What area of chemistry do you think yields the greatest research potential in the 21st century?

Question

Just started reading some articles about future research and was curious to see in what direction people think chemistry research is headed.

Answer 1

Materials science. Quality of life is defined by organization, which means smaller and smaller organized materials. Electrons, optical fibers, polymers, corrosion protective films etc etc. To make these materials smaller, they have to be acontrolled and organized. And that is the role of the material scientist.

Answer 2

I am personally intrigued by the possibility of using molecules in designing nanoscale electronics (ie electronic circuits where the components are single molecules so therefore much smaller than a microchip!). This is already an active area of chemistry research, but with enormous potential.

Answer 3

Nanotechnology without a doubt and research at the chemistry/biology interface.

Answer 4

better prediction of the medicinal value of compounds.