The 2023 Nobel Prize in Chemistry recognizes the discovery of size dependent optical properties and the first production of almost monodispersed semiconductor nanocrystals, quantum dots, which paved the way for commercial products including brighter optical displays, multi-colored LED lighting, and tissue imaging agents in medicine. This year's prize shines a light on the extraordinary properties of nanoscale materials, and we would like to congratulate Alexei Ekimov, Louis Brus and Moungi Bawendi.

But the story of quantum dots commercialization is far from over. Work on ‘safer-by-design’ approaches, including Vireo's first Life Cycle Risk Assessment for quantum dots, and our current work on graphene oxide with European partners of the DIAGONAL project, can inform nanoparticle design, and work on more efficient and sustainable production aims towards new generations of highly fluorescent dots and remarkable new products for biomedical imaging applications.