Geleen, 24 June 2010
Chemelot B.V. is a subsidiary of Royal DSM N.V. Limburg Chamber of Commerce, No. 14031843. Chemelot Colloquium
“NanoHouse and the incentives for nanotechnology in the region”
By Bart van den Berg, NanoHouse project leader, Sittard, 24 June 2010
It’s making the mouth of the marketing guys water. They are seeing huge opportunities. In their mind’s eye they already see the campaigns...”New, new, new... Now even better, more scratch resistant, more self-cleaning, more flame resistant... Now even cheaper and even better for the environment...”. Nano is making it happen. Sure, it’s a proven fact.
Nanotechnology is going to open up markets. It has already done so. But the opportunism of commerce also comes up against boundaries. The safety of materials that have been
modified to one billionth of a meter gives rise to new questions. Health and environment are subjects that need to be discussed. People are working hard to find answers. Boundaries are shifted. Insights are developing.
THE entrepreneurial question:
NANO: GO/NO-GO?
Chemelot, 24 June 2010.Bart van den Berg combines a strong commercial drive with a well-developed sense of social responsibility. That rather limits the space in which he operates. ‘Creative stress’, is how he calls it, and he believes in the future of
nanomaterials, even though he realizes that a lot of knowledge still needs to be developed. It’s his task to keep nanotechnology on the agenda of the business world in the south of the Netherlands and in the Euregion. On your agenda. He wants to bring entrepreneurs, knowledge carriers and finance together and stimulate economic
growth. Nano can do it. And he’s at it again during this Chemelot Colloquium. As project leader of the NanoHouse knowledge centre he tells about the concrete – and current – partnerships that are marketing new products based on nanotechnology. For even though, in particular in SMEs, sentiments are often still based on fear and
ignorance, many companies are already en route. It’s not that they are putting up with the safety discussion, no, it’s because they are operating in that part of the technology field where a lot of knowledge is already available. Where there are more certainties and where existing uncertainties are minimized further to controllable risks. Thus they make sure that they will be ready for the introduction while research, science,
discussion and policy are being developed.
We are familiar with the Claryl picture glass success story and we know Zano, a zinc oxide that greatly improves the functionality of sun cream. Nanoproducts. In new buildings it is standard practice to provide windows with heat reflective metal oxide particles. And Perkalite is used in the production of power cables to prevent toxic emissions and smoke development in a fire. These are all examples of materials that have been modified on nanoscale.
Magic
Bart van den Berg, commenting on the colloquium: “At such small sizes, between 1 and 100 nanometers, materials exhibit properties that are vastly different from those at larger sizes. When you process them in such small forms, entirely new properties are possible. These are invisible to the naked eye, but in use they provide solutions to problems that many existing products create or maintain... An entirely new world is opening up. A world that we have to discover anew. Cars, mobiles, the meat you buy in the shop... everything I see around me these days takes on a new dimension. As if I’m looking through an electron microscope... It is almost like magic to me, though of course it is nothing of the sort. It is only technology, which supports product development. It’s an adventure offering major opportunities. For many. But there’s a lot that still needs to be discovered, driven by commerce, by the economy. And spurred by the drive of ‘the inventor’. It’s a huge challenge, and it’s my personal opinion that the puzzling process by itself, the journey into the unknown, already releases enough energy to get you through the development process. It’s fun. And when you see there already are commercial opportunities – with sales being generated – that is very encouraging.”
Easy2Clean
Apparently it can be done. And it can also be done here, in the Euregion. It takes time, but we find each other. We work together, use subsidies. Easy2Clean is a good example. It’s a project involving a worldwide scan of self-cleaning coatings and patents. Easy2Clean can be realized using a nano-based coating on the basis of titanium dioxide that prevents dirt, moisture and dust from adhering to surfaces. This is a property lending itself for commercial and economic exploitation by, for instance, the furniture industry or the Dutch railways – with trains needing fewer cleaning operations. Fifteen Dutch and Belgian companies – with guidance from DSM, TNO, Zuyd University and Fontys University of Applied Sciences, among others – were brought together by NanoHouse and started up a project for further exploitation of the potential of Easy2Clean. Recently a substantial RAAK subsidy was granted for application of the coating to the products made by these companies, thus enhancing the market opportunities for these products. The project was presented as a national example. But the subsidy will also enable sharing of the available knowledge and experience with at least fifty other entrepreneurs, and development of new product-market combinations. The aim being to create new applications and new markets based on the new properties. There is room for growth. But is it safe, and what about the environmental impact? Bart van den Berg: “That, too, is nano. It is new and it involves risks. However, these are controlled risks and here, too, cooperation will lead to a faster solution...
Discussion list
“For some materials and products...”, he continues, “... practice overtakes the discussion about safety. Certainly in countries like Japan, where other rules apply, but also here, in Europe. Titanium dioxide is safe. Claryl and Perkalite are examples of nano products that already generate sales. Whose risks have been carefully assessed... Each nano entrepreneur
Nano is not always dangerous and consumers are not always against it. A recent survey among 500 young people in the Dutch province of Limburg showed, for instance, that 90% would have no problem buying electronics products in which nanotechnology is used.
Is the presence of nanotechnology in a product a
reason to buy or avoid it?
Elektronicaproducten Energievoorziening Gezondheidsproducten Persoonlijke verzorging Gebruiksvoorwerpen Voeding 0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100% kopen vermijden KEY to diagram: Food Everyday objects Personal care
Health products buy
Energy supply avoid
Together with Technocentrum Zuid-Limburg, NanoHouse and NanoPodium, five secondary schools have started a project to form an opinion on nanotechnology. This also involves a survey to find out what people think about nanotechnology. The results should contribute to a province-wide discussion (on 7 October) about technology, which will be held in the Province House in Maastricht. This research took place within the project “I Know Nano – Nano and Education” with the to enhance informatie transfer and debate about nanotechnology in particular in schools. Knowledge development, opinion forming of secondary school students is emphasized, across all profiles. At first instance, five schools are involved: College Den Hulster at Venlo, Lyceum Schöndeln at Roermond, Bernard Lievegoed School at Maastricht, Bernardinuscollege at Heerlen and Sint-Maartenscollege at Maastricht. This project will be closed with a general debate about nanotechnologie on 28 October 2010 in the Bonnefanten Museum at Maastricht. Representatives of the government, companies and education will be present.
entrepreneurs and researchers to contact NanoHouse, without any obligation, to inform each other.
GO/NO-GO
Bart can’t give a generic answer to the question ‘NANO: GO/NO-GO?’. “As you can see, there’s no easy answer, and, depending on the product, we must use nanotechnology in a sustainable and sound manner while complying with existing rules and regulations.
Responsible development is essential. There are many more possibilities for the development of technology that can make the difference for specific materials, specific applications and specific sectors. I feel the SMEs should now seize on this. And here at Chemelot we are making the new connections needed for that.
List of most-sold and most-researched nanomaterials
This list of most-sold and most-researched nanomaterials evokes SMEs to start a
conversation with their technologists, or for example the researchers on Chemelot, about the possibilities.
Fullerenes (C60)
Single-walled carbon nanotubes Multi-walled carbon nanotubes Silver Iron Soot Titanium dioxide Aluminium oxide Cerium oxide Zinc oxide Silicium dioxide Polystyrene Dendrimers Nanoclay.
The functionalities these materials offer are among others easy-to-clean (titanium dioxide), fire resistance (nanoclay), reinforced composites (carbon nanotubes), anti-bacterial (nano silver), transparent UV protection (zinc oxide).
Bart van den Berg (bartvandenberg@nanohouse.eu) will gladly discuss with you the possibilities of product development with the most-sold nanomaterialen and their functionalities. Chemelot P.O. Box 600 6160 MJ Geleen The Netherlands © Chemelot, 2010.
