Nanogap en El País

Nanogap es una empresa gallega peculiar. Con seis investigadores en plantilla, el año pasado su producción no llegó a pesar más que un kilo. Un kilo compuesto por nanopartículas. Por exótico que pueda parecer, se trata de una de las cinco pymes españolas que se dedican en exclusiva a la nanotecnología, un campo que controla y manipula la materia a una escala menor que un micrómetro, es decir, en el ámbito de átomos y moléculas.

La empresa nace en 2006 del trabajo de dos doctores de la Universidad de Santiago de Compostela: Arturo López Quintela, catedrático de Física y Química y José Rivas. Este último, además de catedrático de Física aplicada, es director del futuro Instituto de Nanotecnología Hispano-Luso en Braga. Ambos lograron la patente para producir clusters cuánticos atómicos, que son grupos de dos a 50 átomos.

"A efectos prácticos, se trata de partículas muy, muy pequeñas, que están por debajo del nanómetro" explica Luis Manuel Alonso, director comercial de Nanogap. Y se esfuerza en aclararlo: "Si la nanotecnología se entiende como todo lo que va de uno a 100 nanómetros, lo que hacemos aquí está a una escala menor". Añade que son los primeros que lo han logrado en el mundo: "El mérito no sólo está en hacer partículas pequeñas, sino que somos capaces de jugar bien con los tamaños". Y, ¿para qué? Las aplicaciones de la nanotecnología suenan muy bien: se espera que en el futuro sirva para crear fármacos que no tengan efectos secundarios o tratamientos contra el cáncer (nanopartículas que, combinadas con calor, quemen tumores). También se habla de catalizadores milagrosos para gasolinas e incluso de hormigones para construcción que se autorreparen cuando se abra una grieta.

La empresa se dedica a producir nanopartículas metálicas y dentro de ellas, principalmente las de plata, de oro y las magnéticas. Las primeras pueden utilizarse para aumentar la conductividad de los materiales y para dotarlos de propiedades antimicrobianas: por ejemplo, en una pintura que se aplique a un casco de un barco y que impida que se peguen algas. "Si hablamos de desarrollos curiosos pero factibles, podríamos llegar a pensar en imprimir el circuito de un reproductor MP3 en una camisa y escuchar música a través de ella".

Las nanopartículas de óxidos de hierro que producen en Nanogap también pueden aplicarse para obtener pigmentos de alto poder de cobertura (que permiten utilizar menos pintura para cubrir lo mismo) o lo que llaman absorbedor de radiación ultravioleta visible que, aplicado en forma de barniz, impide que un material se decolore por efecto del sol.

Sus clientes son empresas químicas enfocadas al sector de la construcción, sobre todo de Inglaterra y Alemania. "En España todavía estamos en la fase de la expectación que levanta la nanotecnología" asegura Luis Manuel. "Buscamos más un cliente de tipo industrial. Tenemos que ir a lugares donde la industria sea consciente de que puede utilizar nanotecnología". Ni la distancia ni su ubicación en Galicia les resultan un problema a la hora de exportar sus nanopartículas.

Su objetivo a corto plazo es producir muchos más kilos de nanopartículas, porque "la industria de materiales es una industria de miles de toneladas y tenemos que ser capaces de producir para ellos". A medio plazo, participan en un proyecto llamado fluoromag junto con el Instituto de Biofísica de Goettingen (Alemania), la Universidad de Twente (Holanda), la Universidad de Nottingham (Reino Unidos) y la compostelana. Su investigación, en la que se utiliza la nanotecnología, persigue detectar un virus dentro del cuerpo humano en tiempo real inyectado con unas partículas fluorescentes. El proyecto está financiado con 2,5 millones por la Unión Europea y se desarrollará a lo largo de tres años.

En sus previsiones a más largo plazo, en Nanogap esperan ser parte de la futura red de nanotecnología gallega, formada entre empresas y universidades interesadas en fomentar la colaboración en todos los puntos de la cadena de valor. Las sociedades de capital riesgo Unirisco y Uninvest forman parte del accionariado de esta pyme, que en breve ampliará sus instalaciones trasladándose a nuevas naves situadas en Milladoiro.

fuente: elPaís

http://www.elpais.com/articulo/Galicia/Nanoparticulas/ladrillo/elpepiautgal/20080715elpgal_13/Tes

Nanomaterials 08: Industry goes nano

Nanogap was the only spaniard company that took part in the last Nanomaterials 08 event at Newcastle, UK along with companies like Motorola, CIBA, Unilever, MacDermid Autotype, Kodak, Akzo Nobel, Bayer Materials, Science, BASF,...

Nanocentral organized this year the event in the Marriot Gosforth Hotel. This event is improving year after year and it's becoming one of the highlights of the nano-exhibitions in Europe.

The main topic of this year was once again the interaction between industry and academia, applying new technologies in the value chain of the final material that will finally reach the consumers.

Luis Alonso from Nanogap said that ‘Nanomaterials is the perfect event to know what are the needs of industry and what nanotechnology can do about it. At the NanoMaterials07 event our company found real industry customers looking for real solutions, and the whole event is focused on networking and building bridges between different stakeholders. In fact, our experience at Nanomaterials didn’t finish with the fair.We have kept good relations with different partners that we found there and that’s why we are going this year again’.

Taiwan signs nanotechnology collaboration with Australia

Taipei, March 3 (CNA) The Taiwan Nanotechnology Industry development Association (TANIDA) recently established the country's first international collaboration on nanotechnology with Australia's Nano Business Forum (ANBF), as part of a national program to advance the nation's nanotechnology industries.
TANIDA Chairman Wu Maw-kuen signed the "Taiwanese and Australian Nanotechnology Collaboration Initiative" with ANBF CEO Tina Rankovic Feb. 26 at the International Conference on Nanoscience and Nanotechnology (ICONN) in Melbourne.
"Taiwan's world-famous IC industry and its government-level National Science and Technology Program for Nanoscience and Nanotechnology are the key factors making the cooperation possible, " Song Tsing- Tang, the national program's CEO and secretary-general of TANIDA, who had just returned from Melbourne, said Monday.
The two countries will seek economic growth through the commercial application of nanotechnology, while working together on a range of activities, projects and information exchanges that will facilitate the uptake of nanotechnology businesses in both nations, according to the initiative's memorandum of understanding.
Song refused to divulge further details of the collaboration, citing commercial confidentiality.
Taiwan has amassed an estimated more-than NT$300 billion (US$9.68 billion) in nanotechnology production value since the national program started in 2003.
Song also said the collaboration will be mutually beneficial, noting that Australia's strong nanotechnology sector can help compensate Taiwan's weakness in areas such as nanobiotechnology.
Such national-level collaboration that boosts technology between neighboring countries is becoming increasingly common, with the ANBF signing a similar initiative with Japan's Nanotechnology Business Creation Initiative in 2007, showing Australia's determination to explore the Asia-Pacific market through nanotechnology alliances.
The ANBF was formed in 2006 as a national body representing and promoting Australian industries and companies involved in nanotechnology, with the aim of facilitating links between key stakeholders including government, funding, regulatory and research entities.
TANIDA, a brainchild of the national program, was launched in 2004 to coordinate academia-industry collaboration in developing value-added nanotechnology products.
The relationship between the two government- sponsored organizations was forged during Taiwan Nano 2007, one of the premier trade exhibitions in nanotechnology in Asia. (By Yeh Fang-hsun)

Una radio más pequeña que un grano de arena

Científicos estadounidenses han utilizado nanotubos para fabricar un diminuto receptor que es totalmente funcional, aunque sólo puede sintonizar una emisora
Ingenieros estadounidenses han fabricado una radio de transistores que es mucho más pequeña que un grano de arena, utilizando nanotubos. Así consta en el informe que han publicado en la revista Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Pese a que el aparato solo puede sintonizar una estación, su fabricación constituye un gran paso para la fabricación de otros aparatos minúsculos y mucho más avanzados. Los científicos, de la Universidad de Illinois, han montado su diminuto receptor radiofónico con nanotubos, átomos de carbono dispuestos en una diminuta fila.


Una tecnología con decenas de aplicaciones

Esas hileras de átomos son centenares de miles de veces más finas que un cabello humano y en conjunto constituyen un material semiconductor que puede aplicarse a aparatos y circuitos electrónicos.

Las radios están formadas por dos amplificadores de frecuencia radiofónica y un mezclador de frecuencia, todos ellos fabricados con materiales de nanotubos. Los cascos para escucharla, que son de tamaño normal, se aplican directamente al transistor (hecho también con nanotubos), y que utiliza una antena convencional.

En una de las pruebas los ingenieros de la Universidad de Illinois captaron un informe de tráfico de la ciudad de Baltimore (Maryland). Según indicó John Rogers, experto en ciencia de materiales y director del estudio, el objetivo no era en sí fabricar un receptor de radio, sino desarrollar esos nanotubos para que actúen como semiconductores.

Fuente: http://www.fys.es

High Efficiency Photovoltaic AOS Solar Technology Targets 90 Percent Silicon Reduction and 50 Percent Manufacturing Energy Reduc

Mark Rowe of the Telegraph UK, reports on the new technology hoping to improve safety and efficiency at our airports.

Trials are under way of new security screening measures that could dramatically enhance safety and reduce queues at airports.
A number of companies are developing "nanotechnology-based" scanners that improve the detection of explosives.
One of the new techniques, which is expected to become commercially available later this year, can screen one person per second, according to Erwan Normand, of Stirling-based Cascade Technologies, which has developed the technology.advertisement
Mr Normand said the technology works by using an infra-red laser light to seek out the chemical fingerprint of specific molecules of gases that are linked to explosives.
The screening equipment is easy to operate and has the support of the Home Office and the Ministry of Defence. It would sit alongside conventional security items, such as X-ray machines or metal detectors.
"It could be installed at the end of an X-ray machine, or by a portal that people walk through," said Mr Normand.
The use of nanotechnology in the laser makes the system far more selective and sensitive than traditional detection methods.
Richard Cooper, operations director of Cascade Technologies, compared its scanning capability to "detecting a drop of contaminated water in an Olympic swimming pool".
Traditional screening for explosives lacks the speed or sensitivity to screen all people and bags, and often gives rise to false alarms. After several false alarms, security officials have been known to bypass protocols to ease congestion.
A second screening system, being developed in Australia, uses electromagnetic waves to monitor molecules of chemicals, explosives and biological agents in the air.
"It will hopefully enable mass routine screening," said Dr Dmitri Gramotnev, of Queensland University of Technology.
Both companies are wary of declaring their inventions foolproof. "There are no bullet-proof technologies," said Dr Gramotnev. "It is always possible, in principle, to circumvent them - by developing new substances that may not be detectable by this new technology - but it would be very difficult to achieve in practice."Contact information :
Source....http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/main.jhtml?xml=/travel/2008/01/26/et-a...

Nanotech researchers create darkest man-made material

The nanotech-based material, which looks like a thin piece of black paper, could be used for solar energy converters, infrared detection and astronomical observation. The secret to the material's darkness lies in the way the tubes are loosely packed together. Researchers from Rice University noted that light is trapped in the spaces between the tubes.
Scientists from the two schools worked together on the project, which was funded by the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Basic Energy Sciences and the Focus Center New York for Interconnects.

"It is a fascinating technology, and this discovery will allow us to increase the absorption efficiency of light, as well as the overall radiation-to-electricity efficiency of solar energy conservation," said Shawn-Yu Lin, professor of physics at Rensselaer, in a statement. "The key to this discovery was finding how to create a long, extremely porous vertically-aligned carbon nanotube array with certain surface randomness, therefore minimizing reflection and maximizing absorption simultaneously."
Every material - water, plastic or even rocks - reflects some a certain amount of light. Basic black paint reflects 5% to 10%, for instance - or 100 times more light than the nanotube carpet. Researchers at Rensselaer noted that scientists have long tried to create a material that would absorb all the colors that make up light, while reflecting none. They have not been able to create a material that didn't reflect any light at all. Before this latest advancement, the darkest manmade material reflected 0.16% to 0.18%.

This new nanotech-based material has a total reflective index of 0.045%, which is more than three times darker than the previous record, which used a film deposition of nickel-phosphorous alloy, according to scientists at Rensselaer.
"The loosely-packed forest of carbon nanotubes, which is full of nanoscale gaps and holes to collect and trap light, is what gives this material its unique properties," said Lin. "Such a nanotube array not only reflects light weakly, but also absorbs light strongly. These combined features make it an ideal candidate for one day realizing a super black object."
The researchers have applied for a Guinness World Record recognition.Contact information :
http://www.computerworld.com/

Advance Nanotech Adds Homeland Security Expert to Its Board of Directors

"Joe Peters brings an incredible wealth of knowledge and wisdom to Advance Nanotech, having devoted his thirty-year career to public service from the beginning as a police officer to Executive Deputy Attorney General of Pennsylvania, Special U.S. Department of Justice Mafia Prosecutor and notably as the Drug Czar's Liaison to Tom Ridge and the White House Office of Homeland Security. Currently, Joe consults to national and international law enforcement organizations on counter-terrorism and related technology issues. He is a member of the International Association of Chiefs of Police, and serves on its Terrorism Committee," commented Magnus Gittins, chairman of Advance Nanotech Inc. "With our principal focus on chemical detection systems for military, law enforcement, industrial process control, environmental and medical applications, Joe's understanding of the competitive landscape will be invaluable. We are honored that he has chosen to join our team."

"Advance Nanotech's Owlstone technology is highly impressive. Real-time chemical detection is critical to an effective security program. Using nanotechnology to port these capabilities on to a silicon chip is enabling next generation technology to be available today. Magnus and his team have commercialized ground breaking technology in a few short years, and I am particularly impressed with the potential for this company. It is inexpensive to produce, and efficient to manage on large and small scales. I look forward to contributing my 'in the field' experience to what I believe to be cutting- edge and necessary technology applications."

Concurrent with his White House duties with Office of Homeland Security Director Tom Ridge, Mr. Peters served President George W. Bush as the Assistant Deputy Director for State and Local Affairs of the White House's Drug Policy Office - commonly referred to as the Drug Czar's Office. There his duties included supervision of the country's High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) Program. Mr. Peters also served as the Drug Czar's Liaison to the White House Office of Homeland Security and Governor Tom Ridge.

Previously, Mr. Peters joined the Clinton White House, to direct the country's 26 HIDTA's, with an annual budget of a quarter billion dollars, focusing technology solutions against the drug and terror threats. Mr. Peters also represented the White House with police, prosecutors, governors, mayors and many non-governmental organizations. Mr. Peters began his career as a State prosecutor when he joined the Pennsylvania Attorney General's office in 1983. He later served as a Chief Deputy Attorney General of the Organized Crime Section, and in 1989 was named the first Executive Deputy Attorney General of the newly created Drug Law Division. In that capacity, Mr. Peters oversaw the activities of 56 operational drug task forces throughout the State, involving approximately 760 local police departments with 4,500 law enforcement officers. Currently Joe Peters serves as president of MSGI Security Solutions, Inc., an international provider of proprietary security solutions to commercial and government organizations, headquartered in New York.

Mr. Peters received his B.A. in Criminal Justice with honors from King's College in 1979, and received his Juris Doctorate in Law from Dickinson School of Law in 1983.