Nowadays, modern technology is settled in nanotechnology. All sort of materials, from textile to ware products and electronics, are employing new materials in smaller sizes, and the need of new processes arise.
Nanotechnology fabrication techniques are based on two approaches: top-down and bottom-up. Top-down techniques are fabrication methods where big objects are sculpted down to nanometric ones. Such methods are the most traditional ones using lithographic methods but the lowest feature size is limited by light particle dimensions and heating problems of the typical inorganic materials used.
On the opposite, bottom-up techniques depart from nanometric elements to be assembled in bigger ones, as a ‘lego’. This approach permitted to use soft materials, organic molecules which usually are multifunctional.
Thus, chemistry is playing a primary role in nanotechnology and revolutionizing the fabrication process paradigm.
For that, it is of great interest studying functional materials and their nanostructuration on surfaces, since this is the way for their application in real devices.
Functional printing for smart surfaces 