2. Fundamental aspects

The behavior of matter on the nanoscale is different from that of matter on our scale. When the characteristic dimensions of elements decrease from macroscopic to microscopic (a few microns), effects that are predominant on our scale become negligible, while others become very important. This is the case with the effects of the Earth's gravity, which become negligible on a scale of a few tens of microns. It is then the forces of surface tension (or atomic interaction between surfaces) and viscosity that are by far the most intense. The boundary between macroscopic and microscopic effects is not clear-cut, but lies in the range between a few microns and a few hundred microns.

When the dimensions are further reduced to nanometers, another boundary appears. While the macroscopic properties of matter remain valid above the micron, this is no longer the case in the nanometer...