What is nanoscale?

Nano is greek and means dwarf. In metric units, nano means one billionth (1/1.000.000.000). Hence, one nanometer (nm) is one billionth of a meter. The size-scale from 1 mm given in nm is:

In an European regulatory context, the nanoscale is defined as being between 1 and 100 nm. Scientifically the nanoscale does not have these definite lower and upper boundaries, but to be in the range of 1 ca. to 100 nm.

Some nanomaterials may have dimensions smaller than 1 nm. This is for example observed for sheets of carbon atoms (graphene), fullerene materials and single-walled nanotubes, which are nanomaterials by definition.