L. Cademartiri, G.A. Ozin

At fist glance, Concept of Nanochemisty may seem to be an abridged version of the monumental works that Ozin and co-workers have previously put together, but a careful look into this new book reveals it is defiantly not some reissue of past works. In condensing the massive, diverse, and seemingly unrelated fields of nanochemistry into a “small book” less than 250 pages, they have once again produced a coherent manual that fully embraces nanochemistry in all its guises and, in the process, have created ingenuous ways to connect and relate important concepts in this field. This book will no doubt become a favorite for teachers who want to introduce students to various concepts and approaches of nanochemistry, and will allow a student to get a clear picture of the entire field of nanochemistry from one source. The book begins by setting the stage with a chapter detailing the various characteristics essential to nanochemistry: surface, size, defects, self-assembly, nanoBio, and so on. These same concepts are then used in each chapter of the book, but with different types of materials, such as gold, carbon, polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS), and iron oxides. The result is an extremely effective way to compare and contrast different types of nanomaterials and their properties, as each chapter is dedicated to a particular material and all the chapters share the same format or “essential concept”. The very organization of this book sets an example for the kind of critical analysis and thinking needed in nanochemistry, and students will, whether they know it or not, leave this book with the key ideas needed to solve future problems of nanoscience. As usual, Ozin ends each chapter with tantalizing questions leaving a reader feeling like there is so much more to do and discover.
The text itself is clear, concise, and has an informal tone as if a knowledgeable professor was speaking to the reader. The color figures throughout the text (one every three pages or so) are extremely helpful in grasping the concepts and can be studied independent of the text. The last chapter of the book “Nanochemistry Case Histories” presents the process of nanochemistry research from synthesis to characterization and finally application. The case studies are taken from real examples and essentially tie together the concepts taught in the book and allow the student to think critically about how the different materials covered in the text can be applied to problems involving shape, size, self-assembly, and so on. At one level this book could be viewed as an excellent overview of nanochemistry. However, from the view of a new student or someone unfamiliar with the field, who is interested in nanochemistry, this book is a great aid to learning its fundamental concepts and emerging with a generalist knowledge and confidence in their understanding. We highly recommend this book to anyone interested in nanochemistry, nanoscience, or nanotechnology.

Wiley-VCH, Weinheim, 2009
ISBN: 978-3-527-32597-9
262 pp., softcover, € 39

Review by:
Matthew Rycenga and Prof. Younan Xia
Department of Biomedical Engineering
Washington University, St. Louis (USA)