Nanomaterials research at Rice Chemistry builds on a legacy of innovation that began with the discovery of buckminsterfullerene (Cāā), a breakthrough that contributed to the 1996 Nobel Prize in Chemistry. Today, faculty develop and study a diverse range of nanomaterials - including nanoparticles, carbon nanotubes, graphene and other 2D materials, semiconductor nanocrystals, and hybrid nanostructures - while advancing new methods for their synthesis, assembly, and integration into functional systems. By combining fundamental discoveries with collaborations across industry, medicine, energy, and aerospace, researchers are creating nanomaterials for applications ranging from advanced electronics and sustainable energy technologies to environmental remediation, drug delivery, and cancer therapeutics.