Historical Perspective of Nanotechnology and Functionalized Nanomaterials

The word “nano” refers to a Greek prefix that means “tiny” or “exceptionally small.“ Nanotechnology is the branch of technology that applies nanoscience to everyday objects like devices and other things. The origins of nanoscience date back to the Greeks and Democritus in the fifth-century B.C., when researchers debated whether the matter is continuous or is made up of tiny, indivisible, and unbreakable particles that are now known as atoms. Nanomaterials differ from their bulk counterparts in a number of ways. Due to their chemical makeup, small size, and surface functionalization, they possess special features. In order to control how the nanocarrier system interacts with the biological system and its ability to target certain biological targets during the drug delivery process, the term “functionalization” refers to the process of incorporating functional groups into the nanocarrier surface. The present chapter aims to present the historical development of functionalized nanomaterials using nanotechnology for various applications.