Sustainable Nanotechnology

1 Nanotechnology‐Based Research Priorities for Global Sustainability

Twishi Puri¹, Yashwant Pathak^2,3, and Govindan Parayil⁴

¹ Department of Biology, Worcester State University, Worcester, MA, USA

² Taneja College of Pharmacy, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL, USA

³ Faculty of Pharmacy, Airlangga University, Surabaya, Indonesia

⁴ Patel College of Global Sustainability, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL, USA

1.1 Introduction

Sustainable development is not a newly constructed idea. Since the 1970s, conversations about this particular field have been fueled by the fear that the world cannot sustain an immense growth in human population and economic activities without damaging the environment and our social fabric. Concerns that at some point in the not too distant future, we will reach a “limit to growth” prompted policy‐makers to urgently seek solutions for global sustainability, a concept that is so vast that it is subject to various interpretations. The vastness of the topic, however, still generates three aspects that global sustainability can affect. There is a global consensus that is agreed upon by the general public and the business community at large that environmental responsibility, economic efficiency, and social equity are necessary conditions for attaining global sustainability. Environmental responsibility, as the name suggests, is concerned with the conservation of resources – i.e. food, water, energy, etc. and safe methods of disposal of waste products ...