Nanoinformatics: Problems, methods, and technologies

Abstract

This paper outlines the range of problems solved by nanoinformatics, which is a newly originated discipline that combines the methods and tools for the propagation of data on nanomaterials as well as the instruments and technologies based on them. The specific features determined by the interdisciplinary character and rapid evolution of this knowledge area are summarized for the data on the properties of nanosized objects. The most-popular resources (databases, classifiers, and ontologies) on the properties of nanomaterials are presented. Some topical disproportions, which have occurred in nanoinformatics due to the predominant attention to nanomedicine at the expense of the traditional application fields of nanotechnologies, such as electronics and energetics, are pointed out. The general nanomaterial terminology and classification standards, which form a basis for the design of new databases and ontologies, are considered in detail. The CODATA (Committee on Data for Science and Technology) international standard for the universal description of a nanomaterial is proposed for use as the most advanced and universal approach to the solution of problems in nanoinformatics.