Nanostructural states in solids

On the basis of the joint approaches of nonequilibrium thermodynamics and physical mesomechanics, there is proposed a thermodynamic criterion of existence of a special class of pretransition two-phase nanostructural states in solids near the zero of their thermodynamic Gibbs potential. Such states determine the high structural instability of nanostructures in the external fields and are the basis of different nanotechnologies based on a “bottom-up” assemblying approach. It is suggested to call the materials characterized by nanostructural states as nanostructured. The shear-resistant materials with a grain size d < 100 nm, but being far from the zero of their thermodynamic Gibbs potential, may conveniently be classified as nanosized.