Nanotechnology naturally results from progress in the miniaturization of existing technologies. However, this ‘top-down’ fabrication has led to limited developments because the micro-engineering rules do not scale down to the nanoscale realm: the unexpected is the rule and exploration, the solution. A change of mindset moved us to adopt a ‘bottom-up’ approach, which truly gives us access to the ultimate frontier of matter and load us with nanotech know-how from which novel applications emerge.
The complexity of understanding Nature from its atomic constituents is overwhelming. Fortunately, the isolation of graphene (a monoatomic layer of graphite) paved the way to deal with such a task through a simple yet powerful strategy: layered 2D materials are the thin films for the new bottom-up approach, affordable building blocks for advanced high-tech products and materials ‘à la carte’.