A handy guide to the vocabulary of nanoparticles has particularly delighted UK science minister Lord Sainsbury, though rather dry and somewhat Cartesian in its succinctness.
The Eureka moment came when we realised the true value of such a document from British Standards. While Lord S. may have been dancing a jig along Victoria Street cackling with glee at yet another triumph for British Science (describing at as ” a key milestone for the UK with the announcement strengthening our position as a world leader in innovation and standardisation” seems to be a little heavy handed with the hyperbole), this document really comes into its own during interminable European toxicology meetings when faced with the question of defining what a nanoparticle actually is.
Or does it?
We suspect that some may take issue with the definition of a nanoparticle, which is defined as particle with one or more dimensions at the nanoscale, the nanoscale being in turn defined as having one or more dimensions of the order of 100 nm or less, which in turn would seem to cover materials such as nanofibres, which are obviously (as well as chemically) quite different.
Perhaps we need to also be reminded of the definition of a particle?