
commercialized in 2012, bringing high impact results in the industrial
field. Today, with these types of research outcomes in nano, more
and more Chinese researchers are breaking into the list of the world’s
top scientists.China is also one of the world’s
top investors in nanoscience. Prior to the turn of the twenty-first
century, the investment was small, and focused mainly on nanomaterials,
supported by the Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST). The growth
in Chinese investment came when the government issued the “National
Medium and Long-Term Science and Technology Development Plan”
in 2006, where nanoscience was highlighted as one of the key development
areas in China.[1] The MOST supported more
than 150 projects on nanotechnology between 2006 and 2015, involving
tens of millions of US dollars each on diverse research areas such
as nanomaterials, nanodevices, nanoenergy, nanocatalysis, and nanomedicine.
The National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) supports many additional
research projects in all these nanorelated areas, and recently launched
two major programs in nanotechnology and nanomanufacture. In 2012,
China also launched a Strategic Pioneering Program on nanotechnology
led by the CAS, which has a budget of one billion yuan ($152 million)
over five years.[2] Moreover, a number of
national nanotechnology bases and advanced infrastructures have been
built—the National Center for Nanoscience and Technology in
Beijing, the National Engineering Research Center for Nanotechnology
in Shanghai, the China International Nanotechnology Innovation Cluster
in Suzhou, the Shanghai Synchrotron Radiation Facility, and the China
Spallation Neutron Source, for example.While China is now the
leader in terms of the number of papers in the Science Citation Index
(SCI), citations, and patents, only a minority of those are considered
originally innovative. The new government sees innovation as central
to China’s long-term development. Yet most researchers in China
are keen to follow hot and trendy research areas. Few have the spirit
of Shi Nian Mo Yi Jian (meaning “taking a
decade to sharpen a sword”) or are willing to pursue solutions
of big challenge questions and new areas. At this stage, nanoscience
truly needs to focus on innovative, high-impact, breakthrough, and
seminal research rather than the quantity of output. China’s
scientists should unleash the creativity to innovate, take a leadership
role in nanosciences, and promote technology transfer to ultimately
generate socioeconomic benefits.Although the research and development
expenditure in China has greatly increased in the past decade, and
now the percent
of total GDP put toward research and development is very
similar between China and the United States, the proportion of that
investment on basic research is relatively low (5%) compared with
that of the United States (18%).[3] In addition,
the levels of development in the different areas of nanoscience are
disproportionate. Given their inherent uncertainty, the most innovative
ideas often do not initially get much recognition or support. Moreover,
the Chinese research assessment system, as in many other countries,
relies heavily on simple metrics like the number of SCI papers. Factors
such as fundamental, economic, and social impacts of the research
are given less weight as compared to quantity of papers. Moreover,
the lack of a strategic framework for nurturing and progressing nascent
research from lab to industry impedes the realization of such impacts.
Currently, Chinese research, as with its economy, is at a significant
juncture.China is actively creating a more conducive environment
to sustain its scientific development and drive the economy. Thousands
of talented and ambitious scientists and engineers come back to China
from abroad via the well-known “Thousand Talents Plan”, and young researchers in China are greatly encouraged to start
their own laboratories through funds earmarked for young scientists
by the MOST and NSFC. The government has also done much to stimulate
scientific output into productivity. As a typical example, in 2013,
the MOST launched the establishment of the China Innovation Alliance
of the Graphene Industry (CGIA) via the China Industry–University–Research
Institute Collaboration Association, which aims to support the commercialization
of graphene in China.[4] Promising graphene-based
commercial products are emerging and driving the economy, for example, smartphones with
graphene-based touch panels, a graphene-based lubricant used as an engine oil additive, increasing oil lifetime from 1000 to 5000 miles, and a graphene-based capacitor for city buses.Although
nanoscience and nanotechnology have been developing rapidly in the
past decades, there are still big challenges in precise synthesis,
structure manipulation, controllable assembly, interfacial engineering
on the atomic scale, single-atom and in situ characterization,
theoretical understanding, nanodevices, scaling-up synthesis and applications
in nanocatalysis, nanoanalysis, nanoenergy, nanomedicine, and nanoelectronics.
These offer great opportunities for the world’s nanoscientists,
including of course Chinese nanoscientists.We look forward
to seeing many more breakthroughs coming from China. ACS Central
Science is one of the important venues for exciting fundamental
discoveries and developments regarding nanoscience. We welcome and
encourage Chinese scientists to submit high impact and innovative
articles.