Nano 13

FOCUS ON NANOTECHNOLOGY
Reaping the benefits of nanomaterials

June 2013 physicsworld.com
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Physics World Focus on: Nanotechnology

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Contents
Focus on: Nanotechnology

Welcome to this special focus issue of Physics World, brought to you in partnership with our sister publication nanotechweb.org. In an exclusive report, Kostya S Novoselov, who shared the 2010 Nobel Prize for Physics for his work on graphene, explains the design process behind the UKs new National Graphene Institute, which is being built in Manchester. Other highlights include a primer on the graphene market today through the eyes of specialist materials provider, Haydale, and a look at how nanotechnology could help to green the electricity grid. Finally, find out more about e-learning options for topping up your nanotechnology knowledge all you need is a computer and a connection to the Internet. Let us know your thoughts on any of the topics covered by e-mailing us at pwld@iop.org.
Matin Durrani, Editor, Physics World
Jestico + Whiles
The UKs new National Graphene Institute 14

ALSTOM Grid
Research and industry news

How nanoparticles could turn the grid green 19
Editor Matin Durrani Associate Editor Dens Milne Contributing Editor James Tyrrell Production Editor Alison Gardiner, Louise Unwin Managing Editor Susan Curtis Marketing and Circulation Gemma Bailey Advertisement Sales Chris Thomas Advertisement Production Mark Trimnell Art Director Andrew Giaquinto Copyright 2013 by IOP Publishing Ltd and individual contributors. All rights reserved Printed in the UK by Warners (Midlands) plc, The Maltings, West Street, Bourne, Lincolnshire PE10 9PH Hydrogel electronics
High-speed imagingNanomedicine Device assemblyGraphene fundingNew facilitiesAcquisitions
Features
Making graphene pay today
What kind of products will be the first to make use of the wonder material? Richard Stevenson visits specialist materials provider Haydale to find out
Graphene architecture
Kostya S Novoselov and Tony Ling explain how academia and industry will join forces at the UKs new National Graphene Institute at the University of Manchester
14
Greening the grid

Nanoparticles are set to play an important role in next-generation electricitytransmission networks, as Richard Stevenson reports
19
In association with
Taking nanotech teaching online
22
NANOTECHNOLOGY
James Tyrrell talks to staff at Purdue University about nanoHUB-U a Web-based curriculum that is open to anyone with access to the Internet
Events Diary
Physics World Temple Circus, Temple Way, Bristol BS1 6HG, UK Tel: +44 (0)117 929 7481 E-mail: pwld@iop.org Web: physicsworld.com
June 2013
24
Keeping you posted on key nanotechnology conferences, meetings and exhibitions taking place this year
On the cover Computer artwork showing a graphene/boron-nitrate heterostructure 9 (Kostya S Novoselov/University of Manchester)
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Research news
Hydrogel electronics makes its debut

A new type of hydrogel developed by researchers at Stanford University in the US could be used to make highperformance energy-storage electrodes and biosensors. The porous nanostructured material is based on the conducting polymer polyaniline (PAni) and has excellent electronic and electrochemical properties (PNAS 10.1073/pnas.1202636109). Hydrogels are 3D polymer networks that can hold a large amount of water and are similar in structure to biological tissue. Most hydrogels are, however, based on non- c onducting polymer matrices, which limits their applications in electronics. The researchers, led by Zhenan Bao and Yi Cui, have now used phytic acid, which is a good ionic conductor, to dope and crosslink the conducting polymer PAni in an effort to overcome this problem. According to the team, the material combines the advantages of hydrogels, which have a large surface area, with the benefits of organic conductors, such as high electronic conductivity and good electrochemical properties. It could thus be used in high-performance electrochemical devices such as supercapacitors and ultrasensitive biosensors, like those used to detect glucose, say team members Lijia Pan and Guihua Yu. To prepare the material, the scientists begin by mixing two solutions. The hydrogel was found to have a high specific capacitance of around 480F/g, and also charges and discharges energy very fast, which means that it could be used in electric vehicles and grid-scale energy storage. Commercial carbon, in contrast, has a specific capacitance of only 100F/g. Spurred on by these results, the researchers have fabricated a glucose sensor by immobilizing the enzyme glucose oxidase (GOx) in the hydrogel. Glucose reacts with the GOx and its concentration in solution is monitored via the GOx PAni hydrogel electrode. The electrode acts as an excellent interface between the biological (the enzyme GOx) and the synthetic (the electrode), says Pan, and the 3D conducting nanostructured framework allows the hydrogel to collect electrons during the enzyme-catalysed glucose redox reactions. The hydrogel also reacts very fast in around 0.3s, compared with a response time of around 20s for commercial glucose sensors. The team is now busy developing other novel hydrogels based on various conducting polymers. We are also trying to push our new technology into areas such as high-performance lithium batteries, electrochromic devices, neuronal electrodes and even electronic skin, reveals Yu.
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One solution initiates the polymerization reaction, while the other contains the monomer aniline and the doping ingredient phytic acid. Typical gelation times can be as short as three minutes, explains Yu, thanks to the fact that each phytic-acid mole cule contains six phosphorus groups that can interact with several polymer chains at once. We showed that we can synthesize the conductive polymer hydrogel in large quantities and also pattern it by inkjet printing and spray techniques, says Pan. This means that we might be able to fabricate electronic and electrochemical devices, such as biosensor arrays and microsupercapacitors, on a large scale fairly easily.
Novel network Illustration of the polyaniline hydrogel, which has both a big surface area and conducts well.
Imaging
Lissajous scan trajectories speed up microscopy

Scientists at IBMs Zurich Research Centre and ETH Zurich are investigating a new approach to high-speed scanning probe microscopy (SPM) in which the scanner traces a so-called Lissajous curve rather than following a raster-scan pattern. In the work, two single-tone actuation frequencies are used to generate the curves and the resulting scan path covers a rectangular image area in a high-resolution grid-like pattern. The Lissajous scan trajectories provide a preview of the region of interest in fractions of the overall scan time, with a spatial resolution that continuously increases until the complete image has been
June 2013
Sample preview Time-lapse of (a)conventional raster-scanning and (b) the Lissajous imaging process.
obtained (Nanotechnology 23 185501). Scan trajectories based on Lissajous curves have been studied in magnetic resonance imaging and other medical-imaging techniques. A key Tomas Tuma advantage of the approach is that the IBM Research
imaging trajectories can be enabled using extremely narrow-band actuation signals, which do not excite any unwanted dynamics of the mechanical scanning device and can reduce the impact of measurement noise. In the high-speed SPM set-up, a pure single-tone frequency is used to actuate the SPM scanner in each of the two orthogonal in-plane axes. Owing to the interference between the two actuation frequencies, the scanner traces an elegant and smooth grid-like pattern (see image). The curves reveal the image area with a resolution that increases uniformly in time and space. Lissajous scan trajectories are therefore particularly attractive for modern high-speed, interactive SPM applications.
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Research news
Membrane technology
Nanodevice delivers drugs in hard-to-reach places

A new type of controlled-release drug-delivery vehicle made from nanostructured polymer membranes has been unveiled by researchers at the University of California, San Francisco in the US. The device, which releases its therapeutic payload slowly and continuously over a period of several months, could come in useful for a wide variety of drugdelivery applications in the body including in difficult-to-access areas such as the back of the eye and limb joints (Nano Lett. 12 5355). Drug-carrying vehicles are normally made of hollow nanoparticles in which therapeutic molecules can easily be transported. However, nanostructured membranes in which the drug is loaded between a nanofilm and a backing layer also show promise. The advantage of the membrane option is that drug molecules of around the same size as the membrane pores (which can range from tens of nanometres to hundreds of nanometres across) can be released slowly thanks to the fact that they travel through the pores in a single file. Until now, most such nanostructured membranes have been made from inorganic materials, such as silicon, alumina or titania, because
Porous platform Thin films covered in tiny holes will be important for maintaining therapeutic concentrations of a drug in the body for long periods of time.
these are relatively easy to fabricate. The problem is that these materials are generally rigid and often not biodegradable. Polymeric nanostructured membranes could come into their own here, say Tejal Desai and colleagues, who have been studying biodegradable polymers such as poly(caprolactone) (PCL) as the active element in drug-delivery systems capable of controlled release. By templating the PCL off a zinc-oxide mould, the researchers succeeded in fabricating nanostructured PCL membranes containing nanosized pores that were able to release the model therapeutic protein immunoglobuline G (IgG) over the course of several months. Desais team creates the nanostructured features of the membranes by spin-casting a thin film of PCL and
poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) onto a zinc-oxide template that penetrates the thickness of the polymer film. Under appropriate conditions, the PEG forms an interconnected network that spans the supporting PCL film layer. When the PEG is removed, a porous PCL film is generated and the template can subsequently be etched with acid to generate individual nanostructured PCL pores. We showed that functional proteins, like IgG, can be released steadily and at a constant rate over a period of four months, says Desai. Such sustained and controlled release has never been achieved before with other such biodegradable-film devices. The amount of drug released can also be controlled by changing the membrane surface area smaller membranes release smaller amounts of the drug, for example. Desai thinks that such devices might be used to deliver drugs in various parts of the body, and particularly into confined and hard-to-reach spaces where long-term delivery might be needed. The team is now looking at using its device to deliver drugs to the retina in an effort to control and treat age-related macular degeneration.
Belle Dum
Nanowires
Surface fasteners provide alternative to soldering

Researchers from Nagoya University in Japan have proposed a patterned structure of push-together gold nanowire arrays dubbed surface fasteners that enable room-temperature bonding of electrical components placed on printed circuit boards. The technique represents a low-temperature alternative to reflow soldering and could avoid thermal damage of electrical components as well as help make circuits easier to disassemble and recycle at the end of their lifetime (Nanotechnology 23 365202). To test the concept, two circuit boards featuring a pattern of gold nanowire arrays (synthesized by porous alumina template-assisted electrodeposition) were connected to each other under different preloads. The parasitic resistance across the
June 2013
Prototype arrays Push-together gold nanowire pads (left) before and (right) after use.
connection was measured using a four-point probe method after the preload was completely removed. Normal and shear bonding strengths were also evaluated. The team of Yang Ju, Masahiro Amano and Mingji Chen demonstrated that mechanical bonding enables normal and shear bonding Yang Ju strengths of more than 5N/cm2. The Nagoya University
parasitic resistance of a pair of surface fasteners was found to be about 2. Surface fasteners based on highmelting-point metallic nanowires are temperature resistant for many critical applications. In addition, bonding without solder material is a positive step for the recycling of rare metals in surface-mount devices. In the study, the scientists used three types of commercial-grade porous alumina membranes with nominal pore diameters of 20, 100 and 200nm to synthesize the nano wire arrays. The average length of the nanowires was found to be 10m. Test results showed that the bonding strengths rely heavily on the magnitude of the preload. A larger preload can give rise to higher shear and normal bonding strengths by making the two groups of nanowires dig deeper into each other, thereby increasing the contact area and bonding strength.
Materials Science
Materials for Breakthrough Innovations

From Aldrich Materials Science
Energy Thermoelectric Materials; Quantum Dots, Phosphors; Nanoparticles; Fuel Cell and Li Ion Battery Materials, Electrodes, Electrolytes Electronics Printed Electronics Inks and Pastes; Materials for OPV, OFET, OLED; Nanodispersions; CNTs and Graphene Biomedical Multifunctional Regenerative Therapy Materials: PEGs, Biodegradable and Natural Polymers; Targeted Drug Delivery: Block Copolymers, Dendrimers; Dental and Ophthalmic Materials
Technologies for a changing world
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Industry news
Briefs
Oxford Instruments acquires Asylums AFM expertise
Hi-tech tool provider Oxford Instruments has acquired Asylum Research a specialist in atomic-force and scanning-probe microscopy. Founded in 1999, Asylum Research is familiar to experimentalists thanks to the open design of its equipment, which allows the kit to be easily integrated and customized. Asylum Research is being acquired from its management for an initial debtfree, cash-free consideration of $32m with a deferred element of up to $48m payable over three years, dependent on its performance over that period. The acquisition of Asylum Research significantly increases our footprint in nanotechnology and complements our strong position in electron microscopes with a presence in another fundamental nanotechnology measurement technique, says Jonathan Flint, chief executive of Oxford Instruments. The acquisition also gives us access to the rapidly growing bionano market because it allows customers to perform analysis of organic samples in their natural liquid environments, something that cannot readily be done using electron microscopes. About 60% of Asylum Researchs turnover comes from customers working in materials science, where the customer base and routes to market are shared with Oxford Instruments. This opens up opportunities for market synergies and the development of new integrated products. The rest of Asylum Researchs turnover is in the bio-nano area and, as Flint points out, this market provides a new growth opportunity for Oxford Instruments.
Europe invests in graphene

The European Commission has chosen graphene as one of Europes first decade-long, 7 1bn future emerging-technology flagships. The programme links academia and industry to ramp up the delivery of new products based on graphene a 2D allotrope of carbon with remarkable properties by focusing on materials production, components fabrication and systems integration. Hopes are high that graphene will deliver big benefits in terms of advanced materials and devices, as well as bringing economic growth and helping to create new jobs. Industrial participants in the graphene flagship include Airbus, Aixtron, Alcatel Lucent, Nokia, Oxford Instruments and Thales. The project also features Nobelprize winners A ndre Geim and Kostya S Novoselov from the University of Manchester. Geim sees graphene as his best bet for the next big technological breakthrough, although he warns that it typically takes 40years for a new material to establish itself on consumer shelves. Key working areas include sensors, nanocomposites, high-frequency
Univer sity of Manchester
Layered device Graphene and other 2D materials can be stacked to create new functional structures.
electronics, flexible devices and energy applications such as hydrogen storage, improved solar cells and better batteries. The benefits of this initiative could also extend beyond graphene. T he optoelectronics work-package leader Andrea Ferrari, who is based at the University of Cambridge, points out that the programme is an opportunity to broaden the research to other 2D materials and hybrid systems. More information about the graphene flagship can be found at www.graphene-flagship.eu
Imaging
Zeiss bridges nano- and micro-worlds at new facility

The UK manufacturing and sales divisions of Carl Zeiss have expanded their scanning-electron-microscopy production area and opened new application laboratories, sales and service offices, and customer facilities in Cambridge. Larger premises mean that the firms UK operation can now represent different business groups on a single campus, and fulfil a greater New building Zeiss number of customer orders in its con- has expanded its site figuration and testing bays. The site in Cambridge, UK. currently employs almost 300 staff. The move is part of the companys global plan to bring customers, products and employees closer together, and the new facility includes a series of dedicated demonstration rooms. Set-ups on display include light and electron microscopes fitted with the firms shuttle and find
June 2013
interface, which allows users to easily transfer samples between different imaging apparatus and examine materials at different length scales. Regions of interest are saved together with an image of the sample. These positions can then be reloaded and recreated on each piece of equipment thanks to automated calibration routines that help to speed up the workflow. The new building has a total of five application laboratories for electron and light microscopes, as well as demonstration and training facilities for surgical microscopes, medical diagnostic equipment, camera lenses, binoculars and scopes. The development work at the Cambridge site is one of 20 Zeiss construction projects currently under way around the world.
Zeiss
Nanoco strengthens industry links
Nanoco a leader in the development and manufacture of cadmium-free quantum dots and other nanomaterials has signed a worldwide licensing agreement with The Dow Chemical Company for exclusive rights to manufacture and market Nanoco cadmium-free quantum dots for the display industry. Nanoco has also signed a follow-on joint-development agreement with Osram to finalize the design of an LED using Nanoco cadmium-free quantum dots. Meanwhile in renewable energy, Nanoco has signed a follow-on agreement with Tokyo Electron for the next phase of development of a nanomaterial-based solar film. Nanoco is also continuing its work on other applications for quantum dots, including biomedical imaging.
Advertising feature
Nanoscribes 3D printer opens new dimensions for the microscale

Today, nanotechnology is the driver of innovation in many different scientific fields. Again and again new tools are needed for solving tomorrows challenges. The German company Nanoscribe, founded in 2007 as a spin-off of the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), produces 3D laserlithography systems for the fabrication of true three-dimensional micro- and nanostructures with a previously unavailable freedom of design and structure heights up to the millimeter range. Leading research institutes and universities in Europe, North America and Asia already appreciate the extraordinary quality and resolution of these high-tech 3D printers. The systems pave the way for a wide field of novel applications in photonics, micro-optics, micro-fluidics or life sciences. The direct laser writing technique underlying the 3D printing method is based on two-photon polymerization. Just as paper ignites when exposed to sunlight focused through a magnifying glass, ultra-short laser pulses polymerize photosensitive materials in the laser focus. This crosslinking of polymer chains renders the exposed volume insoluble relative to its unexposed environment. After washing away the unexposed material in a developer bath, the exposed regions remain as self-supporting 3D micro- and nanostructures.
Nanoscribes Photonic Professional systems offer a multitude of applications, e.g. in photonics, micro-optics, micro rapid prototyping, mechanical metamaterials, and life sciences/cell biology.
by implementing a galvo mirror system similar to those used in laser show devices or scanning units of CD and DVD drives. Reflecting a laser beam off the rotating galvo mirrors facilitates rapid and precise lateral laser focus positioning. Nanoscribes CEO Martin Hermatschweiler explains: We revolutionized 3D printing on the micrometer scale: The demands for precision and speed at the same time are met by industrially established galvo scanners a quantum leap in nanofabrication. Our new product benefits from more than one decade of experience in 3D microand nanofabrication. Nanoscribe GmbH Hermann-von-Helmholtz-Platz 1, Eggenstein-Leopoldshafen, 76344, Germany Phone +49 721 60 82 88 40 Fax +49 721 60 82 88 48 E-mail info@nanoscribe.de Web www.nanoscribe.de
Now, Nanoscribe introduces the next generation of laser lithography systems: Photonic Professional GT systems combine the well-proven features of highest-resolution and best quality with an extremely increased printing speed. The significant reduction of the manufacturing time was achieved

Markets
Making graphene pay today

Graphene will surely revolutionize transistor performance and enable the construction of flexible solar cells and displays. But material suppliers must first target success in other, easier-to-penetrate markets, such as conductive inks, barrier paints and electrodes for batteries, as Richard Stevenson finds out
There is good reason for dubbing graphene the wonder material. This allotrope of carbon, which is formed by arranging atoms in a hexagonal array to create a single sheet, has a phenomenal set of attributes: its tensile strength is 200times that of steel, its thermal conductivity exceeds that of all metals and electrons can zip through this material at far higher speeds than in silicon. Thanks primarily to the latter attribute, graphene has been grabbing the headlines. Its fantastic charge-transport properties have led many to tip this material as the natural successor to silicon, which is used to make the microprocessors that lie at the heart of every computer and mobile device. One concern facing the dozen or so materials suppliers selling graphene-based products is that the market for graphene-based integrated circuits is still a long way off. Electrical engineers in the silicon industry will surely spend the next few years feverishly trying to squeeze out every iota of performance from the incumbent semiconductor before they will contemplate a switch to other materials. And when they finally accept that a radical change in material is required, graphene will probably have to wait its turn, with the likes of germanium and indium gallium arsenide winning deployment first single sheets of carbon may only start appearing in microprocessors in the middle of the next decade. A delay is not all bad news, however. Today, the single-layer graphene needed for state-of-the-art transistors can only be made in small quantities in the lab but hopefully companies will catch up and be able to produce it in reasonable volumes by
June 2013
Haydale
Fully operational Haydale has recently moved into new premises in Capel Hendre, a Welsh village on the southern edge of the Brecon Beacons.
the time it is needed by the semiconductor industry. This could happen if material suppliers start growing their revenues by selling into markets that can benefit from graphene today, and invest their returns in refining product quality in the coming years. One company adopting this strategy is Haydale, a start-up located in the Welsh village of Capel Hendre, just outside the southern edge of the Brecon Beacons National Park. According to the companys commercial and business director, Ray Gibbs, there is very little economical, high-volume manufacturing of graphene-based products occurring today, but if companies start delivering on this front, they can unlock latent demand. Haydale plans to do this, having already raised more than 3m in investment and kitted out a factory with equipment capable of producing one tonne of graphene-based material per annum. Like many of its competitors such as XG Sciences of Lansing, Michigan; Angstron Materials of Dayton, Ohio; and Knano
Graphenes fantastic charge-transport properties have led many to tip this material as the natural successor to silicon
of Rocky Hill, Connecticut Haydale imports mined graphite and extracts myriads of graphene nanoplatelets from it. The naturally occurring, tiny slabs of material that are liberated have a length and breadth of several microns and a thickness of tens of nanometres, owing to the stacking of around 100layers of graphene on top of one another. What sets Haydale apart from the crowd is its novel process for extracting the nano platelets. While its peers use an acid- etching approach that damages the platelets as they are freed from the raw material, Haydale gently liberates the stacked graphene sheets with a plasma, a gas of ionized atoms or molecules. Additional advantages associated with the firms approach include simplified manufacture and an incredibly low electricity bill. With our patented technology there is no material washing or power-hungry drying, says Gibbs. The graphene nanoplatelets made by Haydale compete for sales in two distinct, emerging markets. As Gibbs explains, there is the lower-value, but higher-volume market for functional fillers products that can be used in conductive inks and paints, for example. There is also a more lucrative market, which requires far thinner platelets that are made from just two or three graphene sheets. These materials have much higher surface areas and can be used to make transparent conductive films, sensors and replacements for platinum cata-
Markets
lysts. To target these applications, Haydale is developing methods to produce far thinner platelets.
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Processing know-how
The person responsible for the development of Haydales technology is business development director Ian Walters, an entrepreneur and inventor. His involvement in processing carbon-based materials began a decade or so ago, when he was renting space at Swansea University. Back then he was trying to develop a plasma-based etching process for cleaning the surfaces of a recycled rubber and a nitrile, so that this pair of materials could be united by a strong, covalent bond. Someone advised him to try and apply the plasma process to carbon nanotubes, and when he did this, he found that he could improve the material quality. Walters went on to co-found Haydale in 2003, with the aim of creating a provider of high-quality carbon nanotubes. Although the company has succeeded in this endeavour, with shipments growing over the years, this market has been hampered by early hype of the products capabilities and a toxic-material ruling by the US Environmental Protection Agency, which puts carbon nanotubes under increased scrutiny. That came out in November 2011, and since then people have become very nervous, explains Gibbs. Graphene-based products, which now account for two-thirds of Haydales sales, are unlikely to suffer a similar fate, thanks to differing dimensions that are very unlikely to lead to human health issues. However, Haydale is taking a very prudent approach, and its premises are equipped with a massive air-circulation unit for purifying the air in the production facilities. Anyone entering this room, in fact, has to wear a face mask to further minimize health risks. In these production facilities, engineers are developing processes for forming platelets in a research reactor capable of housing 50g of specially prepared graphite. For manufacture, these recipes are transferred to a more automated tool with more than 10times this capacity. Processes that have been developed not only liberate the nanoplatelets from the graphite, but also add another chemical to this allotrope of carbon to create functionalized material. To unlock the potential of graphene, dispersion is key. And if you want to homogeneously disperse your product into a specific material, you need it to be compatible with that material, says Gibbs. You may need an amine group, an oxygen group or a nitrogen group, and we can do that for you in a controlled way. With acid-based processes, functionalizing graphene nanoplatelets is far more challenging and fewer chemical groups can be added.
Prudent approach Haydales facilities for developing graphene-based products feature a large ventilation system, which addresses any potential safety concerns.
Inking in the first deals
To grow its sales over the next year or so, Haydale has started to produce grapheneladen conductive black inks for markets that could include radio-frequency identification tags, sensors and conductive antennas for mobile phones. Success will require taking market share from the incumbent technology, a combination of carbon black and a metal such as silver or platinum. If we can achieve a result that is similar, but doesnt require as much of the expensive material, we have a winner, enthuses Gibbs. Another short-term opportunity for graphene nanoplatelets is as a filler in barrier paints, which are used to prevent rusting. Todays paints cannot stop oxygen and moisture from eventually penetrating through to the metal, leading to oxidation and delamination of the paint from the surface that it is meant to adhere to. Turning to functionalized graphene nanoplatelets should spawn superior coatings, owing to their excellent dispersion within the paint. We have some first, indicative results that are proving to be very positive, reveals Gibbs. He believes that graphene nanoplatelet fillers should lead to a new era for paints that are free from the chromates that are destroying the marine life at the bottom of the sea. If you took a snapshot of the seabed and followed the trail of devastation around the world, youd probably be able to find the major shipping lanes, he says. Graphene nanoplatelets could also start to be deployed in the anodes of lithium-ion batteries, where they could improve the quality of this electrode and address the problem of batteries lasting for increasingly shorter times as they are repeatedly charged and discharged. Spherical graphite
is currently used in the lithium-ion anode, while Haydale is developing silicon-doped graphene nanoplatelets that are claimed to combine superior packing properties with better chemistry characteristics. Market-research firms value todays lithium-ion battery market at about $10bn and, according to Gibbs, manufacture of the anode consumes between 25000 and 30000 tonnes of material. Gibbs expects that it could be five years or more before graphene nanoplatelets make an impact in batteries in electric vehicles because of the conservative nature of this industry. But he believes that these nanoplatelets could appear far sooner in the lithium-ion batteries in mobile phones and laptops: Nothing is more frustrating than your battery initially lasting for 45 hours, then in six months time youre down to an hour.
Targeting transparency
Haydale and its rivals will be able to target more applications including transparent conductive films for photovoltaics and seethrough films for food packaging if they can trim the number of graphene sheets in their nanoplatelets down to two or three. These tiny slabs would then transmit about 90% or more of the light incident on them. Turning to few-layer-graphene nanoplatelets for the production of foodpackaging films promises to lower the rate that gases can permeate through this barrier. Depending on what you are dealing with, you could extend the shelf life, says Gibbs. There is so much press about how much food we throw away. Just think of the environmental impact of food lasting longer and staying fresher. A transparent, conductive membrane
June 2013
10
Haydale

Markets
A number of operations, both corporate and universities, are knocking on our door andasking if they can use our facilities
are taking a slightly different tack, working on what they describe as compatible, sympathetic binder systems these feature functionalized graphene that binds to a target material. Were attacking this on a number of fronts, says Gibbs. Were firstly getting the functionalization right for the solventbinder system to optimize dispersion and printability, and were also working on some fairly robust dispersion techniques, which are proving to be extremely important. dale could increase its output it is possible for engineers to scale their process to yield 1015 tonnes of material per year but the companys strategy is not actually focused on being a high-volume manufacturer of graphene nanoplatelets. The business model is to prime the pump by supplying research and development materials, explains Gibbs Are we going to manufacture thousands of tonnes? No. There are many, many more people out there with far more facilities, skill sets and indeed cash to put in a production process than us. Instead, Haydales long-term plan is to first demonstrate the scalability of its technology, before making its money by licensing its process to materials manufacturers. However, if the orders from clients are small around 200kg or less it will meet them directly. In addition, the company will allow visitors access to its facilities so that they can develop methods to make nanomaterials in a nano safe environment. A number of operations, both corporate and universities, are knocking on our door and asking if they can use our facilities, says Gibbs. We want to charge them. For further information about the company, visit www.haydale.com
made from few-layered graphene could also provide an alternative to indium tin oxide (ITO), which is used in displays as well as solar cells. ITO is not flexible, it tends to be brittle, there is an issue over price and it degrades over time, says Gibbs. Graphene-based conductive films could particularly benefit solar cells that have to contend with low-light conditions. There is a company in Cardiff called G24i that makes low-ambient photovoltaics for use indoors, explains Gibbs. It uses its technology to recharge items such as your phone or the TV control unit its driven by the low-level light. To get the best out of these devices, the top conductive film must be highly transparent to allow the vast majority of incident radiation into the main structure of the solar cell, where it can be converted into a current. It is possible to thin nanoplatelets with exfoliation techniques, such as ultrasound and milling technologies. [But] there is only so much you can realistically achieve with these raw materials, admits Gibbs. One option is to consider alternative starting points, such as very fine graphene materials that can form transparent conductive films when printed as solvent dispersions. Haydales engineers, however,
A hybrid business model
Shipments of graphene nanoplatelets are tipped to rise during the next decade, with Lux Research estimating that global sales could hit $126m by 2020. As the market takes off, material shipments will rise. Hay-
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Tech transfer
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Graphene architecture
Kostya S Novoselov and Tony Ling describe the architectural principles behind the UKs new National Graphene Institute at the University of Manchester, which has been designed to allow scientists and engineers to explore the exciting science of graphene and turn it into real-world applications
Think about a typical physics research laboratory and an image comes to mind of a place that is full of equipment probably quite messy with several experiments going on at the same time and with the flexibility to accommodate even more. But an industrial lab, designed for one particular technological process, will be much tidier, more organized, more efficiently run and less prone to being altered. As for the architects who develop such buildings, they come with slick designs, keen to make sure the labs look as good on the outside as on the inside and desperate to understand what their clients really want and provide the best possible solution to their needs. So what happens when these three groups scientists, engineers and architects come together to design a new building for academics to work with business people and push exciting discoveries from fundamental science into real-world products? The result is a melting pot of ideas, views and thoughts, coupled with plenty of delicate compromises, and lots of interesting and novel architectural solutions. At least that has been the experience for both of us in designing the UKs new National Graphene Institute (NGI) at the University of Manchester. The NGI was first announced by the UK government in 2011 as part of its plan to build a nationwide graphene hub with the NGI at its centre. Intended to facilitate the transition of graphene technology from laboratory to production, the NGI will host researchers from different disciplines, as well as engineers from external companies, to bring about intensive technology transfer. Construction of the five-storey, 61m building funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council and the European Union is set to begin this year and to open in early 2015. In planning the building, the architects held intensive briefing sessions with key researchers who will work in the NGI, as well as with members of the universitys estates team, building managers, maintenance officers and security staff. This has been a long, iterative process that started on day one of the design project and will continue while the building is built and even beyond. Our goal throughout has been
Jestico + Whiles
Centre of excellence An artists impression of the National Graphene Institute at the University of Manchester.
to strike the right balance between having a research space that is flexible enough to deal with future unknown requirements, yet is solid and stable enough to support current tools and experimental equipment. With so many challenging requirements and interested parties, it is natural that many demands proved to be mutually contradictory requiring elegant, delicate solutions and a fair degree of compromise. In particular, the researchers requests for spacious labs, extended services and flexibility collided with demands from estates officers that the labs be easy to maintain and service. And both sides wishes have in turn been stymied by ever-more burdensome health-and-safety restrictions. At the same time, all parties want to create a building that is as cheap as possible to build but that will be a stunning landmark and visually arresting for years to come.
A flexible approach
The NGI will host researchers from different disciplines, as well as engineers from external companies, to bring about intensive technology transfer
Graphene is a fascinating material with a number of unique properties that is attracting the attention of thousands of physicists, chemists and materials scientists around the world. First isolated in 2004 by one of us (KN) working with Andre Geim, the material is not only the strongest ever discovered, but also the stiffest, and can sustain a current density a million times that of copper. Graphene is a disruptive technology that is expected to contribute to many existing applications and, hopefully, create many novel ones too. But with graphene research developing so fast and diversifying into a plethora of new directions, any facility designed to support both research and applications has many conflicting demands. The major challenge in designing the NGI was that the building not only needs to support certain specific scientific and engineering projects, but also has to be flexible capable of adapting quickly to support, say, new interdisciplinary collaborations, new equipment or new experiments. We also wanted the NGI to encourage researchers to innovate and deploy new experimental techniques with the minimum of time and effort (especially when fighting against todays increasingly stringent health-and-safety regulations). To meet these long-term, wide- ranging aspirations, the NGI building will have two
June 2013
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Tech transfer
huge cleanrooms (one 1100m2 and the other 400m2) plus a total of 1500m2 of laboratory space with many features that can easily be adapted if researchers want to move in new directions. The cleanrooms will have tiled, removable floors to allow equipment to be installed or repositioned with ease, along with interior walls that can be demounted and reconfigured at will, and mechanical and electrical support that allow the level of cleanliness to be adjusted to suit changing research needs. But for maximum flexibility, the entire floor of the larger cleanroom (to be used by university researchers) has been designed to meet or exceed what are known as vibration curve-D criteria, which will permit the most vibration- sensitive and demanding research equipment to be located anywhere in the cleanroom. We have done this by positioning the cleanrooms directly on the bedrock, which lies more than 4m below street level. The rest of the basement space also on the bedrock will be home to a vibration-sensitive optics and laser lab. Research into graphene is such a multidisciplinary activity that in designing the NGI we have to make sure that its labs can support workers from many different specializations. Scientists seeking new ways of making graphene, for example, will require large furnaces and chemistry facilities. Others processing graphene will need large cleanrooms of varying specifications, while those studying the electrical or optical properties of the material will want labs with specialized equipment. We have therefore had to think hard about how to combine these facilities so that people from different fields can collaborate, while at the same time minimizing interference so that stray magnetic fields from the labs do not hamper electron-beam lithography in a cleanroom, for example. The NGI therefore has modular labs each with a floor space of about 50m 2 and equipped with modular racking and shelving that can be tailored to specific research needs. Each lab also has an adjoining grey space to house pumps, compressors and any other noisy or dirty equipment, and to provide storage areas and the main distribution routes for services into the labs. In addition, the NGI will have two other large open-plan labs with offices along one side, which the researchers can access via the lab space. We hope that this design will impart a sense of community to the research environment, while large windows covering the full available wall width will be provided (where possible) to bring natural daylight into the labs and let scientists look outside. Both aspects were considered to be of paramount importance to their workspace by the users.
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Close contact Offices are located near to the open-plan laboratories to improve work efficiency.
A place for everyone
A similar challenge arose in deciding where to locate the offices and labs, which need to be nearby to stimulate experimental activity and make workflow more efficient, but also flexible enough to accommodate people from different groups. The layout of the building was made more complex still by the fact that it will also be occupied by both academics and engineers from industrial companies. Although there will be no actual commercial activity in the NGI, the companies using the building will obviously want a certain level of privacy and labs that meet industrial standards. The current plan is to invite about half a dozen leading manufacturers to carry out collaborative research projects with university researchers. Immersing industrial partners into the day-to-day operation of the NGI will create an efficient two-way traffic of technologies.
Doing business
All work and no play would make very dull scientists. The NGI will therefore contain relaxation areas consisting of a top-lit, double-height breakout space in the centre of the building (which could potentially be reconfigured for use as a lab if required) and a large multipurpose seminar and social area on the top floor. The breakout space, which connects the two main laboratory floors by a spiral staircase, is overlooked on three sides by labs and offices, and has the largest single window in the building. It is an area for researchers to meet away from their labs and we hope that the relaxed atmosphere will promote the serendipitous exchange of ideas that is the lifeblood of so many scientific breakthroughs. The buildings one publicly accessible area is a seminar suite on the top floor. It includes a subdivisible room that can be used for formal lectures, receptions or board meetings, and also contains a caf and common room. The area opens out onto a south-facing roof terrace and garden as an additional amenity. Fixed to the outside of the buildings inner skin, meanwhile, is a separate perforated stainless-
steel veil that wraps continuously around the structure to provide a unifying texture and coherent, fluid shape. Shadows from the perforations in the veil will cast interesting and continually changing shadows onto the inner facades of the NGI creating an image of an abstract, complex and somewhat mysterious scientific research facility, without being overtly symbolic. Other interesting features of the NGI that will make it easier for scientists to convert their ideas into potential commercial products include a prototyping workshop, which would streamline the production of prototype graphene-based devices, and special chemistry and furnace facilities for scaling up the production of graphene. We have also tried hard to make sure that researchers at the NGI can move swiftly into new fields while still satisfying health-and-safety regulations, such as open-air space for storing toxic or asphyxiating gases, which would let scientists introduce new technological recipes without needing expensive oxygen and gas sensors. Using movable panels for the walls in some labs will also allow large equipment to be easily incorporated. Designing the NGI has been a long, involved and challenging process, in which many interesting and efficient solutions have already been incorporated, and to which others will be dreamed up when the construction phase begins. But the long hours of discussions and brainstorming by architects and the buildings future users the researchers themselves have ensured that the design accurately reflects the spirit of the NGI as a place for exciting science and innovation, where unconventional ideas can flow unimpeded and where multidisciplinary research and technology transfer are the norm. We hope that many researchers will be happy to call the NGI not just a workplace but their home.
Kostya S Novoselov is in the School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Manchester and Tony Ling is a director at the architectural practice Jestico + Whiles in London
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Jestico + Whiles
AH0513B_PPG-LTD_Nanopositioners_193x125_Layout 1 5/8/2013 11:05 AM Page 1
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Nanocomposites
Greening the grid

Offshore wind farms are making electricity suppliers look again at high-voltage DC transmission to reduce operating costs, but the transition to higher voltages places greater demands on insulating materials. RichardStevenson takes a look at the key role that dispersions of nanoparticles could play and the challenges faced in trying to replicate promising results on an industrial scale
Offshore turbines could slash the UKs carbon footprint. A vision presented by the Centre for Alternative Energy, which is based in Llwyngwern, Wales, suggests that the UK could eliminate its greenhouse-gas emissions by 2030, if it were to ramp up renewable-energy production. This would be dominated by 19500, 10MW offshore turbines, fulfilling almost three-quarters of the nations electricity demand. Out at sea, blades turn quicker than on land thanks to faster, more stable winds, which means that power-generation shoots up, because it is governed by the cube of the airstreams velocity. What is more, it is easier to transport wind turbines by sea than road or rail, so those built off the coast can be larger and generate more electricity. Indeed, the capacity of the largest offshore turbines are currently 5MW, while those housed on dry land are limited to 3MW. To make best use of the energy generated by these rotating blades, electricity must be transmitted back to the mainland in an efficient manner. But as the turbines can be positioned hundreds of kilometres from the coast, it is vital to transmit the power back to land at very high voltages to minimize the current and hence the resistive-heating losses in the cables. On land, this takes place in overhead cables suspended from pylons. However, this approach is not viable for offshore turbines, where undersea cables must be used instead. It is possible to use alternating current (AC) in these cables which can reduce
June 2013
ALSTOM Grid
Big picture High-voltage DC transmission systems could be a good match for future electrical supply networks, as operators look to integrate a variety of energy sources such as wind and solar power.
system costs but it only makes sense to do so when the distances are relatively short. The cut-off point is roughly 50miles, beyond which AC transmission is no longer viable, explains Fabrice Perrot, senior expert in high-voltage technology at ALSTROM Research and Technology Centre in Stafford, UK. Because of capacitances in the transmission system, multiple charging and discharging losses take place every second. These can be addressed using additional electrical equipment, but this course of action is not economic when cables span long distances. An alternative is high-voltage, direct current (DC) transmission. This is not a new idea: since 1961, the power grids of the UK and France have been connected by a cross-channel, high-voltage DC link, which
The transition to higher voltages places greater demands on the long-term reliability of the insulating materials used in components in electrical transmission systems
has allowed the two countries to be able to trade electricity. It initially operated at 100kV and carried up to 160MW, but in the 1980s the link was upgraded to a 2000MW, 270kV connection. After this, however, interest in highvoltage DC systems declined steadily, falling to almost nothing by the end of the last century, but the worlds appetite for energy has now put DC transmission back in the picture. There has been a big renaissance from the early 2000s, says Perrot, which has culminated in countries such as China pushing up the voltage to ultra-high levels. Indeed, 800kV systems are being deployed there to transfer vast amounts of energy from hydroelectric power systems and coalfired power stations to urban areas, and engineers are even considering a move to 1100kV to keep up with the countrys electricity needs.
Direct approach
Adopting these higher voltages is beneficial on two fronts. First, for a given operating power, a higher voltage means a lower current and ultimately lower energy losses. Second, for a given infrastructure, it is possible to stay within the maximum current limit of the system, while increasing the power delivered through it, by operating at higher voltages. However, according to Perrot, the tran-
19
Nanocomposites
sition to higher voltages places greater demands on the long-term reliability of the insulating materials used in components in electrical transmission systems, such as transformers, insulators and switch gear. This has spurred an evolution in the insulating materials used in electrical networks. For example, power cables operating at high AC voltages have traditionally been constructed using the likes of paper filled with mineral oil, and more recently cross-linked polyethylene. But under DC conditions, cross-linked polyethylene cannot fully satisfy the requirements for the highest voltages, explains Gary Stevens, managing director of research-provider GnoSys Global in Surrey, UK. So its been recognized that there is a need to replace those materials with alternatives. One promising option is to turn to epoxybased composites, which contain fillers such as silica and aluminium oxide. The addition of micron-sized, inorganic fillers improves the mechanical and thermal characteristics of this insulator, but these gains come at the expense of inferior electrical breakdown strength and compromised DC conduction, which are important considerations for high-voltage DC systems.
phy sic swor ld.com
Close-up view Silica with dimensions of microns (left) is easy to disperse , but when its size is reduced to the nanoscale (right), it tends to agglomerate. It is critical to address this when forming composites for high-voltage insulators, which can only deliver reliable performance when the nanomaterials are dispersed homogeneously.
Nano-upgrade
To address these issues, Perrot and Stevens are co-ordinating a project to develop insulators based on nanoscale fillers. These promise to improve the properties of the insulator, because their higher surface areas can enhance the bulk properties of the composite. This 850000 project, which is dubbed NanocompEIM (Nanocomposite Electrical Insulation Materials Development and Scaling for HVDC Power Transmission Applications) and which kicked off in June2012, has backing from the UKs Technology Strategy Board, and involves 20 researchers and seven partners. In addition to Alstom and GnoSys, the partners are the University of Southampton, electricalcomponent manufacturer Mekufa UK, the National Grid, Scottish and Southern Energy and Scottish Power Energy Networks. If this collaboration is successful and develops superior insulating materials for the grid, it will tap into a high-voltage DC market that is worth tens of billions of pounds per annum, according to Stevens. The idea of turning to nanomaterials to improve insulator performance has already attracted significant interest. There have been a lot of publications that show that we can get better characteristics and better performance with these materials, but no-one has been able to produce them reliably, says Perrot. The primary aim of Na no c ompE I M i s to add re s s t h i s shortcoming.
Crude mixing methods, which were adequate for making composites featuring micro-fillers, are blamed for the variations in insulator performance. [With micro-fillers], you get good performance by using the right purity of material and the right particle sizes it doesnt require a high-level mixing technology, claims Perrot, who believes that this situation changes when nanomaterials are introduced. Surveying the literature supports this claim, revealing that researchers have published contradictory results and failed to reproduce promising ones. There have been challenges in translating [promise] into routine practice, industrial processes and industrial engineering, says Stevens. He is adamant that until these weaknesses are addressed, it will be impossible to meet the needs of high-voltage equipment manufacturers, who demand that material is produced reliably on an industrial scale. To fulfil these requirements, engineers working within NanocompEIM are investigating new techniques for dispersing nanoparticles. Before this collaboration started, good results were possible, but only with small samples. We have got the ambition of casting 10 or more kilograms with equally well-dispersed particles, says Perrot. To determine if they have been successful, the team is also considering the tools that it needs to make this assessment, and what the critical metrics are. Details surrounding these efforts are not being divulged, in order to protect intellectual property. Perrot and Stevens refuse to discuss specific dispersion technologies under development or the nature of the nanomaterials that will feature in these composites. But they are willing to reveal that most of the composites under development involve the addition of a small number of different nanoparticles and a handful of preparation methods. It is important to select and control the appropriate aspect ratio, size and surface chemistry of these nanoparticles. Accord-
ing to Stevens, optimizing interfacial interactions holds the key to enhancing performance, while reproducible control of the interface enables the fabrication of reliable materials. After the team has perfected the production of high-quality insulating composites with well-dispersed nanoparticles, it will not, however, go on to manufacture these materials in high volumes. We want to buy the material to our own specification from a third party, explains Perrot. The plan is for material suppliers to buy licences to access the technology developed in NanocompEIM and then manufacture the materials for wider consumption.
Key component
Sales of insulating materials for very highvoltage electrical networks look set to rise even if the deployment of wind turbines around the coast of the UK turns out to be a tiny fraction of what the Centre for Alternative Energy hopes for. For example, in sunny, dry climates, solar farms featuring row upon row of panels are being constructed far from urban areas, and the power that they produce must be transported to where it is needed. High-voltage DC networks can do this very efficiently. In addition, these insulators could play a role in vast electrical-supply networks, such as the European synchronous grid that provides power to more than 400million customers across 24 countries. Some of the potential problems of Europeannetwork instability are likely to arise as a result of long-distance, AC transmission, says Stevens, who explains that this can be addressed by adding high-voltage DC links. Nanomaterial-based insulators also have the power to support the existing AC networks so wherever electricity is needed, it seems that they are destined to make an important contribution. More information can be found at https:// connect.innovateuk.org/web/engineeringhigh-performance-nanomaterials
June 2013
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E-learning
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Taking nanotech teaching online

James Tyrrell talks to staff at Purdue University about nanoHUB-U a series of dedicated online courses that let anyone with access to the Internet improve their understanding of nanotechnology
From Atoms to Materials: Predictive Theory and Simulation. To complement The nanoHUB-U initiative was launched their training, students can make use of by the Network for Computational the simulation and modelling tools found Nanotechnology (NCN), which operates on nanoHUB. nanoHUB. Under the leadership of Mark Lundstrom, an electrical engineer and senior faculty member at Purdue What are the different study options? University, nanoHUB was put into place Courses are offered as five-week to enable simulation experts to share programmes with instructor interaction their software with the nanotechnology available through the online discussion research and education community. Now forum, and as self-paced courses without directed by Gerhard Klimeck, whose the instructor participating in the research interests include nanoelectronic discussion forum. device analysis and synthesis, nanoHUB NanoHUB-U courses are taught continues to provide online simulation asynchronously, with the video lectures Lecture series Supriyo Datta taught the first two through transparent, scientific-computing nanoHUB-U courses, which covered the pre-recorded so that students can cloud services. The site has also become a fundamentals of nanoelectronics. view them in the same way that they provider of cross-disciplinary educational access all course materials at their material, serving more than 255000users annually. own convenience. Exams in the five-week courses take place Over the past decade, nanoHUB has become a major online according to scheduled deadlines, but they are open for two resource with an extensive collection of open content, but there weeks so, again, students can take them at their convenience. was a need for more structured, shorter modules with lectures, quizzes, homework exercises and solutions everything that busy How are students tested? students and professionals need to be able to teach themselves The nanoHUB-U modules include six, 20-minute lectures new topics. The result is nanoHUB-U, which we see as phase two per week, one quiz per lecture (multiple choice with answers of nanoHUB. provided), one homework assignment per lecture (multiple choice with solutions provided) and exams (either weekly, or a midterm plus a final). When did nanoHUB-U launch and what courses were offered? When students register for the self-paced option, they access The nanoHUB-U initiative went live in early 2012. Supriyo all of the course content that was provided to students who took Datta, an expert in electrical and computer engineering at the course on the five-week schedule. In the self-paced option, Purdue University, taught the first two courses, which were students have 12 months in which to complete the course. both on the fundamentals of nanoelectronics and covered basic Students who complete all of the exams and, when applicable, concepts as well as quantum models. graded homework assignments with a passing score are eligible to His courses were developed in response to enthusiastic receive a digital proof of completion and digital badge a handy feedback received for his video lectures posted on nanoHUB, icon that allows course finishers to show what they know. On which have attracted more than 75000 viewers since 2004. The completion, a digital proof of completion signed by the instructor content of the two courses was refined and condensed from the is e-mailed to the student. original 30 weeks of course material that was delivered in two semesters at Purdue University. More than 950 students worldwide participated in the two What has been the feedback from participants? nanoHUB-U courses. More than 35% of the students who were Students have told us that they can pick up concepts more quickly enrolled in the online modules completed them, with almost 84% using nanoHUB-U compared with regular maths or physics of these students completing the series with high distinction. textbooks. Learners have found the information useful as a The largest group of registrants consisted of graduate students stepping stone to future studies and the courses have helped to (41%) and the second largest group was from industry, making broaden their knowledge of nanotechnology. up 15% of the class. Some 10% of the registrants identified themselves as university undergraduate students. How does teaching a nanoHUB-U course compare with a
Vincent Walter/NCN
So how did the idea come about?
How has the curriculum expanded?
traditional lecture course?
A set of two five-week courses on atomic force microscopy was offered in the autumn of 2012. The first was taught by Ron Reifenberger, a physicist at Purdue University who is known for his work in scanning probe microscopy dating back to 1986 when he first built a system on campus. Other courses include Nanoscale Transistors, Thermal Energy at the Nanoscale and
A nanoHUB-U course requires considerable advance preparation, far more than for a traditional lecture course. The process can be humbling because students sometimes replay a given segment of a lecture many times to better understand the material. With such scrutiny, there is pressure to get it right, and often multiple takes are required to fine-tune the videos. To find out more, visit https://nanohub.org/groups/u/
June 2013
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Personal energy generation Local power generation generation at aal bo rg U Ni v e rsolutions s i ty i N including de N m athermoelectric r k yo U c a N st U dy: from waste and solar heat, solid oxide fuel cells and piezoelectric harvesting from vibrations. Environmental and structural health monitoring aalborg University in denmark offers: NaNomaterials aNd NaNophysics Uses of nanotechnology and nanomanufacturing to enable sensors for structural health and Immerse yourself in advanced gene Discover fields like solid state physics, Accommodation guarantee environmental monitoring.
NaNobiotechNology technology, biosensors, self-assembling
Environmentally-friendly nano & micro manufacturing systems, reaction engineering, drug surfaces synthesis and interfaces, polymer and Tuition free studies for EU/EEA Nano and microscale and additive manufacturing techniques that minimise energy, citizens discovery, molecular electronics,material and materials, and nano Clean room facilities and high quality and composite chemical usage.
molecular simulation. electronics. laboratories Fate of nanomaterials Risk assessment approaches for manufactured nanomaterials and their suitability, as well as the risk associated with emerging nanotechnologies.
optics, plasmonics and semiconductors,
Problem-based learning
Specialist postgraduate courses studyguide.aau.dk

MSc
Microsystems and Nanotechnology Advanced Materials Ultra Precision and Nanoengineering Nanomedicine Environmental Risk Management
Continuing professional development & short courses

Applied Nanotechnology Nano and Microtechnologies for Energy Nano & Microscale Rapid Prototyping Surface Engineering & Coatings
www.cranfield.ac.uk
Erasmus Mundus
Master of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology

(EMM-nano)
CO-ORDINATOR: Katholieke Universiteit Leuven (Belgium) EDUCATIONAL PARTNERS: Katholieke Universiteit Leuven (Belgium) Chalmers Tekniska Hgskola, Gteborg (Sweden) Universit Joseph Fourier, Grenoble (France) Technische Universitt Dresden (Germany)
l l l l l l l
ASSOCIATED RESEARCH PARTNERS: IMEC, Leuven, Belgium CEA-LETI, Grenoble, France Leibniz Institute for Solid-State and Materials Research, Dresden, Germany
Contact information:
Prof. Guido Groeseneken (K.U.Leuven), Co-ordinator Erasmus Mundus Master of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology
nano@kuleuven.be www.emm-nano.org
Events Diary
2013
Graphene week Chemnitz, Germany 27 June The 7th International Conference on the Fundamental Science of Graphene and Applications of Graphene-Based Devices will provide an extended opportunity to find out more about this breakthrough material. www.graphene-week.eu EuroNanoForum Dublin, Ireland 1820 June Speakers at the event, which will highlight the commercialization of nanotechnologies, include Mire Geoghegan-Quinn, the EUs commissioner for research, innovation and science. www.enf2013.eu TAPPI International Conference on Nanotechnology for Renewable Materials Stockholm, Sweden 2427 June Find out how nanotechnology can add value to biomaterials and expand the portfolio of traditional forest products. www.eiseverywhere.com/ ehome/46874 International Conference on the Science and Application of Nanotubes Espoo, Finland 2428 June Featuring a series of 60-minute tutorials covering the basics of carbon nanotubes and graphene, and their optical properties; nanotube growth mechanisms and chirality control from modelling and experiments; and nanotube and graphene applications in electronics and energy storage. http://physics.aalto.fi/pub/nt13 ICMAT* Suntec city, Singapore 30 June 5 July Organized by the Materials Research Society of Singapore (MRS-S), the International Conference on Materials for

phy sic swor ld.com
*Meet the team from the IOP Publishing journal Nanotechnology at these events
Speakers at the International Vacuum Congress and International Conference on Nanoscience and Technology include Dan Shechtman (2011 Nobel laureate in chemistry). www.ivc19.com Sensors and their Applications XVII Dubrovnik, Croatia 1618 September Organized by the Institute of Physics Instrument Science and Technology Group, this conference features nanotechnology for sensors and actuators, as well as MEMS and silicon-fabrication techniques. http://sensors.iopconfs.org E-MRS Fall Meeting Warsaw, Poland 1620 September Topics at this years event will include multifunctional biomaterials, paper electronics and nanostructured materials for solid-state hydrogen storage. www.european-mrs.com Photonex Coventry, UK 1617 October Meet suppliers of lasers, optics and positioning equipment to discuss which components are the best fit for your apparatus. www.photonex.org Lithium Sulphur Batteries Dresden, Germany 67 November This workshop, arranged by the Fraunhofer Institute for Materials and Beam Technology, brings together developers of nextgeneration energy storage to discuss recent progress in LiS cells. www.iws.fraunhofer.de/ en/events/lithium-sulfurbatteries_2013.html MRS Fall Meeting* Boston, US 16 December Featuring 51 symposia, including nanostructured materials in extreme environments, advances in scanning probe microscopy and nanoscale processing of materials for biomedical devices. www.mrs.org/fall2013
June 2013
International Conference on Neutron Scattering Edinburgh, UK 812 July Neutron scattering has emerged as a powerful tool for characterizing the structure of nanomaterials, and this conference provides the ideal opportunity to meet experts in this fascinating field. www.icns2013.org Advanced Technologies (ICMAT) includes lectures on green nanotechnologies for efficient buildings, sustainable development and a look at whats next for silicon. www.mrs.org.sg/icmat2013 Edison 18 Matsue, Japan 2226 July The 18th International Conference on Electron Dynamics in Semiconductors, Optoelectronics and Nanostructures (EDISON) includes terahertz interactions with semiconductors, nonequilibrium carrier transport in bulk and nanostructure systems, and semiconductor-based spintronics. www.edison18.iis.u-tokyo.ac.jp Nanoscience + Engineering San Diego, US 2529 August Part of SPIEs Optics and Photonics event, the Nanoscience + Engineering programme features sessions on nanoimaging and nanospectroscopy. http://spie.org/nanoscienceengineering.xml Joint European Symposia on Magnetism Rhodes, Greece 2530 August JEMS 2013 presents the latest breakthroughs in magnetic materials. Symposia at the event include magnetic nanostructures, surfaces, interfaces, molecular nanomagnets, and medical, biomedical, biomagnetic and biotechnology applications. www.jems2013.org Recent Progress in Graphene Research Tokyo, Japan 913 September Now in its fifth iteration, this conference provides the opportunity to discuss and exchange ideas on a range of topics from graphene crystal growth and synthesis through to electronic properties and device details. http://lt.px.tsukuba.ac.jp/ RPGR2013 TNT* Seville, Spain 913 September The 14th Trends in Nanotechnology (TNT) conference includes a special session on nanobiotechnology organized in collaboration with The Institute for Bioengineering of Catalonia. www.tntconf.org/2013 IVC-19 and ICN+T* Paris, France 913 September
24
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