Nanometric confinement: Toward new physical properties and technological developments

In numerous real life situations, molecular systems are not found in bulk but instead trapped in limited volumes of nanometric size: this is nanometric confinement. The complex interplay of the confinement topology, dimensionality (3D to 1D) and surface/volume ratio significantly affects the physical properties of the confined material. After decades of intense fundamental research, we are now entering a time when the unusual properties of fluids under confinement may be tuned to target specific technological objectives. In this paper, we highlight few situations, all related to the fields of energy production or storage, where diverse neutron scattering techniques (imaging, small angle scattering, diffraction, inelastic and quasi-elastic scattering) may help to bridge basic science and applied research.