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Nano-Engineered Plastic

Sunday, June 8, 2008
Posted in Dr. Wolbring Nanotechnology Science | Tagged Dr. Wolbring, Nanotechnology, Science

So, far, we’ve heard little about nano-engineered-plastic in the public domain, but this is an area of great interest where a lot of research and development is being done. A conference on Capitalizing on Nanoplastics  just took place on February 4-6, 2008, in San Antonio, Texas. The conference webpage says nano-engineered plastic is more flexible than ever, and has improved strength and durability, electrical conductivity, flame resistance, UV absorption, and reduced permeability. It sees “increased plastic usage in a growing number of applications ranging from transportation, electronics, medical and consumer goods, to packaging applications.” It also mentions “multiple challenges facing nanoplastics adoption such as “the uncertainty of current and future nanotech regulation, manufacturability, and strategies to better tackle investment costs through improved utilization of existing infrastructure.”

The conference program offered attendees the opportunity to:

• Make sense of the latest nanotechnology regulations and initiatives while anticipating future legislation;
• Enhance their technical knowledge of nanoplastic engineering and manufacturing with insight into improved methods of dispersing carbon nanotubes in polymers, additives and coatings; industrialization of injection molded nano devices; and enhanced processing of polymeric nanomaterials;
• Zero in on the enhanced barrier properties of polymer nanocomposites in packaging and sporting goods applications;
• Discover growing applications and emerging opportunities for nanoplastics in the medical sector;
• Hear how Ford Motor Company is utilizing nanoplastics in automotives; and
• Understand the science behind conductive nanoplastics and identify market opportunities, including flexible flat panel displays and flexible solar energy cells for electrically conductive nanomaterials.

Topics covered included:

• Nanoplastics for aerospace applications;
• Industrial processing technology for dispersing nanoparticles into polymers;
• Processing of polymeric nanomaterials into ultra strong multifunctional coatings and laminates;
• Nanostructured chemicals: simplifying nanocomposites; key aspects of polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane nanotechnology;
• High-performance, flexible hydrogen sensors made from carbon nanotubes on plastic substrates;
• Nanocomposite barrier coatings; and
• Plastic-clay nanocomposites.

I found an early article from 1995, entitled, “Nanoplastics: how “intelligent” materials may change our homes,” and have listed a few other notable news items related to nano-engineered-plastic below:

• A 2002 article “Nano Litterbugs? Experts See Potential Pollution Problems,” cited Mark Wiesner, a Rice University professor, who asked, “What happens when (some nanomaterials) get into the environment? … There is a health issue here. Are these things degradable? Are we creating nanoplastic bags and nanoplastic chips that are littering the nanoenvironment? How persistent are these things?”
• In 2003, Adsale.com (a company providing international trade promotion services in China & Asia) posted an article on its webpage titled “Nanoplastic sets to become mainstream” related to the China Plastic and Rubber trade show. The article cites nanoplastic applications in the toy, textile, consumer product and automobile industries.
• A 2005 news article from the University of Toronto – “Nanotechnologists’ new plastic can see in the dark” — describes a sprayable infrared detector. The article says flexible photovoltaics could be created that would harness half of the sun’s infrared spectrum. “Our calculations show that, with further improvements in efficiency, combining infrared and visible photovoltaics could allow up to 30 per cent of the sun’s radiant energy to be harnessed, compared to six per cent in today’s best plastic solar cells.”
• In 2006, Nanowerk wrote about cellulose nanocrystals that make plastic 3,000 times stronger.
• In the same year, Technology Review posted an article titled “Super Plastic Both Attracts and Repels Water” that observed: “A new, practical method for making surfaces with patterns of areas that strongly attract and strongly repel water could lead to a highly efficient method for capturing clean water. This versatile material could also find uses in fabricating new types of devices for medical tests and chemical synthesis.”
• A 2006 article in Nanotech Buzz – “Nanotechnology boosts bioplastic production” — cites work at Iowa State University, where nanoclays (pieces of clay that are just 10 to 20 billionths of a meter thick) are used to reinforce the bioplastic and make extrusion easier.
• A 2007 article posted on the MSNBC website – “Nanotech produces plastic as strong as steel” – reports that University of Michigan researchers developed plastic that mimicked structures found in seashells, using clay and glue.

Finally, on the biopact webpage of the European Commission one reads about a new plastic-based, nano-engineered CO2-capturing membrane being developed by researchers from the Membrane Research Group in the Chemical Engineering Department of the Norwegian University of Science and Technology in Trondheim. “Membranes based on nano-structured materials are eco-friendly and will reduce the costs of CO2 capture.” The Membrane Research Group (Memfo), it says, “recently joined a consortium of 26 European businesses and institutions within a project named NanoGloWa – Nanostructured Membranes against Global Warming. The consortium has received EUR 13 million to develop such membranes. One of these millions is reserved for Memfo.” It is expected that the material will be tested in coal-powered plants within 5 years.

Companies like Nanocor (with its Cress-Alon nano-PA6) claim the first fully commercialized nanoplastic. Nanopolymer Composites Corporation from Taiwan produces Nano-nylon. The latter company’s webpage states: “To meet the industry’s ever growing needs for smaller, lighter and higher performance plastic parts, NCC develops a wide product portfolio including advanced auto/motor parts, thin films, packaging materials, extrusion coating parts, connectors, gear parts and electrical parts.”

There are of course a growing number of patents.

The Choice is Yours

It seems that nanoplastics might soon become ubiquitous. One wonders how much life cycle assessment has been done with all of these materials.

Gregor Wolbring is a biochemist, bioethicist, disability/vari-ability/ability studies scholar, and health policy and science and technology governance researcher at the University of Calgary. He is a member of the Center for Nanotechnology and Society at Arizona State University; Part Time Professor at Faculty of Law, University of Ottawa, Canada; Member CAC/ISO - Canadian Advisory Committees for the International Organization for Standardization section TC229 Nanotechnologies; Member of the editorial team for the Nanotechnology for Development portal of the Development Gateway Foundation; Chair of the Bioethics Taskforce of Disabled People’s International; and former Member of the Executive of the Canadian Commission for UNESCO (2003-2007 maximum terms served). He publishes the Bioethics, Culture and Disability website, moderates a weblog for the International Network for Social Research on Disability, and authors a weblog on NBICS and its social implications.

 Reproduced with permission from Dr. Wolbring and Innovation Watch:

http://www.innovationwatch.com/index.php

© Gregor Wolbring, All Rights Reserved, 2008. Please contact the author for permission to reprint.