“Nanomaterials can be made to capture solar energy in extremely high quality but at relatively low cost”

After receiving the 13th BBVA Frontiers of Knowledge Award in Basic Sciences, Paul Alivisatos details how the creation and manipulation of semiconductor nanocrystals has opened new frontiers in materials science. He explains how these systems allow the control of light and matter at minute scales, with applications ranging from biomedical imaging to advanced electronics. His perspective highlights the power of nanotechnology to transform entire disciplines.

The BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Award in the Basic Sciences category has gone in this thirteenth edition to A. Paul Alivisatos (University of California, Berkeley, United States) and Michael Grätzel (Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Switzerland) for their fundamental contributions to the development of new nanomaterials already in use for the production of renewable energies and in latest-generation electronics.