Dr Åsa Jämting discusses the development of new laboratory at the National Measurement Institute to set the standard of measurement for particles that are only billionths of a metre in size.

• 27 May 2010

Nanotechnology is beginning to pervade society, with the tiny particles finding their way into consumer products such as sunscreens, along with advanced materials, and technology used in ICT, catalysis, chemical and biological sensing and medical diagnosis. It is expected that within a decade, the international market for products embodying nanotechnology will be worth trillions of dollars a year. According to Dr Jämting, in this context it is important that we understand how factors such as temperature and humidity can influence the accuracy of tests that measure nanparticles.

Read ’sizing up the nanoworld‘