A Fundamental Review of the Relationships between Nanotechnology and Lignocellulosic Biomass - The Nanoscience and Technology of Renewable Biomaterials - page 16

issues, however, goes to the heart of the definition of nanotechnology. If nanoscale
properties of wood-based nanomaterials exhibit new and unique properties that depend
upon size, then the environmental, health and safety impacts cannot necessarily be
assumed as known based upon existing information for wood micro- and macroscale
particles. For wood-based nanomaterials, we do not have a large body of risk assess-
ment data. The information that is available on the environmental, health, and safety
risks for lignocellulosic-based nanomaterials to date does not necessarily mean these
lignocellulosic-based nanomaterials pose a risk but there is no clear evidence to rule
such concerns out either. Clearly, more information needs to be developed. The best
way to obtain reliable data is to work with the larger nanotechnology community dealing
with the environmental health and safety of nanomaterials as they develop scientifically
sound protocols and procedures. In the meantime, for researchers and others working
in the area of nanotechnology, sound chemical laboratory practices should be employed,
using nanomaterials in fume hoods or glove boxes, using respirators or at minimum dust
masks, and disposing of nanomaterials in a manner equivalent to hazardous materials
disposal.

1.9 Instrumentation, Metrology, and Standards for Nanotechnology

Instrumentation, metrology, and standards for nanotechnology are critical components in
the chain from discovery of nanomaterials to commercialization of nano-enabled prod-
ucts. Today's array of metrology tools has been developed to meet the current needs
of exploratory nanoscale research, primarily for inorganic materials and we are near-
ing the limits of their resolution and accuracy. While the tools currently available will
continue to evolve, they are not expected to meet all the future metrology require-
ments of nanoscale research, development, and deployment. Instrumentation to probe
the nanoscale requires revolutionary developments in addition to evolutionary advances
in measurement schemes and instruments (NSET 2006). The immediate tasks at hand
are to adapt currently available nanoscale metrology and instrumentation to biological
materials and obtain artifact-free property measurements. In addition, it is important to
be able to measure the nanoscale properties of wood and wood-based materials in-situ
and to relate wood and wood-based material properties within the context of wood's
hierarchal composite structure. Instrumentation, metrology, and standards priorities for
nanotechnology include development of:

• next generation techniques, tools, and instruments that provide a major leap forward

with regard to exceeding today's spatial and temporal resolution limits; major empha-
sis needs to be placed on advancing the state-of-the-art of microscopies and analytical
instrumentation such as with scanning probe microscopes, scanning and transmis-
sion electron microscopes, and electron, neutron, and photon spectroscopic techniques
adapted to biological materials; the effects of electrons, neutrons, and photons on bio-
logical materials can be quite different than with inorganic materials such as metals
and this can lead to artifacts in the measurements;

• enabling full three-dimensional mapping of biological and nonbiological nanomate-

rials using instrumentation combining subnanometer spatial resolution with chemical
specificity and volumetric detection;