Responsive and Nonequilibrium Nanomaterials

Nanoscience has been promoted as a major technological revolution, and yet its influence outside of the laboratory has been relatively small. From our survey of recent progress, we conclude that as nanoscience fragments into subdisciplines and researchers become ever more specialized, there is increasingly little advancement toward the emergence of research themes that may unite and elevate nanoscience toward having an impact of the magnitude achieved by the steam engine, electricity, medicine, and the Internet. We suggest that one avenue for nanoscience to break this impasse is to venture beyond static structures into domain of dynamic nanomaterials that organize and/or function when displaced from thermodynamic equilibrium. We highlight recent work from our laboratory in this emerging area and also suggest some possible future applications for responsive and nonequilibrium nanosystems/materials.