In the recent paper: “Strongly enhanced and tunable photovoltaic effect in ferroelectric-paraelectric superlattices (Jun 2021)”, researchers found a way to engineer a superlattice of ferroelectric BaTiO3 sandwiched between paraelectric SrTiO3 and CaTiO3 resulting in 1000 times higher photovoltaic (PV) effect than measured in regular BaTiO3 of a similar thickness. The result is intriguing since neither SrTiO3 nor CaTiO3 has a PV effect, except for SrTiO3 under extremely large strain gradients.

The PV effect is what is used in solar cells to create electricity from the sunlight. Whether a material is paraelectric or ferroelectric has to do with its polarization curve.

Furthermore, the paper investigates the PV effect across different temperatures and over long time periods. It shows a persistent enhancement over these variations and thereby robustness. Perhaps this technique can be used for creating more efficient solar cells in the future and contribute to a greener energy grid.

The paper, including a STEM image of the structure, can be found here:

https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.abe4206

If you’d like to learn more about nanotechnology, please subscribe to our newsletter and stay tuned for upcoming posts. Credit to Thomas Conrad for bringing the scientific paper to our attention.

The post An Innovative Way to Enhance the PV Response of a Ferroelectric Material appeared first on The Nano Future.

Context

–          Why use nano food additives?

–          Are nano food additives safe?

–          What are regulations on nano food additives?

–          Conclusion

Why use nano food additives?

When you shrink the size of something, you increase the surface area to volume ratio, meaning that there is a larger area that can interact with its surroundings; thus giving you more flavor for fewer amounts of ingredients. This for example allows the use of less table salt in processed foods which could help reduce harmful overconsumption. Furthermore, nanosized additives can be used to change the texture or appearance of food. [ii]

Another benefit is the encapsulation of different nutrients such as vitamins, antioxidants, and proteins to control when and where they are released to the body [i]. Better vitamin delivery can have a huge positive impact. When eating non-encapsulated vitamins, a large amount does not make it to the parts of our bodies that need them. This is due to them being affected by the acidic environment of the stomach. 690 million people in the world suffer from undernutrition and far more from malnutrition [iii], so nano-encapsulation can help tackle an important issue.

While the positive benefits speak highly in favor of nanotechnology in food, there is a flip side to the coin.

Are nano additives safe?

The nature of nanoparticles can vary greatly based on size, shape, composition, aggregation state, and electrical charge. This means that risk assessment is necessary on a case-by-case basis. In general, what makes nanoparticles risky is their small size, which makes them both more reactive and allows them to pass through biological boundaries such as cell membranes. If they are bio-accumulating this, in the worst case, could lead to cellular dysfunction. [iv] 

To give an example: some inorganic nanoparticles, such as zinc oxide (ZnO), which could be used as a source of zinc in supplements and functional foods, are considered bad in large amounts as they can cause an excess of reactive oxidative species (ROS) [ii]. ROS have important bodily functions, but can be bad in large amounts. One solution could be to ensure a proper balance in the food by adding dietary antioxidants [iv].

Another example of an inorganic nano food additive is titanium dioxide (TiO2) which is used as a colorant in for instance chewing gum. There is a size distribution when adding particles, so even when aiming for the optimal particle size of 100-300 nm (above the nanoscale), smaller particles are added as well [ii]. Whether they are toxic or not may depend on the specific form in which they are added.

In general, there seems to be a bigger concern about inorganic nanoparticles over organic nanoparticles with the main reason being that organic ones are often completely digested. However, more research is needed into both types of particles to establish their toxicity [ii]. Luckily, regulations are in place in many countries to ensure the safety of consumers.

What are the regulations?

In the EU, EFSA (European Food Safety Authority) is the one to issue guidelines about what can be added to food products. Nanosized additives in food fall into the category of novel foods which must undergo a safety assessment and be approved before they can be traded in the EU. Additionally, food contact materials such as plastic packaging are regulated to be safe for consumers [v]. Packaging would for example not be allowed if unsafe chemicals or nanoparticles leak into the food.

One concern with regulating this is that nano-sized particles are particularly hard to detect. It could therefore be possible for dishonest companies to avoid regulations by not informing about the nano additives. Advancements in sensing technologies could be one of the solutions to ensure rules are being adhered to. Another thing that would help could be larger transparency about the production process of food using nano additives.

Conclusion

Nanotechnology is a rapidly growing field, and its effects on our every-day life are numerous. On one hand, it advances many fields – improving lives and addressing global issues such as hunger and malnutrition. On the other hand, it may have unforeseeable consequences if we are not careful. These can however be addressed by regulation and proper information to consumers. Otherwise, there is a danger that a bad case of unregulated use of nano food additives not representing the whole spectrum could mitigate the positive aspects and give nano food additives a bad reputation. Luckily, at least in the EU, the regulation on novel food products is strict to ensure consumer safety.

If you’d like to learn more about nanotechnology, please subscribe to our newsletter and stay tuned for upcoming posts.

References

[i] María Ximena et al., Nanoencapsulation: A New Trend in Food Engineering Processing. 2009. Accessed at https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12393-009-9012-6

[ii] David Julian McClements & Hang Xiao, Is nano safe in foods? Establishing the factors impacting the gastrointestinal fate and toxicity of organic and inorganic food-grade nanoparticles, 2017, Accessed at https://www.nature.com/articles/s41538-017-0005-1

[iii] Global Hunger Index, https://www.globalhungerindex.org/

[iv] Benedette Cuffari, Nanotechnology in Food, accessed at https://www.azonano.com/article.aspx?ArticleID=4069

[v] European Union Observatory for Nanomaterials, Food, accessed at https://euon.echa.europa.eu/food

The post Nano Food Additives, Good or Bad? appeared first on The Nano Future.

In this interview article, Emil Højlund-Nielsen, Ph.D., CEO, and co-founder of cphnano, shares the inspiring story of the company’s journey in the pursuit of making advanced lab analysis more affordable and disrupting an industry with digitalization. Additionally, he gives valuable advice to people considering a start-up carrier within tech.

 Content

–          What is cphnano?

–          How did it start?

–          Challenges of building a tech start-up

–          Advice for future tech entrepreneurs

What is cphnano?

“A labtech company that develops digital laboratory analysis and diagnostics for the smart lab of the future”. cphnano offers solutions for spectrophotometers and spectrophotometry by digitalizing the process of doing lab analysis.

Using a nanofabricated photonic crystal, their lab cuvette, NanoCuvette One, allows for advanced measurements with only a simple set-up. This drastically increases the analytical capabilities of a spectrophotometer, which is one of the most widely used equipment to investigate liquids.

Ordinarily, liquids can be investigated by sending a spectrum of light through a plastic or glass container with it, known as a “cuvette”. Depending on the type of liquid, light at specific wavelengths will be absorbed more than at others. This can be measured in a spectrophotometer and then be translated to other valuable properties such as the concentration of an analyte. However, in other cases the refractive index is a more informative number to look at.

The refractive index can be measured with NanoCuvette One by combining the nanofabricated photonic crystal and a standard lab cuvette. By simply turning the cuvette 90 degrees, both the absorbance and the refractive index can be measured in a spectrophotometer.

How did it start?

When doing research within academia, many new technologies can seem an appealing way to solve the world’s issues or create exciting new products. The technology does, however, need to be economically feasible and work outside a complex lab set-up if it is to be implemented commercially. It is important to consider not only the end product, but also the production and implementation process. Sometimes, while building a completely new machine can cost millions, there are alternative ways to integrate the technology into already existing products, offering the same result at a much lower cost.

Emil explains how cphnano has followed the latter tactic. The idea of building a company first came from Kristian Tølbøl Rasmussen, another co-founder, during his Ph.D. at the Technical University of Denmark in 2015. At that time, he was working on a mature technology that had undergone thorough research from several other Ph.D. students. Together with Emil, the two engineers came up with a way to use the technology in a product that itself would not break the bank.

The idea was first to create a machine by making a compact version of what worked extremely well in the lab. This machine, however, would at least cost 5 million DKK to build. Thus, a customer would have to pay a large amount upfront.

“At some point, we looked at the lab set-up and saw that it was extremely similar to a spectrophotometer, apart from the unique nanostructured crystal. Next morning, we taped the crystal to a regular lab-cuvette and performed measurements that worked right away”.

Emil explains how this made the business case intriguing as the cost would then drop enormously while creating a large value for the customer. “Starting with something simple is a good thing. It will easily get complex with technical and logistical challenges along the way”. Another advantage is that it is possible to iterate the lab-cuvette and software each year to improve it in newer versions. This is simply not possible when building an expensive machine which the customer uses for many years.

Lastly, what made the business case interesting was that the roadmap to get the product to the market initially seemed short because strict regulatory approvals are only needed for the spectrophotometers and not the cuvettes.

Challenges of building a tech start-up

While there might have been many years of research within this field prior to cphnano, one thing is a lab set-up that researchers can use, another is the consumer-friendly product that is durable and lives up to the expectations every time. Emil puts this point concisely:

“In the scientific community, the best chip on your wafer is evaluated. In the industry, you are evaluated based on your worst chip.”

Another important point he brings up is that each face of a start-up’s journey has its own set of challenges. Some of these challenges might be larger than anticipated, which causes a longer road to market.

The obvious first challenge for cphnano was to optimize the fabrication of the photonic crystal. However, as they succeeded, it turned out that an even bigger challenge was to make their product work across different spectrophotometers and work with the different data formats they present.

“In Denmark, there are around 200 different models of spectrophotometers that our technology needs to facilitate”.

To solve these challenges a company needs the right set of competencies. However, since start-ups’ budgets are limited, it is crucial only to hire the people with the right skills needed.

A big challenge is that the skills needed change over time. cphnano, who integrates physics and nanotechnology with chemistry, biology, and software development, has therefore had to shift employees in and out to match the competencies needed.

While their team started out with mainly clean room competencies, today the company consists of just as many competencies within biotech and software development. Furthermore, Emil explains how skills within marketing and sales have been added in the process of the company becoming commercial ready. Naturally, the skills needed will vary depending on the type of company, but it is important to keep in mind what tasks need to be solved at the time.

Advice for future tech entrepreneurs

The first piece of advice is: “don’t do a start-up”. Do not build a start-up unless it is something you are extremely passionate about. In Denmark, a job with a salary is a far better option economically, as success is not guaranteed. Nevertheless, a start-up requires a full-time commitment and a big responsibility towards one’s employees, so it is not for everyone.

The second piece of advice is: Do your research and ask people who have a lot of experience within the industry that you are considering. It is quite easy to convince oneself that a business idea is good, but reality can be another story. Hence, planning is extremely important.

The third piece of advice is: Learn from other people’s mistakes. There is extremely small room for making mistakes in a start-up, and many can be avoided simply by asking people with experience. Emil compares how larger companies can invest in research projects without going bankrupt if they fail, whereas in a start-up you often have just a single shot to make it work.

The last piece of advice is: Understand the funding game. This varies depending on which country you start a company in, but it can certainly pay off to do some research on where to seek funding to get started. High wages in Denmark is especially a challenge for tech start-ups. Moreover, the tax on investments is high (42 %), which means that the capital available is a lot smaller than in other countries.

If you’d like to learn more about nanotechnology, please subscribe to our newsletter and stay tuned for upcoming posts.

The post cphnano Interview: Building a Strong Start-up within Nanotechnology appeared first on The Nano Future.

In order to create different structures, the semiconductor industry uses different bottom-up and top-down methods to deposit and remove materials at the nanoscale. Thermal ALE is one of the latter. By using this technique, researchers at MIT have built the smallest 3D transistor yet of only 2.5 nm across [i].

How does it work? [ii]

Thermal ALE was first reported in 2015 and can be viewed as the reverse of another important process known as atomic layer deposition (ALD). ALD was developed in 1977 and is used to add thin layers of compounds such as ZnS to a surface through controlled self-limiting steps [iii]. In ALE, the opposite happens where different materials can be etched away atomic layer by layer using mainly two processes. 

For materials such as Al2O3, HfO2, and ZrO2, a fluorination process is firstly used. This first process depends on the material, and in other cases needs a conversion or oxidation step. It can be viewed as a way to prepare the surface for the second process which uses ligand exchange reactions to remove the material.

Figure 1: Schematic illustration of an ALE cycle. Step (I) shows the fluorination process, while step (III) shows the ligand exchange interactions to remove a layer from the surface. The purge steps (II&IV) are used to remove excess reagents or products.

On the one hand, the widely used etching technique, reactive ion etching (RIE) which uses plasma, is a lot quicker, requires lower temperatures, and has the desired properties of being selective and directional. On the other hand, the plasma does some damage to the surface and is not as reliable as thermal ALE. 

A sort of in-between method developed in 1988 [iv], plasma ALE, has some of the same advantages as thermal ALE. Plasma ALE is a directional etch (only removing material in one direction), whereas thermal ALE is isotropic (etching in all directions at a time). Both etching types are needed and for certain 3d structures, the latter becomes especially important.

Outlook

As semiconductor devices become smaller, both thermal ALE and plasma ALE are becoming increasingly attractive methods to reach the demands of reliability and precision. Currently, they are expensive options, but this could be less of a concern with the increasing demand for more powerful electronic devices. Additionally, as a big research area, new ALE techniques are being developed for a range of materials that supports the wider use of the methods.

If you’d like to learn more about nanotechnology, please subscribe to our newsletter and stay tuned for upcoming posts.

References

[i] MIT News, Engineers produce smallest 3-D transistor yet, Dec 2018, accessed at https://news.mit.edu/2018/smallest-3-d-transistor-1207

[ii] Chang Fang et. al, Thermal atomic layer etching: Mechanism, materials and prospects, Dec 2018, accessed at https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1002007118304623

[iii] Richard W. J. et al., A brief review of atomic layer deposition: from fundamentals to applications, June 2014, accessed at https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1369702114001436

[iv] Keren J. K., et al., overview of atomic layer etching in the semiconductor industry, 2015, accessed at https://avs.scitation.org/doi/10.1116/1.4913379

The post Removing Atomic Layers from Nanostructures with Thermal ALE appeared first on The Nano Future.

Content

–          Top-down approaches

–          Bottom-up approaches

–          Outlook

Top-down Approaches[i]

A good analogy to top-down approaches is a sculptor carving out a statue from a template and thus removing material. An important top-down method in the semiconductor industry is photolithography. Here, short wavelength light (or electrons in e-beam lithography) is used to form the desired pattern in a photoresist to afterward use etching to form a nanostructure by removing material underneath. Different etching methods include chemical, plasma, or reactive ion etching.

Other top-down methods used are chemical- or electropolishing to smoothen a surface, or nano-imprint techniques (using a miniature stamp pressed down into a material) to form the wanted nanostructure.

A disadvantage of top-down approaches is that they are often done layer by layer and are thus 2D techniques which can be a limitation for creating certain 3D structures.

Bottom-up approaches

A bottom-up approach can be described by assembling a larger object from smaller pieces. An analogy here could be making a car. If the car represents the nanostructure, the individual pieces such as screws and wires can be thought of as molecules and atoms.

Nature does this very well and most processes in our bodies work by self-assembly and self-organization. Chemical bonds that are favorable guide the formation of complex structures such as proteins.

Inspired by nature, a big research area is the self-assembly of nanostructures with desired properties. An example is the self-assembly of monolayers of molecules on certain metals such as cysteine on gold surfaces which result in highly ordered structures. In some cases, this gives a useful coating to the material. 

In the industry, self-assembled monolayers are used to make quantum dots stable while preserving their optical properties used in QLED displays. [ii] In addition, quantum dots can themselves be synthesized by the bottom-up method known as colloidal synthesis.

Outlook

New methods are being developed and commercialized in both categories. Start-up companies such as Atlant 3D Nanosystems [iii] are part of creating more choices when it comes to making products with nanostructures. The start-up enables atomic layer 3D printing with certain materials making prototyping faster and cheaper. This method is considered a bottom-up approach.

Today some of the smallest nanostructures (7 nm) on mobile chips are made using extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography. This top-down method, used by Samsung and other companies, is thought to enable even smaller nanostructures soon. [iv]

There will likely be a continuous need for different methods as each method offers its own benefits and disadvantages, matching the needs of different products. For complex structures, a combination of methods is likely to provide the best results.

If you’d like to learn more about nanotechnology, please subscribe to our newsletter and stay tuned for upcoming posts.

References

[i] Britannica, Nanofabrication, accessed 2020-11-30 at https://www.britannica.com/technology/nanotechnology/Nanofabrication

[ii] Department of Chemistry – Technical University of Denmark, Chemistry at the Nanoscale, 2020

[iii] Atlant 3D Nanosystems, accessed at https://www.atlant3d.com/

[iv] Samsung, Samsung Electronics Begins Mass Production at New EUV Manufacturing Line, accessed at https://news.samsung.com/global/samsung-electronics-begins-mass-production-at-new-euv-manufacturing-line

The post Nanofabrication: The Top-down and Bottom-up Approaches appeared first on The Nano Future.

Stains on a white button-up shirt can be a pain that is sometimes hard to avoid. With the Black Bow shirt from J. Harvest & Frost, this, however, is no longer an issue. Using nanotechnology from Nanotex© the high-quality cotton shirt can resist spills that would otherwise give it an unwanted stain.

Content

–          How the technology works

–          About J. Harvest & Frost

–          Want to win a Black Bow Shirt?

How the technology works

The main effect that makes the shirt stain repellent is its hydrophobic surface, which literally means ‘fear of water’. Research has shown that combining a rough surface with low surface energy gives higher hydrophobicity [i]. The Black Bow shirt obtains this by attaching small nanoscale ‘whiskers’ of a hydrocarbon polymer to individual fibers in the fabric. The water thus gets slightly elevated from the surface, making it roll off the shirt as seen in the figure to the left. [ii]

Normally, cotton is hydrophilic (water-loving). This means it is attracted to water and is therefore prone to getting stains. It can be seen in how water has a lower contact angle (θ) with the surface and spreads out as shown in the figure to the right.

Additionally, the type of hydrophobic surface used by Nanotex© and J. Harvest & Frost is far more environmentally friendly compared to other solutions that exist. Other hydrophobic materials sometimes use fluorocarbons and PFOAs, which can have a negative impact on the environment and human health [iii],[iv]. Nanotex© avoids this by having found a processing technique that allows the attachment of the hydrocarbon to form the right structure.

About J. Harvest & Frost

J. Harvest & Frost[v],[vi] focus on making fine workwear of high quality using excellent craftsmanship, and the best materials. Their catalog includes shirts, blazers, and jackets for men and women.

The company was established in 2014 from a collaboration between James Harvest Sportswear and Frost and has multiple partners internationally. We are doing a collaboration with their Danish trade partner since much of our audience is based in Denmark.

Want to win a Black Bow shirt?

Please note that this campaign has ended.

By signing up for our newsletter before Nov. 30, 2020, you had a chance to win the Black Bow shirt from J. Harvest & Frost. The winner has been contacted and is shipped a shirt free of charge. By signing up you are supporting a student initiative and receive updates on nanotechnology and its applications in a short format through peer-reviewed articles. Please stay tuned for upcoming posts.

References

[i] B. W. Chieng, Functionalization of Graphene Oxide via Gamma-Ray Irradiation for Hydrophobic Materials, 2019, accessed at https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/materials-science/hydrophobic-surface

[ii] Nanotex, Aquapel, accessed Nov. 2020 at https://www.nanotex.com/aquapel/

[iii] National Center for Biotechnology Information, Compound Summary – Perfluorooctanoic Acid, accessed at https://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/compound/Perfluorooctanoic-acid

[iv] Archie McCulloch, Fluorocarbons in the Global Environment: A Review of the Important Interactions with Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, 2013, accessed at https://www.researchgate.net/publication/239197000_Fluorocarbons_in_the_Global_Environment_A_Review_of_the_Important_Interactions_with_Atmospheric_Chemistry_and_Physics

[v] J. Harvest & Frost – v/GEPARD ApS, 2020, accessed at https://jharvestogfrost.dk/

[vi] About J. Harvest & Frost, accessed at https://www.jharvestandfrost.com/pages/about-us

The post Repelling Red Wine and Coffee From a White Cotton Dress Shirt appeared first on The Nano Future.

Content

–          What is intelligent packaging?

–          How big is the problem of food waste?

–          The role of nanotechnology

–          Outlook

What is intelligent packaging? [i]

Intelligent packaging can monitor the state of a product and communicate this to a consumer without interacting with the product itself. Examples of technologies used to accomplish this include time-temperature indicators (TTI), gas-indicators and -sensors, as well as various other sensors to monitor bacterial growth. Using these indicators and sensors, a consumer can be notified whether a product is safe to eat by a simple visual indication such as a change in color or shape of a label on the package.

At present, various examples of intelligent packaging are already in use. One example is the Fresh-Check® indicator by Temptime Corporation which indicates if a food product is safe to eat by a change in color based on time and temperature exposure [ii]. The color change happens due to a chemical reaction that takes multiple days and can be adjusted to match the product’s lifetime. Since heat, in general, speeds up chemical reactions, the color change of the label happens faster if the product is not cooled down properly or heated.

However, because of differences in laws and regulations, intelligent packaging is more widespread in some countries than others. The regulations of food products set forth by the European Union has resulted in fewer intelligent packaging solutions/products.

How big is the problem of food waste?

Globally, it is estimated that 1.3 billion tons of food are lost or wasted every year [iii]. In the US, it is estimated that 31 % of food is wasted at a consumer and retail level [iv] which is like other countries [v].

Additionally, a study in Germany (2017) indicates that the biggest reason for discarding groceries in Germany is an expired shelf life (47 %). [i] Since the largest source of food waste in the supply chain happens at the end consumer, this area should be in focus when wanting to reduce waste.

The role of Nanotechnology [vi]

Nanotechnology can help intelligent packaging in coming up with cheaper sensor and indicator devices that enable more solutions to be used. These need not be on the nano scale but by incorporating nanomaterials the sensor can be improved. One example is TTIs based on Ag Overgrowth on Au Nanorods, which would greatly reduce the cost compared to current TTIs [vii]. While the applications of nanosensors are still few, the field is an emerging one and being researched heavily. Hence, nanosensors may at some point be applied in packaging.

Additionally, nanotechnology also offers other benefits to the packaging industry by creating antimicrobial materials through the incorporation of nanoparticles in plastics. These include silver and zinc oxide nanoparticles and others with similar effects.

Outlook

With the current focus on green tech, one should think that intelligent packaging would gain more focus and become more widely used. There are, however, some challenges for some of the applications. One being strict regulation which is the case for the EU which explains the low usage. Since nanomaterials and especially nanoparticles can be toxic, it will likely take some time to get packaging based on them approved. 

Another challenge is finding cheap sensors and indicators that contribute minimally to the cost of the final product. Finally, a challenge is that different food products need different sensors. TTI’s are for example good for frozen or cold food products, whereas other products may benefit more from having a gas sensor.

The market for intelligent packaging is mainly expected to be driven by North America and Southeast Asia [viii]. Apart from reducing food waste and improving safety, intelligent packaging could also be useful in other industries such as medicine and cosmetics to ensure product safety.

If you’d like to learn more about nanotechnology, please subscribe to our newsletter and stay tuned for upcoming posts.

Note: Featured image by Markus Winkler on Unsplash

References

[i] Patricia M. & Markus S., Intelligent Packaging in the Food Sector: A Brief Overview, 2019, accessed at https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6352026/

[ii] Temptime Corporation, Fresh Check, 2018, accessed at http://fresh-check.com/

[iii] The World Counts, accessed Nov 1st, 2020 at https://www.theworldcounts.com/challenges/consumption/foods-and-beverages/food-waste-facts/story

[iv] U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE, food waste FAQs, accessed at https://www.usda.gov/foodwaste/faqs

[v] Wrap, Food surplus and waste in the UK – key facts, 2020 accessed at https://wrap.org.uk/sites/files/wrap/Food_%20surplus_and_waste_in_the_UK_key_facts_Jan_2020.pdf

[vi] Trepti S., et al., Application of Nanotechnology in Food Science: Perception and Overview, 2017, accessed at https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2017.01501/full

[vii] Chao Z. et al., Time–Temperature Indicator for Perishable Products Based on Kinetically Programmable Ag Overgrowth on Au Nanorods, 2013, accessed at https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/nn401266u

[viii] Mordor Intelligence, Smart Packaging Market – Growth, Trends, and Forecast (2020 – 2025), accessed at https://www.mordorintelligence.com/industry-reports/smart-packaging-market

The post Intelligent Packaging to Reduce Food Waste appeared first on The Nano Future.

Content

• What is Nanotechnology?
• How the Lycurgus Cup Works
• What Lies Ahead of Nanotechnology
• References

What is nanotechnology?

Nanotechnology is a multidisciplinary field revolving around science and engineering of materials and structures on the nanoscale which is defined as 1-100 nm. This scale is around 1,000-100,000 times smaller than the width of a human hair. The field has attracted the attention of physicists, chemists, material scientists, biologists, and more and resulted in many great modern-day electronics such as smartphones and QLED displays, but interestingly also in ancient uses.

How the Lycurgus cup works

The dichroic effect is due to nanoparticles of gold and silver alloys the size of 50-100 nm. Investigating the cup using X-rays shows the ratio of silver and gold to be around 7:3. The gold is responsible for producing the red color by absorbing some of the light, whereas the silver produces the green color by scattering or reflecting the light. Furthermore, the glass contains about 10 % copper.[iii]

We might not normally think of gold as red and silver as green. The reason for these colors is due to the dependence of shape and size when the particles are at the nanoscale. Another example of this effect is seen in medieval church windows of different colored stained glass where gold particles are used to produce red, green, or yellow and silver to produce yellow, blue, or red by changing the shapes and sizes. A somewhat similar effect is used in today’s Quantum Dot displays.

While we call this nanotechnology, the roman or the medieval glass workers most likely did not know why their process for creating the glass worked. They were most likely experimenting with different processes and accidentally found out how to make the dichroic glass used in the cup. However, it is still an impressive accomplishment for the time that should be acknowledged.

Nevertheless, the beginning of nanotechnology as a discipline is often attributed to Richard Feynman who was one of the first to understand the possibilities of engineering at this scale and who held the first lecture on atomic-scale engineering in 1959 called “There’s Plenty of Room at the Bottom”. The term Nanotechnology was coined in 1974 by the Japanese physicist Norio Taniguchi[iv].

What lies ahead of nanotechnology

What often sparks the most enthusiasm in the field of nanotechnology is in applications within the healthcare sector. Extensive and high-impact research is being done in drug-delivery, nanosensors, etc.. These applications show a lot of promise to save or improve people’s lives. However, applications such as these, with sometimes unknown implications, require a lot of testing to pass regulations and make it to consumer products.

Nanotechnology influences almost every industry. The electronics industry has been heavily benefited by nano-fabrication techniques which allow us to have smartphones. Composite materials have been improved with carbon nanotubes to make them stronger, and the cosmetics industry has created better sunscreens using titanium dioxide and zinc oxide nanoparticles[v], to name a few examples.

If you’d like to learn more about nanotechnology, please subscribe to our newsletter and stay tuned for upcoming posts.

Note: The images used are reprinted under Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal Public Domain Dedication and provided by the British Museum.

References:

[i] The British Museum, description

[ii] The British Museum, The Lycurgus Cup, accessed at https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/H_1958-1202-1

[iii] History of Nanotechnology, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6982820/

[iv] Chemistry at the Nanoscale, DTU Chemistry, 2020, p. 3

[v]Nanotechnology in cosmetics: Opportunities and challenges, Silpa et. al, accessed at https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3425166/,

The post Did the Romans Know Nanotechnology? Introduction to Nanotechnology appeared first on The Nano Future.

Content

• Short facts
• Products and customers
• Comparison with other technologies
• New market opportunities
• Challenges
• Outlook

Short facts[i],[ii]:

• Status: Private
• CEO: Jason Hartlove
• Investors: 32
• Latest investment round: USD 20M
• No. of employees (approximately): 120
• Location: Silicon Valley

Products and customers

The main products that Nanosys produces are plastic films coated by quantum dots of green and red colors that are then used by other manufactures in displays[iii]. In 2019, Nanosys’ nanotechnology had been featured in more than 400 different products with more than 30,000 kg of quantum dot material having been shipped.

They are often integrated into LCD displays that use a blue LED backlight together with the quantum dots to produce RGB displays that are energy efficient and have extremely bright colors. The newest generations of quantum dot films are completely heavy metal free and are mainly made of Indium phosphide (InP)[iv].

Their main customer and biggest investor is Samsung. Other customers using Nanosys quantum dots in their products include Vizio, HP, Hisense, and TCL. They are collaborating with MIT, Lawrence Berkeley National Labs, Hebrew University, Philips-Lumileds, and more which is part of the reasons for their high achievements.

Comparison with other technologies

A technology that often gets compared with QLED (Quantum LED) displays is OLEDs (Organic LEDs). The two technologies are often competing with the best OLED TV displays being produced by LG.

While QLEDs are brighter and often more energy-efficient, OLEDs can produce better contrast and much thinner displays, which is something LG is particularly good at. Both technologies have multiple other pros and cons which can be a long discussion. However, what has of late become interesting is the possibility of combining the best of both worlds with Samsung investing in a new hybrid quantum dot-OLED technology that they hope to start mass-producing in 2021[v].

To complicate matters even further, a third promising technology, MicroLED is challenging both QLEDs and OLEDs by offering similar advantages of brightness, contrast, and energy efficiency. This technology is showcased in Samsung’s The Wall[vi]. Nanosys has, however, incorporated this technology into its roadmap and believes that quantum dots can play a part in improving microLED displays[vii].

What might be an outcome of these different technologies is a mixture of Quantum dot-OLEDs and microLEDs with quantum dots in the long run.

New Market opportunities

While the applications within display electronics seem to continuously grow, there are other opportunities awaiting quantum dots and Nanosys.

The CEO of Nanosys acknowledges solar cells as a future opportunity as quantum dots have much better theoretical efficiencies compared to current silicon-based ones. In addition, he mentions smart windows (incorporating solar cells in glass, in this case with quantum dots) as a research area and possible future application.

Challenges

Some main challenges that have already been addressed are the ‘scalability’ which Nanosys seems to have solved, now using 1250 L reactors compared to 5 L ones in 2013.  Others have been the price, which now has been brought down, making a QLED TV a much more mainstream product, and finally that cadmium and other heavy metals used for quantum dots are often toxic. However, this should no longer be an issue as Nanosys produce heavy metal-free ones already [iii].

While there are other companies working with quantum dots, Nanosys has close to 100 % market share[viii]. It therefore seems to be that current challenges mainly come from competing technologies, which could however in future scenarios be combined with quantum dots.

A good strategy that Nanosys seems to employ in its roadmap is trying to facilitate these combined technologies and being open to what OLEDs and microLEDs have to offer while still utilizing their expertise in quantum dots.

Outlook

With the prediction from MarketsandMarkets of an increase in the quantum dot market size from USD 3.5 billion in 2020 to USD 10.6 billion by 2025[ix] (annual growth: 24.6 %) and backing from large investors, Nanosys should be well off by continuously producing quantum dots at large scale. They need to keep collaborating with their partners in the industry and at universities to improve the application in displays. It is also going to be interesting to see how they might play a role in improving solar cells and create smart windows.

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[i] Nanosys overview, accesed at https://pitchbook.com/profiles/company/50754-52#competitors

[ii] Nanosys company profile, accesed at https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/nanosys?utm_source=linkedin&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=linkedin_companies&utm_content=profile_cta

[iii] Nanosys Products, accesed at https://www.nanosysinc.com/products

[iv] CEO keynote speech, 2019, accessed at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=74W4MRwe4d0

[v] Samsung OLED quantum dot hybrid could challenge LG for TV supremacy, Aug 2020, accessed at https://www.cnet.com/news/samsung-oled-quantum-dot-hybrid-could-challenge-lg-for-tv-supremacy/

[vi] Samsung’s The Wall, accesed at https://www.samsung.com/us/business/products/displays/direct-view-led/the-wall/

[vii] Nanosys Roadmap, accesed at https://www.nanosysinc.com/nanosys-roadmap

[viii] Nanosys Quantum Dots, CEO Jason Hartlove Interview, accesed at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6oERnxm4-ko

[ix] https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Market-Reports/quantum-dots-qd-market-694.html?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIvZ2-qdf36wIVSubtCh1JDAj5EAAYASAAEgLfv_D_BwE

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Content

• What is a Quantum dot?
• How do you make them
• Applications
• Challenges to Quantum dots
• Outlook on Market 

What is a Quantum dot?[i],[ii]

Quantum dots are made from metals or semiconductor materials, usually with two-three different elements in a crystal structure. They are typically the size of 1-10 nanometers and normally need to be coated by another material that ensures they don’t degrade, in other words making them stable at a specific size.  An example is gold nanoparticles that are coated by a layer of a carboxylic acid. Another popular material choice is CdSe (Cadmium selenide), but quantum dots can be made from many other materials including heavy metal free such as silicon and carbon.

At very small sizes, particles behave similarly to atoms in the way that their energy bands are discrete, meaning the color of the light they emit or absorb is at a very precise wavelength. This property is what makes them excellent for applications such as displays.

How do you make them?

There are different chemical methods. The challenge is to find a method that gives a good yield while controlling the size of the particles. The method used mostly depends on the application. If the quantum dots need to be in a liquid, the best way would be a chemical bottom-up method where you create a large batch and add chemicals with a high temperature for specific amounts of time. This method is known as colloidal synthesis. [i]

If the quantum dots are instead needed as a powder, a method known as plasma synthesis can be used to produce them in the gas phase. [iii]

In addition, other methods to produce quantum dots include top-down fabrication using etching.

Applications

An application where quantum dots have highly succeeded is within displays. Companies such as Sony, Samsung, and LG have all made great products with quantum dots integrated into the display, branded as QLED displays. By doing that, they can produce a wider range of colors, giving a much more vivid experience.

Quantum dots for displays are produced by companies such as Nanosys Inc. with a range of options, some which are heavy-metal free.

Solar cells are a very promising market for quantum dots as they can be engineered to absorb a larger amount of light from the sun, with other materials having a narrower spectrum of possible wavelengths they can absorb[v]. Currently, silicon is widely used as it is the main component in modern-day electronics. This is the case even though there are fundamental limits to its efficiency with many other materials such as quantum dots providing a much higher theoretical efficiency. Now, however, there are no commercial quantum dot solar cells available, and the area needs more research and funding.

Other interesting applications are within LEDs, lasers[vi], and for sensors used for medical imaging[vii].

Challenges to quantum dots

One of the main challenges to the application of quantum dots is that they are often toxic and can interact with living cells. Hence, even though they possess excellent abilities relevant for medical applications, they are not likely to be applied in that field soon as regulations are high and very precautious. The toxicity is primarily due to heavy metals such as Cadmium often being part of the building materials.

Another challenge that is common for new materials is when they have to compete in industries that have specialized in working with other materials such as silicon. This is especially the case with solar cells as it is very hard to suddenly make the switch when production has already been optimized for something else. Thus, it requires more than scientific breakthroughs but a lot of investment and some patience.

As for other novel technologies, newly developed quantum dots often face the challenge of scalability. The synthesis at larger amounts takes some research to get right so it is an important aspect to keep in mind when looking at quantum dots from new materials.

Outlook on Market

Quantum dots seem to have come to stay within electronic displays, as big companies such as Samsung are investing highly in this technology[viii]. Furthermore, there is a well-established supply chain with companies such as Nanosys Inc. providing reliable and high-quality material.

The expectations for quantum dots are high, MarketsandMarkets predicts an increase in market size from USD 3.5 billion in 2020 to USD 10.6 billion by 2025[ix] (annual growth: 24.6 %) with the growth mainly from applications in displays. Meanwhile, the incentives to apply it in other markets such as solar cells are growing with large amounts of research being done[x].

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References

[i] Chemistry at the Nanoscale, DTU Chemistry, 2020, p. 16-23

[ii] What is a Quantum Dot, accessed at: https://www.nanosysinc.com/quantum-dot-basics

[iii] https://www.researchgate.net/publication/301290274_Plasma_Synthesis_of_Nanoparticles

[v] https://www.intechopen.com/books/solar-cells-new-approaches-and-reviews/quantum-dots-solar-cells

[vi] https://www.laserfocusworld.com/lasers-sources/article/14074945/colloidal-quantumdot-laser-diodes-could-be-coming-soon

[vii] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5546783/

[viii] https://nanophotonica.com/nanophotonica-announces-3-5m-investment-led-by-samsung-ventures/

[ix] https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Market-Reports/quantum-dots-qd-market-694.html?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIvZ2-qdf36wIVSubtCh1JDAj5EAAYASAAEgLfv_D_BwE

[x] https://scitechdaily.com/solar-technology-breakthrough-world-record-quantum-dot-solar-cell-efficiency/

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