Engineered materials: micro-nanostructure, properties and applications

Abstract

This special issue presents scientific results related to recent developments on the link between functionality and structure in micro- and nano-structured materials. The main singularity of our collection is that we proposed to bring together the know-how of several disciplines (physics, mechanics and chemistry) for a trans-disciplinary discussion on the multi-scaled properties of nanostructured systems. We put together different communities for a better understanding of the relations between elaboration-structure and properties in bulk nanostructured materials. Particular attention has been paid to the parameters which seem to govern the macroscopic physical properties of these structures: the size of the grains and the interaction between these grains, but also the influence and the nature of the size of the crystallites constituting these grains as well as their confinement by different designed nanostructures. The main idea of this collection is to open the debate on possible reliable strategies for characterizing the microstructures and link them to the performance of the nanostructured materials. As reported in the contributions presented in this collection, this latter point is essential for improving the physical functionalities of new nanostructures.