5. Conclusion

Nanotechnology is a constantly evolving field, and its industrial prospects are immense. To keep pace with the development of nanomaterials and nanostructures, the need for reliable data on their physicochemical properties is considerable, and the availability of suitable reference materials is an essential prerequisite. Measurement, and consequently nanometrology, is the common foundation for many sectors of activity linked to nanomaterials and nanotechnologies, and concerns the entire value chain: research, risk assessment, regulation, scaling-up for industrialization, quality control, life-cycle studies, etc.

The characterization of nanomaterials is complex to implement, because for a given parameter, the choice of technique may depend on the form of the nanoparticle population of interest (powder, suspension, aerosol, etc.), its size, chemical composition, shape...