can be so different, creating barriers and challenges. However, the more we work at this interface, the more we realise that these boundaries are artificial, for the purpose of our education, and do not exist in Nature. The purpose of this book is to start with basic explanations to build a foundation, so that this area of science can become accessible to students from any related discipline. We hope that this book encourages scientists and engineers to become confident in bridging the gaps between chemistry, nanotechnology, biology, engineering and manufacturing. Specifically, the book combines green chemistry and nanomaterials in a single dedicated monograph.
As such, the book is written with a wide readership in mind, including primarily academic researchers focusing on synthetic biology and nanomaterials. It is targeted towards postgraduate students (taught and research degrees) undertaking studies pertaining to advanced materials and green, sustainable and/or environmental engineering or chemistry. Final year undergraduate students specialising in nanomaterials or green processes will also find this book valuable. Indeed, various universities currently run final year electives on nanomaterials, biomaterials, green chemistry, sustainability, etc, where this book is highly suitable as a textbook. Through the authors’ interactions with industry, we know that many industries wish to learn more about these green technologies. Hence, we hope to reach industrialists and raise awareness of the emerging green manufacturing routes.
What is in the book? The book starts by introducing the principles of green chemistry and engineering (chapter 1). It then highlights the special properties that nanomaterials possess, their applications and ways of characterising them (chapters 2 and 3). It describes conventional methods of synthesising and manufacturing inorganic nanomaterials (chapter 4) and highlights that these techniques cannot always deliver the specifications required for applications or be sustainable (chapter 5). This will lead to the introduction of biological and biomimetic/bioinspired synthetic methods as a solution to precisely controlled nanomaterials as well as the design of sustainable manufacturing routes (chapters 6 and 7). The book elaborates on various mechanisms and examples of green nanomaterials (e.g. the role of an organic matrix and natural self-assembly, and advantages and opportunities with green nanomaterials). It will cover two case studies of magnetic and silica materials for advanced readers (chapters 8 and 9).
How to use the book. We acknowledge this book covers many different traditional disciplines and as such we cannot go into too much depth in every area. Furthermore, this is a very current and fast-moving research area. As new methods, materials and characterisation techniques are discovered, invented and developed, fairly recent advances become old quickly. For both reasons we recommend this textbook be supplemented with more detailed, specific and contemporary science and engineering research journal papers. Indeed, in the courses we teach on this subject, the material content of this book is used to explain the background and introduce current research papers as relevant examples.
A note on ongoing discussion on the topics covered in this book: In order to allow a dialogue between the readers, the authors and the publisher, we have created a dedicated web portal in order to receive feedback from readers and to allow authors and readers to post recent updates relevant to this book. This can be accessed at https://greennanobook.com/.
References
[1] Ozin G A, Arsenault A C and Cademartiri L 2009 Nanochemistry: A Chemical Approach to Nanomaterials 2nd edn (Cambridge: Royal Society of Chemistry) p 23
[2] Matus et al 2011 Green Nanotechnology: Challenges and Opportunities (Washington, DC: ACS Green Chemistry Institute)
Acknowledgements
We would like to acknowledge those who helped us complete this book. SP is sincerely grateful to Professor Steve Clarson and Professor Carole Perry who have been the sources of inspiration. SS would like to acknowledge Professor Andrew Harrison, Professor Neil Robertson and Professor Steve Evans for inspiring and enabling her to begin her research in this area. We thank the scientific communities to which we belong: the networks of academics we work and collaborate with and meet at conferences, where we share and develop new ideas, converse and debate. You are a constant source of inspiration for us and for science and engineering in this field to continue to develop. Our collaborators are acknowledged for sharing their wisdom and for the many stimulating discussions over the years. In particular, SS is grateful to Dr Bruce Ward and Professor Steph Baldwin for biological training and insight. We thank many of our current and past group members who have been instrumental in providing the ammunition for this book and for their patience during the writing stages. SS thanks Dr Andrea Rawlings and SP thanks Dr Joe Manning and Dr Mauro Chiacchia for their help with conceptualising some of the complex aspects/mechanisms included in this book. We are grateful to have had support from Ms Yung Hei Tung (Jodie), Dr Andrea Rawlings, Dr Johanna Galloway and Dr Scott Bird for artwork for some of the figures, and Ms Amber Keegan for help with copyright permissions. We also thank various funding agencies for supporting projects where we developed some of the ideas underpinning this book. In particular we thank EPSRC and BBSRC for funding the SynBIM project (EP/P006892/1, http://www.synbim.co.uk and BB/H005412/1). Finally, we thank the reviewers for their insightful feedback: from the initial book proposal, to friends providing comments on early drafts (thanks to Professor Maggie Cusack, Professor Marc Knecht and Dr Fabio Nudelman) and the reviewers of the completed draft. We offer sincere thanks to the publisher for their support and patience.
Finally, we would both like to thank our families. Academia is a challenging and intense career and this is only amplified when one chooses to write a book on top of our other commitments. We are most grateful to our families for their love and support both generally and specifically over the period of writing this book. We both have young children and are especially grateful: SP to his wife Geetanjali and SS to her husband Luke and our parents, for unquestioning childcare that enabled us to achieve this body of work. We are also grateful to our children: Ninaad and Nishaad, and Owen, Alex and Joel, for their interest in our work, for making us laugh and their inquisitive nature that reminds us every day what this is all for.
Siddharth V Patwardhan and Sarah S Staniland
Sheffield, August 2019.
Author biographies
Siddharth V Patwardhan
Siddharth is currently a Professor of Sustainable Chemical and Materials Engineering at the University of Sheffield. He obtained a first degree in chemical engineering at the University of Pune (India) followed by a master’s and doctoral degrees in materials science at the University of Cincinnati (USA). He gained post-doctoral experience in inorganic chemistry at the University of Delaware (USA) and Nottingham Trent University (UK). After taking up a short-term lectureship in Chemistry, he became a Lecturer in Chemical Engineering at the University of Strathclyde in 2010. He then moved to Sheffield to take up a position of Senior Lecturer, where he was promoted to a Professor in 2018.
Siddharth leads the Green Nanomaterials Research Group (www.svplab.com), with a vision to develop sustainable routes to functional nanomaterials. His group focusses on the discovery of bioinspired nanomaterials, assessing their scalability and developing manufacturing technologies for energy, environmental, biomedical and engineering applications.
Siddharth is an EPSRC Fellow in Manufacturing and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry. He has played a key role in a number of national and international networks as well as conference organisation. One such symposium relevant to this book is on ‘Green Synthesis and Manufacturing of Nanomaterials’, as part of the ACS Green Chemistry and Engineering Conference in 2017. Siddharth is passionate about mentoring early career researchers and has received numerous awards including Dedicated Outstanding Mentor, Teaching Excellence and recognition as a SuperVisionary for all-round supervision.
Sarah