Nanomaterials & Metamaterials

4th century AD · around 1,700 years ago

Roman glassmakers produced the Lycurgus Cup using nanoscale metal particles

The glass cup, coloured green in reflected light and red when lit from within, owes its effect to gold and silver nanoparticles dispersed through the glass, an early if unintentional use of nanoscale materials engineering.

1900s · 126 years ago

Early nanoparticle researchers made the first observations and size measurements of nano-particles

The first decade of the twentieth century saw the earliest direct observation and measurement of nanoparticle sizes. This established the metrological basis on which later nanomaterials characterisation depended, with a foundational book published in 1914.

1943 · 83 years ago

Steinitz used micro-indentation to test the hardness of microparticles

Steinitz applied micro-indentation to measure the hardness of microparticles. The approach was the direct ancestor of nanoindentation, now used to measure elastic properties of particles at around the five-micron level.

20th century · 126 years ago

Interface and colloid science developed traditional characterisation techniques for nanomaterials

Over the twentieth century, interface and colloid science produced a body of methods for characterising finely divided matter. These techniques were later inherited by nanomaterials research as standard characterisation tools.

1959 · 67 years ago

Richard Feynman outlined the possibility of manipulating matter atom by atom

In a lecture to the American Physical Society titled There's Plenty of Room at the Bottom, the physicist argued there was no fundamental barrier to arranging individual atoms, a talk widely credited as nanotechnology's conceptual starting point.

1974 · 52 years ago

Norio Taniguchi coined the term nanotechnology

The Japanese engineer used the word to describe manufacturing precision at the nanometre scale, giving the emerging field a name more than a decade before atomic-scale manipulation became practically possible.

1981 · 45 years ago

Alexei Ekimov discovered quantum dots

The Soviet physicist observed size-dependent optical properties in nanoscale crystals embedded in glass, a phenomenon later developed into the colloidal quantum dots used today in displays and medical imaging.

• Louis Brus independently observed the effect in solution

1981 · 45 years ago

Gerd Binnig and Heinrich Rohrer invented the scanning tunnelling microscope

The instrument, built at IBM's Zurich laboratory, produced the first images of individual atoms on a surface and gave researchers a practical way to observe and eventually manipulate matter at the atomic scale.

1985 · 41 years ago

Robert Curl, Harold Kroto and Richard Smalley discovered buckminsterfullerene

Richard Smalley, Robert Curl, James Heath, Sean O'Brien and Harold Kroto prepared the first fullerene, buckminsterfullerene (C60), at Rice University. The spherical carbon-60 molecule, found in laboratory experiments simulating carbon chemistry in stars, gave the fullerene family its name and established fullerenes as a third major form of carbon alongside diamond and graphite, opening a new class of carbon nanostructures foundational to nanoscale research.

1986 · 40 years ago

Gerd Binnig, Calvin Quate and Christoph Gerber invented the atomic force microscope

The instrument measured surface forces at the atomic scale without requiring an electrically conductive sample, extending nanoscale imaging and manipulation to a far broader range of materials than the scanning tunnelling microscope allowed.

1991 · 35 years ago

Sumio Iijima described carbon nanotubes in detail

The Japanese researcher's electron microscope observations at NEC identified cylindrical carbon structures with remarkable strength and electrical properties, launching sustained global research into carbon nanotubes as a structural and electronic material.

2000 · 26 years ago

The United States launched the National Nanotechnology Initiative

The federal programme coordinated funding across agencies for nanoscale science and engineering research, becoming a model that other governments, including Japan, Germany and later China, followed with their own national nanotechnology strategies.

April 2003 · 23 years ago

Fullerene researchers began studying fullerenes for medicinal applications

Fullerenes came under study for binding antibiotics to resistant bacteria and targeting cancer cells such as melanoma. This marked the extension of engineered nanostructures into nanomedicine.

2004 · 22 years ago

Andre Geim and Konstantin Novoselov isolated graphene for the first time

Working at the University of Manchester, the physicists used adhesive tape to peel single-atom-thick layers from graphite, producing a material with exceptional strength and electrical conductivity that opened a new field of two-dimensional materials research.

October 2005 · 21 years ago

Chemistry and Biology published work on fullerenes as light-activated antimicrobial agents

An article described using fullerenes as light-activated antimicrobials. It extended the applied uses of the nanomaterial into infection control.

21st century

ISO codified nanomaterial and nanoscale in the ISO/TS 80004 standard

ISO/TS 80004 defines a nanomaterial as having any external, internal or surface structure in the nanoscale, defined as roughly 1 to 100 nm. The standard provided the shared vocabulary underpinning research, trade and regulation in the field.

Early 2026 · 6 months ago

China continued to dominate global graphene production

Chinese manufacturers, concentrated in hubs such as Qingdao and Changzhou, continued to account for most of the world's graphene and carbon nanotube output, supplying conductive additives for batteries and a growing range of composite materials.

2025 · last year

Singapore's Institute of Materials Research and Engineering advanced nanofabrication research for sensors and electronics

The state research institute continued work on nanoscale fabrication techniques with applications in flexible electronics, sensors and semiconductor packaging, part of Singapore's longstanding investment in advanced materials science.

2025 · last year

The King Abdullah University of Science and Technology expanded nanomaterials research output

The Saudi institution continued to grow its nanotechnology research programmes, part of a wider national push to build advanced materials expertise and diversify the economy away from oil under Vision 2030.

• UAE research institutions pursued parallel advanced materials programmes

2025 · last year

South Korean battery material makers advanced nanostructured anode materials

Firms supplying battery manufacturers continued developing silicon-based nanostructured anode materials intended to increase energy density beyond what conventional graphite anodes allow in electric vehicle batteries.

2025 · last year

Japanese paper manufacturers expanded commercial production of cellulose nanofibre

Companies including major domestic paper producers increased output of wood-derived nanocellulose, marketed as a lightweight, high-strength additive for plastics, cosmetics and packaging, building on Japan's lead in the material.

2025 · last year

IFFCO expanded exports of nano-fertiliser products

The Indian cooperative continued scaling production of nano urea and nano DAP, liquid fertilisers using nanoscale particles to improve nutrient uptake, and pursued approval and sales in additional overseas markets.

• Indian agricultural scientists studied longer-term efficacy questions

2024 · 2 years ago

The European Union funded follow-on research after its decade-long Graphene Flagship programme concluded

Smaller successor initiatives continued to support graphene and related two-dimensional material research groups across the bloc after the billion-euro programme's ten-year funding period ended.

2024–2025 · over the past two years

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development continued coordinating international nanomaterial safety testing guidelines

Member country regulators worked through the organisation's working party on manufactured nanomaterials to align testing methods and risk assessment approaches, seeking consistency as more nanomaterial-containing products reached consumer markets.

• National regulators began referencing the shared guidelines in domestic rules

2024–2025 · over the past two years

The European Union enforced nanoform-specific requirements under its chemical safety rules

Manufacturers and importers faced continuing obligations to register and safety-test distinct nanoforms of substances under REACH, adding compliance requirements for companies producing or using engineered nanomaterials within the bloc.

2024–2025 · over the past two years

US research agencies continued funding nanotechnology research infrastructure

Federal funding continued to support university and national laboratory research into two-dimensional materials, nanoscale fabrication techniques and nanomedicine, sustaining a research base built up over two decades under the National Nanotechnology Initiative.

2017 · 9 years ago

World Health Organization published guidelines on protecting workers from manufactured nanomaterials

The WHO issued guidance at the end of 2017 on occupational risks from manufactured nanomaterials, with an update anticipated in 2022. It was a first international attempt to govern the health and safety dimension of nanomaterials manufacturing, though quantitative exposure limits remained undetermined for most nanomaterials as of 2016.

2012 · 14 years ago

Saudi Arabian hospitals deployed nanotechnology air purification against MERS

Nanotechnology-based air purification was used in Saudi Arabian hospitals to combat the spread of MERS. It illustrates early operational deployment of nanomaterials in public health infrastructure.

October 2011 · 15 years ago

European Commission adopted a regulatory definition of nanomaterial

The Commission defined a nanomaterial for regulatory purposes as a natural, incidental or manufactured material in which 50% or more of particles by number size distribution have an external dimension between 1 and 100 nm. This gave regulators an operational threshold for governing nanomaterials.