Nanotechnology for social needs: contributions from Latin American research in the areas of health, energy and water

Abstract

This paper reviews, based on data from scientific publications and research groups, the state of the art of nanotechnology research applied to the areas of medicine, energy and water in Latin America. Such areas have been considered as particularly relevant in order to meet the social needs of the developing countries. It is shown that the countries in the region have incorporated these areas to their nanotechnology agendas and several countries have increasing research capacities. However, such capacities are concentrated in Brazil and Mexico, while the regional cooperation networks are still weak. Although the research topics tend to align with relevant social issues, there are still a number of challenges so as the results of such investigations may be effectively reflected in quality of life improvements; one of them is that many publications and research topics are on basic science, which makes it difficult to evaluate their potential application field.

Annex: Search terms

Nano-medicine

Drug delivery	TS = ((nano* and ((liposome*) or (“polymeric drug*”) or (“drug polymer conjugate”) or (“protein polymer conjugate”) or (“pegylated protein*”))) or ((drug) and ((nanoparticle*) or (nanocapsule*) or (nanosuspension*) or (nanocrystal*) or (“gold nanoparticle*”) or (“colloidal gold”) or (“silicate nanoparticle*”) or (“calcium nanoparticle*”) or (biosilic*) or (“titanium dioxide nanoparticle*”)) or (“solid lipid nanoparticle*”))) AND CU = (mexico or brazil or venezuela or argentina or chile or colombia or peru or paraguay or panama or nicaragua or jamaica or honduras or haiti or belize or belice or guyana or guatemala or french guiana or granada or grenada or ecuador or dominican rep or cuba or costa rica or bolivia or barbados or bahamas or uruguay or “trinid tobago” or surinam or puerto rico or salvador or martinique or st lucia or st vincent or antigua barbu or trin tobago or trinid tabago or guadeloupe)
Drugs and therapy	TS = ((fullerene drug*) or (dendrimer drug*) or (nanoshell* and (phototherap* and “hypothermal therap*”)) or (magnetic nanoparticle* and hyperthermal therap*)) AND CU = (mexico or brazil or venezuela or argentina or chile or colombia or peru or paraguay or panama or nicaragua or jamaica or honduras or haiti or belize or belice or guyana or guatemala or french guiana or granada or grenada or ecuador or dominican rep or cuba or costa rica or bolivia or barbados or bahamas or uruguay or “trinid tobago” or surinam or puerto rico or salvador or martinique or st lucia or st vincent or antigua barbu or trin tobago or trinid tabago or guadeloupe)
In vivo imaging	TS = ((superparamagnetic iron oxide) or (“ultrasmall superparamagnetic iron oxide”) or (“monocristalline iron oxide nanoparticle*”) or (cross-linked iron oxide nanoparticle*) or (liposome and ultrasound) or (nanoparticle* and nuclear imaging) or (nanoparticle* and optical imaging) or (nanoshell* and optical imaging) or (quantum dot* and optical imaging)) and CU = (mexico or brazil or venezuela or argentina or chile or colombia or peru or paraguay or panama or nicaragua or jamaica or honduras or haiti or belize or belice or guyana or guatemala or french guiana or granada or grenada or ecuador or dominican rep or cuba or costa rica or bolivia or barbados or bahamas or uruguay or “trinid tobago” or surinam or puerto rico or salvador or martinique or st lucia or st vincent or antigua barbu or trin tobago or trinid tabago or guadeloupe)
Medical biosensors	TS = ((“medical biosensor*”) or (“surface plasmon resonance” and biosensor*) or (cantilever biochip*) or (“DNA chip*” and “electrical detection”) or (nanoarray* and diagnostic*) or (“quantum dot*” and diagnostic*) or (“gold nanoparticle*” and diagnostic*) or (“magnetic nanoparticle*” and diagnostic*) or (“lab on a chip”)) and CU = (mexico or brazil or venezuela or argentina or chile or colombia or peru or paraguay or panama or nicaragua or jamaica or honduras or haiti or belize or belice or guyana or guatemala or french guiana or granada or grenada or ecuador or dominican rep or cuba or costa rica or bolivia or barbados or bahamas or uruguay or “trinid tobago” or surinam or puerto rico or salvador or martinique or st lucia or st vincent or antigua barbu or trin tobago or trinid tabago or guadeloupe)
Implants	TS = ((“bone cement*” and nanostructure*) or (“dental implant*” and nanocomposite*) or (“orthopedic implant*” and nanostructure*) or (“cardiovascular implant*” and nanostructure*) or (“tissue engineering” and nanostructure*) or (“silver nanoparticle*” and (implant* or “wound dressing*”)) or (biomarker* and nano*)) and CU = (mexico or brazil or venezuela or argentina or chile or colombia or peru or paraguay or panama or nicaragua or jamaica or honduras or haiti or belize or belice or guyana or guatemala or french guiana or granada or grenada or ecuador or dominican rep or cuba or costa rica or bolivia or barbados or bahamas or uruguay or “trinid tobago” or surinam or puerto rico or salvador or martinique or st lucia or st vincent or antigua barbu or trin tobago or trinid tabago or guadeloupe)
	TS = ((“electronic drug delivery system*” and nanotechnolog*) or (“neural prothesis” and nanotechnolog*)) and CU = (mexico or brazil or venezuela or argentina or chile or colombia or peru or paraguay or panama or nicaragua or jamaica or honduras or haiti or belize or belice or guyana or guatemala or french guiana or granada or grenada or ecuador or dominican rep or cuba or costa rica or bolivia or barbados or bahamas or uruguay or “trinid tobago” or surinam or puerto rico or salvador or martinique or st lucia or st vincent or antigua barbu or trin tobago or trinid tabago or guadeloupe)
	TS = (nanomedicine*) and CU = (mexico or brazil or venezuela or argentina or chile or colombia or peru or paraguay or panama or nicaragua or jamaica or honduras or haiti or belize or belice or guyana or guatemala or french guiana or granada or grenada or ecuador or dominican rep or cuba or costa rica or bolivia or barbados or bahamas or uruguay or “trinid tobago” or surinam or puerto rico or salvador or martinique or st lucia or st vincent or antigua barbu or trin tobago or trinid tabago or guadeloupe).
	#8 OR #7 OR #6 OR #5 OR #4 OR #3 OR #2 OR #1

Nano-energy

Topic	Keywords
Energy storage	((nano* and (energ* or power)) and (“battery” or “batteries” or “fuel cell” or “energy storage”))
Energy transport	((nano* and (energ* or power)) and (“condenser*” or capacitor or “wire*” or “lighting”))
Fossil fuels	((nano* and (energ* or power)) and (fuel* or petroleum or “gas” or (catalys* and petroleum) or (catalys* and natural gas) or (catalys* and “shale gas”) or (catalys* and oil) and (catalys* and “shale oil”)))
Wind energy	((nano* and (“wind power” or “energ* eolic”)) or (nano* and ((“wind” or “eolic”) and (“light material*”))))
Photovoltaic	(nano* and (“solar cell*” or “photovoltaic” or “solar energ*” or “solar power”))
Energy storage	((nano* and (energ* or power)) and (“battery” or “batteries” or “fuel cell” or “energy storage”))
Energy transport	((nano* and (energ* or power)) and (“condenser*” or “capacitor” or “wire*” or “lighting”))
Nano applications in energy	((nano* and (energ* or power)) and (“sponges” or “hydrogen”))
Fossil fuels	((nano* and (energ* or power)) and (“fuel*” or “catalyst” or “petroleum” or “gas”))
Wind energy	((nano* and (“wind power” or “energ* eolic”)) or (nano* and ((“wind” or “eolic”) and (“light material*”))))
Photovoltaic energy	(nano* and (“solar cell*” or “photovoltaic” or “solar energ*” or “solar power”))

Nano-water

Area	Keywords
Wastewater treatment (contamined)	((“treatment” or “wastewater” or “disinfection” or “pollutant” or “pollution” or “groundwater” or “pesticide remediation”) and water and nano*)
Water potabilization	((“membrane filtration” or “freshwater” or “natural” or “reverse osmosis” or “drink*” or “nanoporous polymeric materials” or nanofiltration” or “brackish” or “desalination” or “saltwater” or “seawater”) and water and nano*)