enough to rationalize the crystal structures of simple, relatively rigid, organic molecules. As computer capability increases, and as the sophistication of the programs used increases, it seems very probable that it will soon be possible to predict the structures of crystals. Learning to template or guide desired organization of molecules will have great utility.

The scale of components in complex condensed matter often results in structures having a high surface-area-to-volume ratio. In these systems, interfacial effects can be very important. The interfaces between vapor and condensed phases and between two condensed phases have been well studied over the past four decades. These studies have contributed to technologies from electronic materials and devices, to corrosion passivation, to heterogeneous catalysis. In recent years, the focus has broadened to include the interfaces between vapors, liquids, or solids and self-assembled structures of organic, biological, and polymeric nature.

In a simple material, its surface properties are dictated by the properties of the bulk, which are not necessarily desirable. For example, we may need a bulk material for its strength but want to make a medical device—such as an artificial heart—where the surface must not cause a reaction leading to rejection or blood clotting. This leads to the challenge of learning how to add biocompatible surface layers to materials. This challenge is not yet fully met, but interesting approaches to creating biomimetic functionality on surfaces are rapidly emerging. This field is an example of the transition of chemistry from pure materials to organized systems and materials, in this case the organization being the modification of the surface with a different material for a biofunctional purpose.

The ability to modify surfaces by attaching chemicals to them has for years encouraged scientists to attempt to design surface adhesive and wetting properties. The advent of self-assembled monolayers, including mixtures of molecules in a monolayer, has led to more detailed control and understanding of surface adhesion and wetting. This capability has been extended with the use of novel monolayers to alter liquid-crystalline anchoring processes, surface friction, and biocompatibility. Important applications of this approach have arisen in microfluidics and liquid crystalline displays. Work pioneered by Nuzzo and Allara at Bell Laboratories in the early 1980s with thiol self-assembled monolayers on gold has led to a great deal of research, much of which has been revolutionary.

Thus the study of surfaces has emerged as an important focus in the chemical sciences, and the relationship between surfaces of small systems and their performance has emerged as a major technological issue. Flow in microfluidic systems—for example, in micromechanical systems with potential problems of stiction (sticking and adhesion) and for chemistry on gene chips—depends on the properties of system surfaces. Complex heterogeneous phases with high surface areas—suspensions of colloids and liquid crystals—have developed substantial

Front Matter (R1-R14)

Executive Summary (1-10)

1 Introduction (11-15)

2 The Structures and Cultures of the Disciplines: The Common Chemical Bond (16-21)

3 Synthesis and Manufacturing: Creating and Exploiting New Substances and New Transformations (22-40)

4 Chemical and Physical Transformations (41-54)

5 Isolating, Identifying, Imaging, and Measuring Substances and Structures (55-70)

6 Chemical Theory and Computer Modeling: From Computational Chemistry to Process Systems Engineering (71-94)

7 The Interface with Biology and Medicine (95-122)

8 Materials by Design (123-147)

9 Atmospheric and Environmental Chemistry (148-159)

10 Energy: Providing for the Future (160-170)

11 National and Personal Security (171-179)

12 How To Achieve These Goals (180-194)

Appendix A: Biographical Sketches of Steering Committee Members (195-201)

Appendix B: Statement of Task (202-202)

Appendix C: Contributors (203-208)

Index (209-224)