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Full report

October 2009
A review of NT developments as applicable to
developing countries
Supported by
The International Development Research Centre, Canada
[Part of project: Capability, Governance and Nanotechnology Developments:
a focus on India]
Project Report No. 2006ST21:D2
www.teriin.org
The Energy and Resources Institute
© The Energy and Resources Institute 2009
Study team
Manish Anand
Malini Balakrishnan (Co-ordinator)
Vidya S Batra
Piyali Das
Secretarial assistance
Rajeev Pillai
M K Bineesan
Suggested format for citation
The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI). 2009
A review of NT developments as applicable to developing
countries
TERI project: Capability, Governance, and Nanotechnology
Developments - a focus on India
New Delhi: The Energy and Resources Institute.
[Project Report No. 2006ST21: D2]
[Please do not cite without permission]
For more information
Dr Malini Balakrishnan
TERI
Darbari Seth Block
IHC Complex, Lodhi Road
New Delhi – 110 003
India
Tel. 2468 2100 or 2468 2111
E-mail [email protected]
Fax 2468 2144 or 2468 2145
Web www.teriin.org
India +91 • Delhi (0) 11
Table of Contents
Executive summary ..............................................................................................................................i
Review of nanotechnology developments as applicable to developing countries........................... 4
Nanotechnology developments applicable to environment, energy, agriculture, food and
health .............................................................................................................................................. 4
Environment issues in LDCs..................................................................................................... 4
Energy issues in LDCs ................................................................................................................7
Advances in energy and environmental applications of nanomaterials ....................................10
Environmental applications .........................................................................................................12
Adsorbents ................................................................................................................................12
Catalysts ....................................................................................................................................14
Membranes ...............................................................................................................................19
Others....................................................................................................................................... 23
Energy applications...................................................................................................................... 26
Adsorbents ............................................................................................................................... 26
Catalysts ....................................................................................................................................27
Membranes .............................................................................................................................. 29
Solar Photovoltaic applications .............................................................................................. 30
Others....................................................................................................................................... 34
Summary ...................................................................................................................................... 36
Advances in agriculture, food and health applications of nanomaterials ..................................... 39
Agriculture and food processing ................................................................................................. 39
Packaging ..................................................................................................................................41
Sensors ..................................................................................................................................... 48
Delivery systems ...................................................................................................................... 50
Processing ................................................................................................................................. 51
Agriculture ................................................................................................................................ 51
Nanomaterials from plants / food sources............................................................................. 52
Health applications .......................................................................................................................53
Drug delivery ............................................................................................................................55
Diagnostics............................................................................................................................... 59
Regenerative medicine ............................................................................................................ 62
Summary ...................................................................................................................................... 64
A N N E X U R E I List of Commercial Nanomaterials producers........................................................ 65
ANNEXURE
II Nanotechnology based consumer items in the food sector .................................. 78
T E R I Report 2006ST21:D2
List of figures and tables
Figure 1 Water supply and sanitation coverage in LDCs................................................................ 6
Figure 2 Per capita world energy consumption .............................................................................. 8
Figure 3 NT applications in food (adapted from Weiss et al. 2006) ............................................41
Table 1 : International NT developments and applications over the last 5 years ....................... 36
Executive summary
Nanotechnology (NT) is an enabling technology that can help
address key needs relating to energy, environment, health
and agriculture in less developed countries (LDCs). This
report reviews international NT developments on the
advances in nanomaterials to those applications of relevance
to environment, energy, agriculture, food, and healthwith a
view to draw out key lessons and issues of relevance for
countries in the developing world to acquire capabilities in
NT. Nano materials have been categorized on the basis of
their function (adsorbents, catalysts, membranes, others) so
that a variety of nano materials with multiple applications
could be covered.
Among the developing countries, the key environmental
issues are water & sanitation, land degradation, air pollution,
climate change. The energy issues cover energy access, clean
& advanced energy system and energy efficiency.
International R&D efforts over the past five years applicable
to the environmental sector include water purification,
pollutants sequestration for improved analysis of
microcontaminants, wastewater treatment especially to
remove recalcitrant compounds, process improvement in
liquid-liquid separation, desalination, better electrode
sensors etc. In the energy sector, research will impact
hydrogen production and storage, fuel cells, CO2 separation,
air enrichment, processes like aromatics cracking in
refineries / biorefineries.
In energy and environment applications, nanotechnology has
provided the following main advantages / capability:
Improved capacity (adsorbents for hydrogen storage,
electrodes in energy storage batteries / capacitors) and rapid
reaction (adsorbents for pollutants removal
Higher process efficiency (catalysts / electrodes for
photocatalytic / electrochemical degradation, solar cells)
Lower cost (lower noble metal catalyst requirements,
replacement of costly precious metal catalysts, replacement
of costly silicon solar cells)
Customized properties (functionalized adsorbents,
antifouling membranes, specific sensor materials, lower
thermal conductivity in thermoelectric materials)
ii A review of NT developments as applicable to developing countries
Review of developments in nanotechnology applicable to energy
and environment suggests the following key lessons for
developing countries:
•
It is observed that the research on NT related to
energy and environment applications are driven by
the following aspects:
o Overcoming limitations of existing
technology (e.g. improved selectivity &
prevention of side reaction in case of
catalysts; higher flux, lower fouling and
better selectivity in membrane processes;
higher strength with nanopowder
reinforcements for a variety of materials)
o Improving efficiency of processes (e.g. higher
adsorption capability, lower temperature
requirements, shorter time for processing)
o Reducing size and cost of products (e.g. less
precious metal nano catalyst requirement in
case of fuel cells, lesser membrane area
requirement in filtration)
o Opening up new applications and markets
(e.g. sensors with higher sensitivity for
measuring pollutants, hydrogen storage)
•
Overall, the research and development scene
internationally is very vibrant. The challenges in
converting these developments to feasible
technologies appear to be:
o producing the nanomaterials in large enough
volumes, with consistent quality, at
acceptable costs
o supplying the nanomaterials in a form (such
as proper particle size, surface chemistry,
dispersion capability, compatibility with
various media etc.) that would allow
integration into the process
o engineering and customizing the nano-based
system to local requirements
o addressing environmental, health and safety
concerns in the use and disposal of nano
products.
Nanotechnology advances of relevance to agriculture and food
processing sector, are targeted at improving food processing
and storage (covering smart packaging, delivery systems for
nutraceuticals / bioactive compounds, sensors for food quality
monitoring), enhancing agricultural productivity and exploiting
plants for nanomaterials production. Interestingly, there are
T E R I Report No. 2006ST21:D2
iii A review of NT developments as applicable to developing countries
several NT applications in the food sector that are already
commercial. This trend appears to be driven by the significant
market for nutraceuticals / bioactive products that, unlike
pharmaceutical products, do not require exhaustive field testing
and regulatory approvals. At the same time, there is growing
concern on lack of information on the risks associated with
nanomaterials in food (e.g. degradation, durability and toxicity
of polymer–nanoparticulate systems in packaging, leaching of
nanosilver in various food related consumer goods like
nanocoated cookware etc.).
The use of nanotechnology in health offers many advantages in
aspects of drug delivery, diagnostics as well as regeneration.
These include enhanced sensitivity, lower dosage requirement,
targeted therapeutics, combined therapeutics and diagnostics,
reduced side effects etc. Many of the applications are expected
to enter the mainstream by 2015 or beyond. Given the high
investment required for research and the cost and time required
for getting clearances, profitability of the product is important
in NT application in the health sector. In this sector as well, the
risks involved are not clear with a variety of materials and
applications opening up.
T E R I Report No.2006ST21:D2
Review of nanotechnology developments as
applicable to developing countries
Nanotechnology is expected to provide opportunities to
developing countries to address many of their developmental
needs. Salamanca-Bentello et al., (2003) point out that
nanotechnology could address a number of developing country
needs. The top 10 such needs are –
1. Energy storage, production and conversion,
2. Agricultural productivity enhancement
3. Water treatment and remediation
4. Disease diagnosis and screening
5. Drug delivery systems
6. Food processing and storage
7. Air pollution and remediation
8. Construction
9. Health monitoring
10. Vector and pest control
The focus of this review is to highlight nanotechnology
developments as applicable to developing countries with a view
to draw out key lessons and issues of relevance for countries in
the developing world to acquire capabilities in nanotechnology.
Nanotechnology developments applicable to environment, energy,
agriculture, food and health
Given the potential of nanotechnology applications to address
key social needs of developing countries, this report provides a
review on the advances in nanomaterials to those applications
of relevance to environment, energy, agriculture, food and
health.
Environment issues in LDCs
The environmental problems faced by LDCs cover water, land
and air pollution1.
Access to safe water and sanitation is the major
environmental issue. As per 2004 figures, over 1 billion people
globally (1 in 6 persons) are without access to improved water
supply and 2.6 billion people are without access to improved
1
Michos-Ederer K (2001) Agenda for the Least Developed Countries
Environmental Policy & Law 31 4-5
(http://iospress.metapress.com/content/82bfmgaxu6jk4816/fulltext.pdf)
5 A review of NT developments as applicable to developing countries
sanitation (50% of the developing world)2. The water supply and
sanitation coverage for the LDCs is shown in Figure 1.
2
http://www.wssinfo.org/en/welcome.html
Figure 1 Water supply and sanitation coverage in LDCs3
Lack of safe water and adequate sanitation facilities has an
adverse impact on health in terms of (a) Waterborne diseases
(diarrhea, typhoid, etc) that are transmitted through drinking
contaminated water and (b) Water-washed disease (skin and
eye infections, for instance) which occur due to lack of water for
washing and personal hygiene. There are nearly 4 billion
diarrhea cases per year causing around 1.8 million deaths. Apart
from microbial contamination, others like arsenic
contamination in ground waters in Bangladesh, pollution of
ground and surface water by agricultural runoffs including
pesticides also impact human health. Contaminated surface
water sources also affect inland fisheries, which is a major food
3
http://www.wssinfo.org/en/26_wat_leastDev.html#;
http://www.wssinfo.org/en/36_san_leastDev.html
source in some parts of the world4. From the perspective of
technological intervention in LDCs and developing countries,
new approaches to storing, treating and disinfecting water and
developing sanitation systems that minimize pathogen release
are important5.
Land degradation is an ecological problem that has impacts
both at the local and global levels6. Land degradation occurs due
to one or a combination of factors such as deforestation,
inappropriate agricultural practices, overgrazing etc.7 as well as
mining. Since LDCs typically have significant rural based
populations whose economies depend upon the use of natural
resources, land degradation can have a serious impact on
livelihood of the people. Also, it can lead to food insecurity and
declining ecosystem services. The technological interventions to
overcome this problem would involve remediation of degraded
land through biological or chemical means, development of
alternative materials that reduce or replace the use of minerals
etc.
Indoor air pollution is the third major environmental concern
in LDCs. This arises from the burning of solid fuels, including
biomass fuels (wood, dung, agricultural residues) and coal, in
open fires or traditional stoves. The adverse health impacts
include respiratory diseases, heart diseases and cancer8.
In addition, climate change is expected to aggravate some of
the existing environmental problems and also pose new threats.
For example, in island LDCs, global warming has severe
implications both in the short term (coral bleaching) and in the
long term (sea-level rise).
Energy issues in LDCs
There are several common issues that are key in the challenges
and concerns relating to energy in LDCs and sections of other
developing countries that are characterized by low per capita
energy consumption (Figure 2)9. Energy is required for lighting,
cooking, transportation, irrigation, telecommunication and
industrial activities (agro processing). In LDCs typically,
4
http://www.un.org/specialrep/ohrlls/ohrlls/hr%20statement%2024%20APR%2003%20%20WORLD%20INFORMATION%20TRANSFER.htm
5
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2007-03/giot-rad031207.php
6
http://www.gsu.co.za/
7
http://www.serd.ait.ac.th/slm/background-1.html
8
http://www.mediaglobal.org/article/2007-05-09/indoor-air-pollution-athreat-to-health-in-ldcs
9
http://www.iisd.ca/sd/LDCs/sdvol52num1.html
household energy use occupies a large share with traditional
fuel and biomass being the predominant fuel10. This causes
severe indoor air quality damage and is also one of the causes of
deaths in LDCs11. The share of traditional fuel use in LDCs is
between 70-80%, while in developing countries it is between
20-30%. In cases where LDCs depend on imported energy, the
countries are susceptible to international price fluctuations and
this can create additional burden on their economies.
Figure 2 Per capita world energy consumption12
Energy access is one of the major issues in LDCs and
developing countries. Currently, about 1.6 billion people do not
have access to electricity13. This is important because energy is
required for other aspects of sustainable living such as health,
economic growth, environment management and poverty
alleviation. It is estimated that of the predicted increase in
energy demand, 70% would come from developing countries.
The benefit of having energy access also helps in meeting the
millennium development goals. The direct and indirect benefits
include:
Increased productivity and therefore improved income
levels, education
10http://www.gfse.at/fileadmin/dam/gfse/gfse7/Plenary2/4_GFSE7_Pres
entation_UNDP_Takada.pdf
11http://www.unohrlls.org/UserFiles/File/LDC%20Documents/Turkey/E
nergy.pdf
12
http://timeforchange.org/prediction-of-energy-consumption
http://hdr.undp.org/en/reports/global/hdr20072008/papers/gaye_amie.pdf
13
Improved irrigation and better food and nutrition
availability and access
Improved health (refrigeration for vaccines, diagnostic tools,
cleaner water, improved indoor air quality)
Improved environment (pollution control devices, clean fuel)
Thus MDGs 1-7 are linked to energy access.
The other important aspect is clean and advanced energy
systems for providing energy access. This includes renewable
energy as well as better utilization of fossil/renewable fuels (e.g.
biomass gasification versus direct burning of biomass). In rural
areas, the energy should also be reliable and affordable. The
traditional energy sources like oil lamps, wood stoves, and
diesel generators can be substituted with renewable off grid
electricity (solar, wind), improved cooking (e.g. biomass
gasifier), devices run on battery with off grid electricity
charging. This should also be combined with local capability for
manufacturing / assembling and maintaining renewable based
equipment. Promotion of integrated project such as combining
water and energy is also important.
The third important aspect is energy efficiency. This is
critical also from the point of view of environmental aspects
such as climate change. Environmental damage also arises
from unconstrained use of biomass resources leads to
deforestation, desertification. Thus, energy efficiency combined
with energy diversification is also important.
In summary, developing countries need clean and advanced
energy technologies combined with energy efficiency to improve
access to energy. Some of the environmental issues are linked
to energy issues such as indoor air pollution from traditional
fuel use, desertification from unsustainable biomass use etc.
The energy and environmental issues are also closely linked
with MDGs. At the policy level, it will help to link these with
national MDG planning, mobilize investment and build
institutional and technical capacity14.
In the section that follows, we focus on advances in
nanomaterials that may help address some of these concerns.
14
http://www.unohrlls.org/UserFiles/File/LDC%20Documents/
Turkey/Energy.pdf
Advances in energy and environmental applications of nanomaterials
Nanotechnology (NT) is a tool that is expected to achieve a stepchange in processes by reducing resource use, improving
resource efficiency and thereby generating less waste. NT has
many applications in the energy sector involving both
generation side and consumption side15. The applications
include more efficient energy recovery / conversion from
traditional (crude petroleum, coal) and renewable sources
(solar, biomass, fuel cells); improvements in energy
transmission (CNT for transmission) and storage (hydrogen
storage); energy efficient devices, automotives and buildings.
In the environmental sector, nano materials are being used for
groundwater and soil remediation, water treatment, and gas
cleanup. Analysis of pollutants is facilitated by nano materials
as they are suitable for on-line measurement and trace analysis.
They also aid in production by lowering material consumption,
chemical use and byproducts / waste generation. Nano products
in the form of powders, thin films, coatings, and composites are
used for these applications16.
In this report, the nanomaterials have been classified based on
their functions, namely, adsorbents, catalysts and membranes.
This has been chosen to enable coverage of the vast variety of
materials with multiple applications that are being developed.
Adsorbents are materials that have the capacity to
accumulate a substance on their surface. Nanoporous and
microporous adsorbents are predicted to have a market
growth due to stringent environmental legislation. In
parallel, specialized nanoporous adsorbents with novel pore
structure / surface chemistry are also opening up new
applications. This includes products like activated carbon,
zeolites, activated alumina, pillared clay etc17. Nano particle
adsorbents have the advantage of high capacity, fast rate of
adsorption and desorption. Emerging applications for such
adsorbents include hydrogen storage and catalyst support18.
Catalysts are used for overcoming the activation energy of
certain reactions or reducing the temperature of reaction.
Nano catalysts as a result of their nano scale have the
advantages of greater efficiency and lower operation
temperature. NT offers potential to customize catalysts to
improve selectivity by controlling active sites, binding sites
15
http://www.electronics.ca/reports/nanotechnology/energy_market.html
16
http://www.cleantechscandinavia.com/Lahti/Speeches/Nanotech%20promising%20cleantech%20applications_Bernd%20Nowack.pdf
17
http://www.chemicalprocessing.com/industrynews/2005/3.html
18
http://www.physorg.com/news5208.html
and including flexible openings and cavities. It also has the
potential for molecular level control of reaction by using for
example molecular switches. It has been reported that the
global market is expected to have a growth rate of around
6.3%19. Most of the sales in 2003 were from traditional
catalysts such as industrial enzymes, zeolites and transition
metals. The sales of transition metal oxides, carbon nano
tubes etc. are expected to increase their market share by
2009. The major users were refining/petrochemical,
chemicals/pharmaceuticals, food processing, and
environmental remediation.
Membrane processes, employing both synthetic polymeric
and ceramic membranes, are employed for a variety of solid,
liquid and gas separation applications. Membranes are
semipermeable barriers that allow the selective passage of
molecules; the process is classified by membrane pore size
and the driving force for the separation (pressure,
concentration etc.). The energy and environmental
applications of membranes include desalination of seawater
/ brackish water, water purification, wastewater treatment,
hydrogen separation from product streams, air enrichment,
carbon dioxide recovery from fossil fuel applications,
removal of volatile organic compounds from air etc. In
particular, the water sector is a major market. For instance,
the global market for membrane bioreactor technology (for
secondary treatment of municipal and industrial wastewater)
is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate
(CAGR) of 10.5%, increasing in value from $296 million in
2008 to $488 million by 201320.
The following sections present a review of recent laboratory
scale research on nanomaterials with applications in
energy and environment sectors. In parallel with research,
commercialisation of nanomaterials is also taking place. To
highlight this aspect, a list of commercial nanomaterials
producers is provided in Annexure I21.
19 www.the-infoshop.com/study/bc21463_nanocatalysts.html, Accessed
on 8 March 2008
20
http://www.wwdmag.com/Global-Market-for-Membrane-BioreactorsWorth-488-Million-by-2013-newsPiece16320, Accessed on 28 August
2008
21 http://www.dmoz.org/Business/Materials/Nanomaterials/, Accessed on
8 September 2008
Environmental applications
Adsorbents
Removal of heavy metal ions and micropollutants from aqueous
streams using nanomaterials continues to be extensively
researched. The focus is primarily on modifications to improve
the removal efficiency and in some cases, the nanoparticle
stability. Comprehensive reviews on related topics include
nano-adsorbents targeting removal of metal ions from water /
wastewater22, advances in functionalization of CNTs for various
adsorption and catalytic applications23.
Further to the application of nano sized zero-valent iron (ZVI),
combinations of metals have been examined. For example,
nano-sized bimetallic mixtures (Pd/Fe, Cu/Fe and Pd/Cu)
enhanced the reduction of Cr(VI) compared to using ZVI
alone24. The improvement was attributed to the reasoning that
cementation of a noble metal acts as a reaction catalyst and also
protects the metallic surface from inactivation. In addition to
its application as an adsorbent, nano-sized ZVI can also be used
as an electron donor. This has been verified in the degradation
of trichloroethylene in groundwater by the microbial species
Dehalococcoides spp. in the presence of nano ZVI25. This is an
interesting example integrating nanotechnology and
biotechnology for environmental remediation. In another
application targeted at in situ subsurface environment
remediation, chitosan was used as a stabilizer to prepare ZVIchitosan nanoparticles for Cr(VI) removal by adsorption
followed by reduction to Cr(III)26. Due to its high efficiency in
chelating the Fe(III) ions, chitosan prevents the precipitation
of Fe(III)–Cr(III).The Cr(VI) to Cr(III) reduction follows
pseudo first order kinetics and is dependant upon parameters
like temperature, iron loading, initial Cr(VI) concentration, pH.
Chitosan nanoparticles alone have also been used as adsorbents
for dye removal27.
22 Sharma Y C, Srivastava V, Singh V K, Kaul S N, Weng C H (2009) Nanoadsorbents for the removal of metallic pollutants from water and
wastewater Environmental technology 30 (6) 583-609
23 Meng, L., Fu, C., Lu, Q. (2009) Advanced technology for
functionalization of carbon nanotubes Progress in Natural Science 19 (7)
801-810
24 Rivero-Huguet, M., Marshall, W.D. (2009) Reduction of hexavalent
chromium mediated by micro- and nano-sized mixed metallic particles
Journal of Hazardous Materials 169 (1) 1081-1087
25 Xiu Z-M., Li T-L., Jin Z-H, Alvarez P. J (2009) Microbial reductive
dechlorination of TCE with nano iron serving as electron donor Huan Jing
Ke Xue 30 (6) 1791-1796
26 Geng, B., Jin, Z., Li, T., Qi, X. (2009) Kinetics of hexavalent chromium
removal from water by chitosan-Fe0 nanoparticles Chemosphere 75 (6)
825-830
27 Chewing W. H., Szeto Y. S., McKay G. (2009) Enhancing the absorption
capacities of acid dyes by chitosan nano particles Bioresources Technology
100 1143-1148
To overcome the disadvantages associated with pyrophoric
nature of nano-sized ZVI that can cause it to ignite
spontaneously, approaches to improve its stability have been
investigated. Thus nano-sized air-stable ZVI particles have
been prepared by ultrasonication of Fe(CO)5 in edible oil,
followed by dispersing the iron nano particles in a carbon
matrix and coating with ~ 2.5 nm thick non-crystalline carbon
layer28. Dechlorination of tetrachloroethene using these carboncoated nanoparticles displayed considerably higher massnormalized reaction rates as compared to conventional bulk ZVI
material. In another work, a nearly superparamagnetic
adsorbent was prepared by covalent binding of polyacrylic acid
(PAA) on the surface of Fe3O4 nano particles, followed by
amino-functionalization29. Rapid and efficient adsorption of
Cu(II) and Cr(VI) ions through chelation or ion exchange
mechanisms was observed. Amino-modified ordered
mesoporous silica (APS-MCM-41) has also been prepared and
tested for the adsorption of 2-chlorophenol and 2,4,6trichlorophenol from aqueous solutions30. The high adsorption
was attributed to the acid and alkaline interactions among the
amino functional groups and chlorophenols. In an effort to
improve the colloidal stability of CNTs, surface modification by
acid treatment has been done31.The modified CNTs were
successfully tested for U(VI) adsorption. A Fe―Al―Ce nanoadsorbent granulated by spraying a polymer latex onto sand in a
fluidized bed has been prepared and tested for fluoride removal
from drinking water32. The granule characteristics (stability,
adsorption capacity) were a function of the coating amount.
In the context of arsenic removal from groundwater, analytical
methods that are rapid, sensitive and cheap are required for As
(III) detection. Electrochemical technique (stripping
voltammetry) is an inexpensive method characterized by
sensitivity and detection limits comparable to atomic
absorption (AA) and inductively coupled plasma (ICP)
28
Tiehm, A., Krasznitzer, S., Koltypin, Y., Gedanken, A. (2009)
Chloroethene dehalogenation with ultrasonically produced air-stable nano
iron Ultrasonics - Sonochemistry 16 (5) 617-621
29 Huang, S.H., Chen, D.H. (2009) Rapid removal of heavy metal cations
and anions from aqueous solutions by an amino-functionalized magnetic
nano-adsorbent Journal of Hazardous Materials 163 (1) 174-179
30 Anbia, M., Lashgari, M. (2009) Synthesis of amino-modified ordered
mesoporous silica as a new nano sorbent for the removal of chlorophenols
from aqueous media Chemical Engineering Journal 150 (2) 555-560
31 Schierz, A., Zanker, H. (2009) Aqueous suspensions of carbon
nanotubes: Surface oxidation, colloidal stability and uranium sorption
Environmental Pollution 157 (4) 1088-1094
32 Chen, L., Wu, H.X., Wang, T.J., Jin, Y., Zhang, Y., Dou, X.M. (2009)
Granulation of Fe―Al―Ce nano-adsorbent for fluoride removal from
drinking water by spray coating on sand in a fluidized bed Powder
Technology 193 (1) 59-64
spectroscopic techniques33. Advances in this field include the
development of nanomaterial based sensors such as nano Aumodified electrodes on carbon or CNTs.
There are several reports on the use of modified CNTs as an
adsorbent coupled with high performance liquid
chromatography (HPLC). Amino (NH(2)) groups
functionalized CNT was covalently immobilized on a silica
stationary phase; this material was employed successfully for
the HPLC separation of polychlorinated biphenyl isomers and
terpenes34. Multi walled CNTs have been tested for the
adsorption of coexisting contaminants viz. 2,4,6trichlorophenol and Cu(II)35. Both as is and oxidized CNTs were
tested. The oxidized CNTs, with higher surface area and
presence of hydrophilic carboxylic groups, displayed enhanced
adsorption of the single components; for the binary system
however, the sorption of 2,4,6-trichlorophenol was suppressed
due to formation of surface complexes of Cu(II). A sol-gel based
CNT-coated solid-phase microextraction fiber with high
thermal stability and superior solvent durability was prepared
and tested for extraction of both polar (phenols) and non-polar
(benzene, toluene etc.) compounds36. The extraction efficiency
was observably better than that of commercial
polydimethylsiloxane fiber and the fibre offers of possibility of
application as a stationary phase in gas chromatography. In
addition to CNTs, single-walled carbon nanohorn (SWCNH) has
also been demonstrated as rapid, solid phase adsorbent for 4nitrophenol37.
Catalysts
The catalytic applications largely focus on the degradation of
recalcitrant (or hard to degrade) micropollutants in aqueous
streams. However, organic components present in municipal
wastewater have also been targeted. For instance, electrocatalytic oxidation of organic components was carried out using
nano TiO2 and Cu2O electrodes as well as non nano-scale
33
Mays, D.E., Hussam, A.(2009) Voltammetric methods for determination
and speciation of inorganic arsenic in the environment-A review Analytica
Chimica Acta 646 (1) 6-16
34 André, C . , Gharbi, T., Guillaume, Y-C (2009) A novel stationary phase
based on amino derivatized nanotubes for HPLC separations: theoretical
and practical aspects Journal of Separation Science 32 (10) 1757-1764
35 Chen, G.C., Shan, X.Q., Wang, Y.S., Wen, B., Pei, Z.G., Xie, Y.N., Liu, T.,
Pignatello, J.J. (2009) Adsorption of 2,4,6-trichlorophenol by multiwalled carbon nanotubes as affected by Cu(II) Water Research 43 (9)
2409-2418
36 Jiang, R. , Zhu, F., Luan, T., Tong, Y., Liu, H., Ouyang, G., Pawliszyn, J.
(2009) Carbon nanotube-coated solid-phase microextraction metal fiber
based on sol-gel technique Journal of Chromatography A 1216 (22) 46414647
37 Zhu, S., Niu, W., Li, H., Han, S., Xu, G. (2009) Single-walled carbon
nanohorn as new solid-phase extraction adsorbent for determination of 4nitrophenol in water sample Talanta 79 (5) 1441-1445
electrodes (commercial TiO2 and graphite plate)38. COD removal
was high with both types of electrodes; however, increase in the
dissolved oxygen level (which is an added benefit of the electrocatalytic process), was higher with non nano-scale electrode.
Nano TiO2 in the size range 8.8–9.6nm, doped with varying
ratios of Ce3+ and Ag+ has been employed for ammonium and
nitrite removal39. Through coupled oxidation and reduction both
the components are removed together in this photocatalytic
process. Compared to the performance with solar light, higher
removal is obtained upon exposure to UV irradiation.
Disinfection is another application and nanosilver is extensively
used for this purpose. Crosslinked chitosan coated Ag-loading
nano-SiO2 composite has high bactericidal activity against
Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus; this was attributed
to the coordinated action of the crosslinked chitosan and the
silver loaded nano-SiO240.
Selective removal of halogenated organics from wastewater has
been done using nano-scale Pd-on-magnetite catalyst
(Pd/Fe3O4)41. The catalyst is highly active, magnetically reextractable and can tolerate high organic solvents
concentration; however, it is sensitive to the presence of heavy
metals (Pb, Hg) and sulphides and thus feeds containing these
components need to be pre-treated prior to Pd-catalysed
hydrodehalogenation. Catalytic phenol degradation has been
conducted using β-MnO2 nanowires, prepared by reacting
Mn(NO3)2 and ozone in a hydrothermal process42. These
nanowires could also be readily separated from aqueous phase;
thus the application of this 1D nanostructure in water treatment
is promising. Catalytic oxidation of benzyl alcohol has been
reported using H2O2 as oxidant and zinc hexacyanoferrate
nanocube as catalyst43. Copper oxide nanoparticles with
hydrogen peroxide oxidant resulted in rapid, almost complete
38 Chang, J.H., Yang, T.J., Tung, C.H. (2009) Performance of nano- and
nonnano-catalytic electrodes for decontaminating municipal wastewater
39 Liu, L.F., Zhang, Y., Yang, F.L., Chen, G., Yu, J.C. (2009) Simultaneous
photocatalytic removal of ammonium and nitrite in water using Ce3+-Ag+
modified TiO2 Separation and Purification Technology 67 (2) 244-248
40 Mei, N., Xuguang, L., Jinming, D., Husheng, J., Liqiao, W., Bingshe, X.
(2009) Antibacterial activity of chitosan coated Ag-loaded nano-SiO2
composites Carbohydrate Polymers 78 (1) 54-59
41 Hildebrand, H., Mackenzie, K., Kopinke, F.D. (2009) Pd/Fe3O4 nanocatalysts for selective dehalogenation in wastewater treatment processesInfluence of water constituents Applied Catalysis B, Environmental 91 (1)
389-396
42 Dong, Y., Yang, H., He, K., Song, S., Zhang, A. (2009) β-MnO2
nanowires: A novel ozonation catalyst for water treatment Applied
Catalysis B, Environmental 85 (3) 155-161
43 Ali, S.R., Bansal, V.K., Khan, A.A., Jain, S.K., Ansari, M.A. (2009)
Growth of zinc hexacyanoferrate nanocubes and their potential as
heterogeneous catalyst for solvent-free oxidation of.benzyl alcohol Journal
of Molecular Catalysis. A Chemical 303 (1) 60-64
degradation of the organic compounds alachlor and
phenanthrene44. The degradation was affected by parameters
like oxidant concentration and ionic strength but was
unaffected over a wide pH range.
Electrooxidation of methanol has been conducted using a
composite Pt–CeO2/C catalyst; the catalyst itself was prepared
in a simple and energy efficient one –step microwave assisted
process45. For this application, binary and ternary composite
catalysts of Pd, multiwalled CNTs and Ni have also been
examined; the best results were obtained with Pd–1%
MWCNT–1% Ni combination46. Carbon nanofibers impregnated
with Pt, Pd and Ru catalysts were used for catalytic wet-air
oxidation of a phenol containing aqueous solution in a
continuous-flow trickle-bed reactor47. The results were
inconsistent, with the oxidation of the carbon nanofibers
support occurring under the conditions of this study (180–240
°C and 10.0 bar of oxygen partial pressure). The Pd
impregnated nanofibre was however promising for the thermal
decarboxylation of formic acid in an inert atmosphere. TiO2
masked Fe3O4 comprising nano-sized particles of both the
compounds was investigated for the catalytic oxidation of 1,2dichloro benzene and thermal incineration of catalystembedded polymers48. Catalytic activity for CO oxidation was
enhanced and was attributed to the presence of Fe3O4+δ that
was formed during the coating process; further, incorporation
of the TiO2 masked Fe3O4 particles improved the thermal
stability of the polyethylene and polystyrene polymers during
high temperature fabrication.
A variety of catalysts have been investigated for oxidation of CO,
some of which are described here. A hybrid Pt/TiO2/multi wall
CNT nanomaterial was developed and tested for CO oxidation;
here the CNTs act as support for the anatase TiO2 nanoparticles
44 Ben-Moshe, T., Dror, I., Berkowitz, B. (2009) Oxidation of organic
pollutants in aqueous solutions by nanosized copper oxide catalysts
Applied Catalysis B, Environmental 85 (3) 207-211
45 Zhao, J., Chen, W., Zheng, Y. (2009) Effect of ceria on carbon supported
platinum catalysts for methanol electrooxidation Materials Chemistry &
Physics 113 (2) 591-595
46 Singh, R.N., Singh, A., Anindita (2009) Electrocatalytic activity of binary
and ternary composite films of Pd, MWCNT and Ni, Part II: Methanol
electrooxidation in 1M KOH International Journal of Hydrogen Energy 34
(4) 2052-2057
47 Taboada, C.D., Batista, J., Pintar, A., Levec, J. (2009) Preparation,
characterization and catalytic properties of carbon nanofiber-supported Pt,
Pd, Ru monometallic particles in aqueous-phase reactions (2009) Applied
Catalysis B, Environmental 89 (3) 375-382
48 Choi, J.S., Youn, H.K., Kwak, B.H., Wang, Q., Yang, K.S., Chung, J.S.
(2009) Preparation and characterization of TiO2-masked Fe3O4 nano
particles for enhancing catalytic combustion of 1,2-dichlorobenzene and
incineration of polymer wastes Applied Catalysis B, Environmental 91(1)
210-216
incorporated with well dispersed Pt nanoparticles49. Almost
complete CO to CO2 conversion is reported between 30°C to
100°C which is a significant improvement over the Pt/TiO2
catalyst wherein complete conversion occurs at nearly 150°C.
CO oxidation has also been attempted with CNT-supported Cu
catalysts synthesized by impregnation and the polyol process;
the impregnation method resulted in a product with relatively
lower activation energy . Yet another study employed nonalloyed Pt and Ru electrocatalysts prepared by the polygonal
barrel-sputtering method for CO oxidation50. Gold nanoparticles
deposited on iron oxide–hydroxide support that was prepared
from waste iron ore tailings was capable of around 55%
conversion; the catalyst was inactivated at300°C in the presence
of oxygen51. Photocatalytic oxidation has also been employed on
other gases. For example, acetaldehyde has been oxidized using
TiO2 nano-particles, with and without mechanical blending
with high-silica mordenite zeolite; the blended TiO2 displayed
enhanced reactivity52.
Photocatalytic degradation with visible light has been reported
for microcystin-LR which is a selective inhibitor of protein
phosphatase and is classified as a chemical hazard in drinking
water. The N-F-TiO2 nanoparticle catalyst was prepared for this
purpose by by sol–gel method using a non-ionic
fluorosurfactant (Zonyl FS-300) as pore template and fluorine
dopant and ethylenediamine as nitrogen source53. The highest
degradation was obtained under acidic conditions; further the
performance to superior to that obtained by doping with N or F
alone. TiO2-nano silver composite photocatalyst has been
prepared by acidic peptization of amorphous TiO2 followed by
60Co γ-ray irradiation; this has been tested for the
photocatalytic degradation of methylene blue dye54.
49
Lin, K.N., Liou, W.J., Yang, T.Y., Lin, H.M., Lin, C.K., Chien, S.H., Chen,
W.C., Wu, S.H. (2009) Synthesis of hybrid Pt/TiO2 (anatase)/MWCNTs
nanomaterials by a combined sol-gel and polyol process Diamond &
Related Materials 18 (2) 312-315
50 Inoue, M., Nishimura, T, Akamaru, S., Taguchi, A., Umeda, M., Abe,
T.(2009) CO oxidation on non-alloyed Pt and Ru electrocatalysts prepared
by the polygonal barrel-sputtering method Electrochimica Acta 54 (21)
4764-4771
51 Sakthivel, R., Das, B., Satpati, B., Mishra, B.K. (2009) Gold supported
iron oxide-hydroxide derived from iron ore tailings for CO oxidation
Applied Surface Science 255 (13) 6577-6581
52 Takeuchi, M., Deguchi, J., Hidaka, M., Sakai, S., Woo, K., Choi, P.P.,
Park, J.K., Anpo, M. (2009) Enhancement of the photocatalytic reactivity
of TiO2 nano-particles by a simple mechanical blending with hydrophobic
mordenite (MOR) zeolite Applied Catalysis B, Environmental 89 (3) 406410
53 Pelaez, M., de la Cruz, A.A., Stathatos, E., Falaras, P., Dionysiou, D.D.
(2009) Visible light-activated N-F-codoped TiO2 nanoparticles for the
photocatalytic degradation of microcystin-LR in water Catalysis Today 144
(1) 19-25
54 Wang, J., Zhao, H., Liu, X., Li, X., Xu, P., Han, X. (2009) Formation of
Ag nanoparticles on water-soluble anatase TiO2 clusters and the activation
of photocatalysis Catalysis Communications 10 (7) 1052-1056
Photodegradation of methyl orange has been examined using
holmium-doped TiO2 nanoparticles; the observed enhancement
in photocatalytic activity was ascribed to the synergy created by
large surface area, small crystallite size, lattice distortion and
higher charge imbalance of holmium-doped TiO255 . Methyl
orange degradation has also been investigated using a TiO2/NaHZSM-5 zeolite nano-composite photocatalyst; the reversible
adsorption of the dye by the medium strong acid sites on the
nano-zeolitic support was considered to be responsible for the
enhanced degradation56. Degradation of rhodamine B has been
studied with single crystalline anatase TiO2 nanorods
synthesized in a nonaqueous medium at low temperature57 as
well as with Ag@TiO2 and NiAg@TiO2 nanoparticles58. In both
instances, the photocatalytic activity was superior to that
obtained with TiO2 nanoparticles. TiO2 immobilized on
granular activated carbons has been used for methyl orange
degradation; in this work the composite photocatalyst was
prepared by a novel dip-hydrothermal method using
peroxotitanate as precursor59. The catalyst properties were
affected by the activated carbon porosity and there was a
synergy between activated carbon adsorption and TiO2
photocatalysis. In another study, a stable crosslinked
chitosan/nano-CdS composite catalyst was prepared and used
for the photocatalytic degradation of an azo dye (Congo Red)
under visible light irradiation60. Decolorization was more
effective under acidic conditions; also, it was affected by the
presence of anions like NO3 and Cl-.
Advanced oxidation process can be an attractive option for
water treatment especially when coupled with sunlight for OH
radical generation61. In this context various nano catalysts have
been developed and tested. Photocatalytic disinfection of
55
Shi, J. W., Zheng, J.T., Wu, P. (2009) Preparation, characterization and
photocatalytic activities of holmium-doped titanium dioxide nanoparticles
56 Guo, P., Wang, X., Guo, H. (2009) TiO2/Na-HZSM-5 nano-composite
photocatalyst: Reversible adsorption by acid sites promotes photocatalytic
decomposition Applied Catalysis B, Environmental 90 (3) 677-687
57 Jia, H., Zheng, Z., Zhao, H., Zhang, L., Zou, Z. (2009) Nonaqueous solgel synthesis and growth mechanism of single crystalline TiO2 nanorods
with high photocatalytic activity Materials Research Bulletin 44 (6) 13121316
58 Chuang H-Y / Chen D-H (2009) Fabrication and photocatalytic activities
in visible and UV light regions of Ag@TiO2 and NiAg@TiO2 nanoparticles
Nanotechnology 20 (10) 105704
59 Wang, X., Liu, Y., Hu, Z., Chen, Y., Liu, W., Zhao, G. (2009) Degradation
of methyl orange by composite photocatalysts nano-TiO2 immobilized on
activated carbons of different porosities Journal of Hazardous Materials
169 (1) 1061-1067
60 Zhu, H., Jiang, R., Xiao, L., Chang, Y., Guan, Y., Li, X., Zeng, G. (2009)
Photocatalytic decolorization and degradation of Congo Red on innovative
crosslinked chitosan/nano-CdS composite Journal of Hazardous Materials
169 (1) 933-940
61 Malato, S., Fernandez-Ibanez, P., Maldonado, M.I., Blanco, J., Gernjak,
W. (2009) Decontamination and disinfection of water by solar
photocatalysis: Recent overview and trends Catalysis Today 147 (1) 1-59
potable water has been carried out using immobilised
nanoparticle TiO2 films62. The presence of nitrate and sulphate,
and to a greater extent, humic acid, reportedly had a negative
impact on the disinfection rate. In another study, nano-TiO2,
titania–silica aerogel and nanotextured TiO2 film were
examined for photocatalytic oxidation of trichloroethylene
combined with inactivation of Bacillus subtilis and Escherichia
coli63. The aerogel and film displayed excellent bactericidal
activity; it was concluded that nanoscale chemical and
structural environment influences bactericidal activity.
CNTs and their arrays can be directly employed as high contact
surface catalyst support s. For example, an aligned nanotube
array of controlled thickness has been prepared for this purpose
by catalytic chemical vapour deposition of ferrocene and
toluene mixture64. The same array could also be used as a
removable precursor template in the preparation of β-SiC
ceramic nanoporous membranes. It is now realized that the
quality of CNTs viz. presence of metal or carbonaceous
impurities, homogeneity, structural integrity etc. is an
important aspect in catalytic applications since impurities or
defects can radically alter the catalytic activity65.
Membranes
In an effort to address the water availability and quality issues,
membrane technology is being used extensively for water /
wastewater treatment including desalination. NT applications
in this field continue to focus on improved / novel membrane
materials. In addition to membranes, NT based filtration media
are also being developed and tested. Nylon 6 based ultra-fine
nonwovens produced by electrospinning can be used as HEPA
and ULPA grade filter media66. Nanofibre based enhanced
filtration media for air filtration is commercially available67.
62
Alrousan, D.M.A., Dunlop, P.S.M., McMurray, T.A., Byrne, J.A. (2009)
Photocatalytic inactivation of E. coli in surface water using immobilised
nanoparticle TiO2 films Water Research 43 (1) 47-54
63 Yeung, K.L., Leung, W.K., Yao, N., Cao, S. (2009) Reactivity and
antimicrobial properties of nanostructured titanium dioxide Catalysis
Today 143 (3) 218-224
64 Janowska, I., Hajiesmaili, S., Begin, D., Keller, V., Keller, N., Ledoux,
M.J., Pham-Huu, C. (2009) Macronized aligned carbon nanotubes for use
as catalyst support and ceramic nanoporous membrane template Catalysis
Today 145 (1) 76-84
65 Tessonnier, J.P., Rosenthal, D., Hansen, T.W., Hess, C., Schuster, M.E.,
Blume, R., Girgsdies, F., Pfänder N., Timpe O., Su D.S.,, Schlögl R. (2009)
Analysis of the structure and chemical properties of some commercial
carbon nanostructures Carbon 47 (7) 1779-1798
66 Zhang, S., Shim, W.S., Kim, J. (2009) Design of ultra-fine nonwovens
via electrospinning of Nylon 6: Spinning parameters and filtration
efficiency Materials and Design 30 (9) 3659-3666
67 Wertz, J., Schneiders, I. (2009) Filtration media: Advantages of
nanofibre coating technology Filtration and Separation 46 (4) 18-20
Multi wall CNTs can be used to enhance the tensile strength,
water flux and / or control the pore size of polymer porous
membranes. This has been demonstrated in porous chitosan
membranes incorporating multi wall CNTs, prepared using low
and high molecular weight porogens68. A hollow cylindrical
nanofilter with micrometer length multi wall CNTs was
prepared, characterized and successfully tested for removal of
MS2 viruses69. Nanosilver decorated porous ceramic composites
have been developed and employed in drinking water treatment
application, especially for reducing the coliform load70.
Membranes have also been used as adsorbents e.g. porous
polymethyl methacrylate /Na+–montmorillonite cationexchange membranes synthesized by entrapment method were
tested for adsorption of the dye methyl violet71. Both adsorption
and desorption were significantly high (> 85%) and the
membrane could be regenerated over three consecutive cycles.
In nanoporous membrane filtration applications, membrane
fouling i.e. deposition of the rejected components on the
membrane surface / within the pores, is a major limitation. As
a result of fouling there is a drop in flux (flow rate per unit
membrane area). This necessitates chemical cleaning for flux
restoration. Repeated chemical cleaning is undesirable due to
the corresponding process downtime; further, it reduces the
membrane life span. Thus development of low fouling /
antifouling membrane materials by conventional methods
continues to be an important area of research72, 73. There are
further instances of incorporation of nanomaterials for
imparting antifouling properties. For example, PVDF (poly
vinyledene di fluoride) ultrafiltration membrane modified by
nano-sized alumina displayed lower fouling with various DOC
68
Tang, C., Zhang, Q., Wang, K., Fu, Q., Zhang, C. (2009) Water transport
behavior of chitosan porous membranes containing multi-walled carbon
nanotubes (MWNTs) Journal of Membrane Science 337 (1) 240-247
69 Mostafavi, S.T., Mehrnia, M.R., Rashidi, A.M. (2009) Preparation of
nanofilter from carbon nanotubes for application in virus removal from
water Desalination 238 (1) 271-280
70 Lv, Y., Liu, H., Wang, Z., Liu, S., Hao, L., Sang, Y., Liu, D., Wang J.,
Boughton, R.I. (2009) Silver nanoparticle-decorated porous ceramic
composite for water treatment Journal of Membrane Science 331 (1) 50-56
71 Lin, R.Y., Chen, B.S., Chen, G.L., Wu, J.Y., Chiu, H.C., Suen, S.Y. (2009)
Preparation of porous PMMA/Na+-montmorillonite cation-exchange
membranes for cationic dye adsorption Journal of Membrane Science 326
(1) 117-129
72 Rahimpour, A., Madaeni, S.S. , Jahanshahi, M., Mansourpanah, Y.,
Mortazavian, N. (2009) Development of high performance nano-porous
polyethersulfone ultrafiltration membranes with hydrophilic surface and
superior antifouling properties Applied Surface Science 255 (22) 91669173
73 Rahimpour, A. / Madaeni, S.S. / Shockravi, A. / Ghorbani, S. (2009)
Preparation and characterization of hydrophile nano-porous
polyethersulfone membranes using synthesized poly(sulfoxide-amide) as
additive in the casting solution Journal of Membrane Science 334 (1) 6473
(dissolved organic carbon) fractions present in raw water74.
Tubular nanocomposite Al2O3–PVDF membranes were used for
oily wastewater ultrafiltration; the presence of nano-sized
alumina particles imparted antifouling properties with complete
flux recovery upon chemical cleaning75. It is interesting to note
that industrial alliances are taking place along similar lines viz.
between Pentair Inc (a water treatment and storage specialist)
with Nano Terra Inc (with expertise in surface engineering and
nanotechnology)76. In another work, reduced protein
adsorption (and consequently lower fouling) was reported with
ultrafiltration membranes based on blends of polysulfone and
functionalized multi-walled CNTs containing isocyanate and
isophthaloyl chloride groups77. The membranes were prepared
by the conventional phase inversion method and the CNT
content influenced the membrane properties like water flux,
surface hydrophilicity, pore size and structure.
Nanocomposite membranes are increasingly being investigated
for pervaporation and gas separation applications as well.
Separation of water- ethanol mixture was accomplished using
PDMS (polydimethylsiloxane) membranes containing
polyphosphazene nanotubes78. The permeate flux and
separation factor increased with decreasing nanotube diameter;
also the separation was superior to that obtained with PDMS
membrane. Matrimid® membranes incorporating sub-nano size
β-cyclodextrin (β-CD) exhibit enhanced separation in
isopropanol dehydration; this is attributed to the unique
hydrophilic exterior and interior cavity structure of the β-CD
molecules and creation of additional interface channels due to
its interaction with the polymer matrix79. Hybrid
polyvinylchloride-clay membranes have been synthesized and
used for the pervaporation separation of aromatic-alkane
(toluene–n–Heptane) mixtures80. Depending upon the clay
74
Ji-xiang Y., Wen-xin, S., Shui-li, Y., Yan, L. (2009) Influence of DOC on
fouling of a PVDF ultrafiltration membrane modified by nano-sized
alumina Desalination 239 (1) 29-37
75 Yan, L., Hong, S., Li, M.L., Li, Y.S. (2009) Application of the Al2O3–
PVDF nanocomposite tubular ultrafiltration (UF) membrane for oily
wastewater treatment and its antifouling research Separation and
Purification Technology 66 (2) 347-352
76 http://www.filtsep.com/view/991/pentair-inc-and-nano-terra-incannounce-strategic-alliance/ accessed on 15 October 2009
77 Qiu, S., Wu, L., Pan, X., Zhang, L., Chen, H., Gao, C. (2009) Preparation
and properties of functionalized carbon nanotube/PSF blend
ultrafiltration membranes Journal of Membrane Science 342 (1) 165-172
78 Huang, Y., Zhang, P., Fu, J., Zhou, Y., Huang, X., Tang, X. (2009)
Pervaporation of ethanol aqueous solution by
polydimethylsiloxane/polyphosphazene nanotube nanocomposite
membranes Journal of Membrane Science 339 (1) 85-92
79 Jiang, L.Y., Chung, T.S. (2009) β-Cyclodextrin containing Matrimid(R)
sub-nanocomposite membranes for pervaporation application Journal of
Membrane Science 327 (1) 216-225
80 Aouinti, L., Roizard, D., Hu, G.H., Thomas, F., Belbachir, M. (2009)
Investigation of pervaporation hybrid polyvinylchloride membranes for
properties, the membrane could be customized to act either as a
barrier material or as an enhanced flux toluene selective
membrane.
Membrane crosslinking which is done to improve the physical
and chemical stability typically has the unwanted effect of
decreasing membrane permeability; this can be overcome by
nanoparticles incorporation. For example in the case of poly(4methyl-2-pentyne) crosslinked using 4,4′(hexafluoroisopropylidene) diphenyl azide (HFBAA) gas
permeability was increased by addition of nanoparticles like FS,
TiO2; in addition, improved selectivity was reported for
separation of various binary gas mixtures (O2/N2, H2/N2,
CO2/N2, CO2/CH4 and H2/CH4)81. Permeability of various gases
(CO2, CH4 and N2) was tested using polybenzimidazole
membranes with embedded silica nano particles prepared by
thermal phase inversion method82. An increase in the nano silica
content resulted in increase in CO2 and CH4 permeability but
that of N2 decreased significantly. A nanoporous Pd membrane
with high H2 selectivity was developed by electroless plating on
the surface of a porous stainless steel disk modified with WO383.
The permeability also did not decrease with time.
Nanocomposite membranes with high reverse selectivity in the
separation of small hydrocarbon (propane) from a light gas
(nitrogen) have been developed by incorporating dendrimers
(with high solubility for the heavy component) on mesoporous
ceramic scaffold (to maintain high free volume)84.
Polyamide nanocomposite membrane containing silica
nanoparticles was prepared using porous polysulfone support
material for reverse osmosis application85. The average pore
radii, depending upon silica content, was between 0.34- 0.73
nm. The presence of nano-silica imparts thermal stability;
further, flux and separation efficiency for organic solutes and
sodium chloride are improved.
the separation of toluene–n-heptane mixtures — case of clays as filler
Desalination 241 (1) 174-181
81 Shao, L., Samseth, J., Hagg, M.B. (2009) Crosslinking and stabilization
of nanoparticle filled PMP nanocomposite membranes for gas separations
Journal of Membrane Science 326 (2) 285-292
82 Sadeghi, M., Semsarzadeh, M.A., Moadel, H. (2009) Enhancement of the
gas separation properties of polybenzimidazole (PBI) membrane by
incorporation of silica nanoparticles Journal of Membrane Science 331 (1)
21-30
83 Zahedi, M., Afra, B., Dehghani-Mobarake, M., Bahmani, M. (2009)
Preparation of a Pd membrane on a WO3 modified Porous Stainless Steel
for hydrogen separation Journal of Membrane Science 333 (1) 45-49
84 Yoo, S., Yeu, S., Sherman, R.L., Simanek, E.E., Shantz, D.F., Ford, D.M.
(2009) Reverse-selective membranes formed by dendrimers on
mesoporous ceramic supports Journal of Membrane Science 334 (1) 16-22
85 Jadav, G.L., Singh, P.S. (2009) Synthesis of novel silica-polyamide
nanocomposite membrane with enhanced properties Journal of
Membrane Science 328 (1) 257-267
Others
In addition to the above, multifunctional nanomaterials have
been explored for environmental applications. An example is
mesoporous potassium-intercalated layered titanate prepared
by reassembly of exfoliated titanate nanosheets and potassium
cations86. This material is capable of functioning both as a
photocatalyst as well as an adsorbent and was successfully
tested for the photodegradation of methylene blue and
adsorption of CO2. In another instance, anatase TiO2 nanofibre
membrane prepared by electrospinning followed by annealing
was reported to display enhanced photocatalytic efficiency
(72%), compared to that of anatase TiO2 thin film (44%)87. The
improvement was attributed to the large specific surface area of
the nanofibre membranes.
Combining various functions, a variety of nano based sensors
have been reported. Based on enhanced
electrochemiluminescence of CdTe quantum dots using CNT
modified glass carbon electrode, a highly sensitive method for
the determination of methimazole, a drug used for
hyperthyroidism, is reported88. TiO2-coated piezoelectric quartz
crystal electrode with photodeposited nano-Ag was used to
develop a biosensor for detection of E. coli cells; detection levels
of up to 8 cells /100 mL could be obtained89. Single-walled CNT
aggregates are reported to be a good adsorbent for Bacillus
subtilis spores90; thus they can be used for concentrating and
removal of pathogens as well as in biosensors for detection of
this contaminant. Detection of multiple metal ions viz. Zn (II),
Cd (II) and Pb (II) in water samples has been done by a process
involving simultaneous preconcentration/reduction of metal
ions onto a multiwall CNT electrode followed by chemical
stripping91. The results were comparable to that obtained with
atomic absorption spectroscopy; this work also demonstrates
the use of CNTs in potentiometric stripping analysis. Further,
86
Kim, T.W., Kim, I.Y., Im, J.H., Ha, H.W., Hwang, S.J. (2009) Improved
photocatalytic activity and adsorption ability of mesoporous potassiumintercalated layered titanate Journal of Photochemistry & Photobiology, A:
Chemistry 205 (2) 173-178
87 Zhang, X., Xu, S., Han, G. (2009) Fabrication and photocatalytic activity
of TiO2 nanofiber membrane Materials Letters 63 (21) 1761-1763
88 Hua, L., Han, H., Chen, H. (2009) Enhanced electrochemiluminescence
of CdTe quantum dots with carbon nanotube film and its sensing of
methimazole Electrochimica Acta 54 (5) 1389-1394
89 Sun, H., Choy, T.S., Zhu, D.R., Yam, W.C., Fung, Y.S. (2009) Nanosilver-modified PQC/DNA biosensor for detecting E. coli in environmental
water Biosensors and Bioelectronics 24 (5) 1405-1410
90 Upadhyayula, V.K.K., Deng, S., Smith, G.B., Mitchell, M.C. (2009)
Adsorption of Bacillus subtilis on single-walled carbon nanotube
aggregates, activated carbon and NanoCeram(TM) Water Research 43 (1)
148-156
91 Tarley, C.R.T., Santos, V.S., Baeta, B.E.L., Pereira, A.C., Kubota, L.T.
(2009) Simultaneous determination of zinc, cadmium and lead in
environmental water samples by potentiometric stripping analysis using
multiwalled carbon nanotube electrode Journal of Hazardous Materials
169 (1) 256-262
environment responsive nano materials such as acid
functionalised polyaniline nanofibres which are redox active
and possess optical switching capability can be employed in
adaptive sensing applications92.
Metal–CNT hybrids prepared by incorporating transition
metals (Ti, Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, Pd or Pt) in single wall CNTs were
used as the active sensing layer for ethanol vapor detection at
room temperature93. KCl-doped ZnO nanofibers screen-printed
on a ceramic substrate with a pair of Ag–Pd interdigitated
electrodes have been used for humidity sensing94. Detection of
up to 0.05% sulphur dioxide (SO2) gas has been reported using
a field effect transistor comprising a network of single walled
CNTs with a synthetic receptor95. The receptor for SO2 binding
is square-planar NCN-pincer platinum (II) complex (N,C,N_terdentate coordinating monoanionic [C6H3(CH2NMe2)3-2,6]−
ligand). Conductive polymer composite transducers based on
CNT grafted poly(ε-caprolactone) has been reported for sensing
of vapours (water, methanol, toluene, tetrahydrofuran and
chloroform)96. A nano-CeO2 based gas sensor has been tested for
detection of carbon disulfide (CS2); this is based on
chemiluminescence emission when CS2 comes in contact with
nano-CeO297. Under optimal conditions, CS2 detection limit of
3.7 ng mL−1 was reported; also the sensor performance was not
noticeably affected by contaminants such as alcohol, aldehyde
etc. High performance optical chemo-sensors for detection of
VOCs (volatile organic compounds) have been developed using
cadmium arachidate-single-walled CNT composites placed on
optical fibers by the Langmuir–Blodgett deposition technique98.
Compared to use of single walled CNT alone, the nano
composite coating improved the robustness and the sensitivity
of the sensors.
92
Lahiff, E., Woods, T., Blau, W., Wallace, G.G., Diamond, D. (2009)
Synthesis and characterisation of controllably functionalised polyaniline
nanofibres Synthetic Metals 159 (7) 741-748
93 Brahim S., Colbern S., Gump R., Moser A., Grigorian L (2009) Carbon
nanotube-based ethanol sensors Nanotechnology 20 (23) 235502
94 Qi, Q., Zhang, T., Wang, S., Zheng, X. (2009) Humidity sensing
properties of KCl-doped ZnO nanofibers with super-rapid response and
recovery Sensors & Actuators: B. Chemical 137 (2) 649-655
95 Cid, C.C., Jimenez-Cadena, G., Riu, J. , Maroto, A. , Xavier Rius, F. ,
Batema, G.D. , van Koten, G. , Selective detection of SO2 at room
temperature based on organoplatinum functionalized single-walled carbon
nanotube field effect transistors Sensors & Actuators: B. Chemical 141 (1)
97-103
96 Castro, M., Lu, J., Bruzaud, S., Kumar, B., Feller, J.F. (2009) Carbon
nanotubes/poly(ε-caprolactone) composite vapour sensors Carbon 47 (8)
1930-1942
97 Xuan, Y., Hu, J., Xu, K., Hou, X., Lv, Y. (2009) Development of sensitive
carbon disulfide sensor by using its cataluminescence on nanosized-CeO2
Sensors & Actuators: B. Chemical 136 (1) 218-223
98 Consales, M., Crescitelli, A., Penza, M., Aversa, P., Veneri, P.D.,
Giordano, M., Cusano, A. (2009) CNT nano-composite optical sensors for
VOC and gas trace detection Sensors & Actuators: B. Chemical 138 (1) 351361
Integrated processes employing nanomaterials have also been
explored. For example, combined photocatalyticelectrochemical degradation of the commercial dye Basic Blue
26 was conducted using TiO2 nanoparticles immobilized on a
glass substrate99. The enhanced degradation compared to that
with photocatalysis alone was attributed to the formation of
hydroxyl radicals (OH) in the electrochemical system. The
process was also studied for the degradation of acid orange 7, an
azo dye, using high density uniform arrays of aligned titania
nanotubes100. A considerable synergistic effect was observed by
combining photocatalysis with electrochemical treatment. For
oxygen reduction in acid medium, an electrocatalytic system
integrating multi-walled CNTs, cobalt porphyrin and tungsten
oxide in the film coated onto the glassy carbon electrode
substrate has been developed101. TiO2/multi-walled CNT
composites deposited onto indium tin oxide conductive glass
plates were used for the electro-photocatalytic degradation of
phenol102. The effect of operation parameters like applied
potential and pH was examined for this application; best results
were obtained with TiO2 doped with 10% CNTs and calcined at
400 ◦C. Electrocatalytic oxidation of H2O2 has also been
reported using nano TiO2–Au–KI film on a glassy carbon and
indium tin oxide electrode103. Another scheme integrates
sonication and catalysis as shown in the sonocatalytic
degradation of the dye Acid Red B using nano sized ZnO powder
and various inorganic oxidants (KClO4 > KClO3 > Ca(ClO)2)104.
99
Kim, C., Kim, J.T., Kim, K.S., Jeong, S., Kim, H.Y., Han, Y.S. (2009)
Immobilization of TiO2 on an ITO substrate to facilitate the
photoelectrochemical degradation of an organic dye pollutant
Electrochimica Acta 54 (24) 5715-5720
100 Hou, Y., Li, X., Liu, P., Zou, X., Chen, G., Yue, P.L. (2009) Fabrication
and photo-electrocatalytic properties of highly oriented titania nanotube
arrays with {101} crystal face Separation and Purification Technology 67
(2) 135-140
101 Dembinska, B., Kulesza, P.J. (2009) Multi-walled carbon nanotubesupported tungsten oxide-containing multifunctional hybrid
electrocatalytic system for oxygen reduction in acid medium
Electrochimica Acta 54 (20) 4682-4687
102 Chen, L.C., Ho, Y.C., Guo, W.S., Huang, C.M., Pan, T.C. (2009) ,
Enhanced visible light-induced photoelectrocatalytic degradation of
phenol by carbon nanotube-doped TiO2 electrodes Electrochimica Acta,
54 (15) 3884-3891
103 Thiagarajan, S., Su, B.W., Chen, S.M. (2009) Nano TiO2-Au-KI film
sensor for the electrocatalytic oxidation of hydrogen peroxide Sensors &
Actuators: B. Chemical 136 (2) 464-471
104 Wang, J., Jiang, Z., Zhang, Z., Xie, Y., Lv, Y., Li, J., Deng, Y., Zhang, X.
(2009) Study on inorganic oxidants assisted sonocatalytic degradation of
Acid Red B in presence of nano-sized ZnO powder Separation and
Energy applications
Adsorbents
Research on carbon nanotube (CNT) related materials for
hydrogen storage have focused on modifications for improved
storage and ambient temperature storage. To overcome the
theoretical limit of hydrogen storage in pure CNT due to weak
Van Der Waals forces, coating of aluminium hydride on single
wall CNT (SWCNT) has been examined. These showed a
hydrogen storage capacity of 8.3 wt% with half coverage105.
Similarly, borane covered SWCNT has also been studied and it
showed storage capacity of 6.8 wt% for half coverage106.
Impregnated CNTs have also been prepared and characterised.
Nano TiO2 impregnated CNT showed a five fold increase in
hydrogen storage capacity compared to pure CNT at room
temperature107. The hydrogen storage capacity in silver
modified CNT showed a 40% increase compared to pure CNT108.
Other additives such as Pt-Pd109, also showed improvement in
hydrogen storage capacity. The hydrogen storage capacity
could also be increased by changing the microstructure and
crystallinity by heat treatment in ammonia atmosphere110.
Novel adsorbent based on porous carbon monoliths from corn
grain have been studied for hydrogen adsorption. These were
found to have adsorption capacities similar to superactivated
carbon111. New ways to synthesize microporous carbon for
hydrogen storage has been reported by combining template
method and chemical activation. The carbons had surface area
of more than 3000 m2/g and good cryogenic hydrogen
adsorption112. Molecular dynamics simulation and experimental
105 Iyakutti K, Kawazoe Y, Rajarajeswari M, Surya V J (2009) Aluminum
hydride coated single-walled carbon nanotube as a hydrogen storage
medium International Journal of Hydrogen Energy 34 (1) 370-375
106 Surya V J, Iyakutti K, Rajarajeswari M, Kawazoe Y (2009)
Functionalization of single-walled carbon nanotube with borane for
hydrogen storage Physica E: Low-dimensional Systems and
Nanostructures 41 (7) 1340-1346
107 Rather S U, Mehraj-ud-din N, Zacharia R, Hwang S W, Kim A R, Nahm
K S (2009) Hydrogen storage of nanostructured TiO2-impregnated carbon
nanotubes International Journal of Hydrogen Energy 34 (2) 961-966
108 Rather S U, Naik M u d, Hwang S W, Kim A R, Nahm K S (2009) Room
temperature hydrogen uptake of carbon nanotubes promoted by silver
metal catalyst Journal of Alloys and Compounds 475 (1) L17-L21
109 Hwang S W, Rather S u, Naik M u d, Soo C S, Nahm K S (2009)
Hydrogen uptake of multiwalled carbon nanotubes decorated with Pt-Pd
alloy using thermal vapour deposition method Journal of Alloys and
Compounds 480 (2) L20-L24
110 Lin K Y, Chang J K, Chen C Y. Tsai W T (2009) Effects of heat treatment
on materials characteristics and hydrogen storage capability of multi-wall
carbon nanotubes Diamond & Related Materials 18 (2) 553-556
111 Balathanigaimani M S, Shim W G, Kim T H, Cho S J, Lee J W, Moon H
(2009) Hydrogen storage on highly porous novel corn grain-based carbon
monoliths Catalysis Today 146 (1) 234-240
112 Meisner G P, Hu O (2009) High surface area microporous carbon
materials for cryogenic hydrogen storage synthesized using new templatebased and activation-based approaches Nanotechnology 20 (20) 2040239
studies on hydrogen storage in nanoporous carbons have shown
that narrow pores have higher binding energy than wider pores.
Thus storage capacities can be increased by tailoring the pores
of the carbon113. By chemical vapour deposition of carbon on Pt
impregnated zeolite, Yang et. al., have prepared microporous
carbon molecular sieves with Pt dispersion. These sieves
showed high surface area and good hydrogen capacity114.
Catalysts
Nano catalyst based on Ni-La-Fe on gamma alumina was
developed for biomass steam gasification. The presence of the
catalyst led to increase in hydrogen production and up to 99%
efficiency in tar removal115. Magnetic nano alloys based on the
system Fe1-xNix have been developed and were found to have
high catalytic activity similar to Pt for hydrogen generation from
NH3BH3 solution. Such catalysts are expected to be suitable
for energy related applications such as fuel cells, batteries,
electrochemical sensors116. Nano catalysts have also been used
for photocatalytic hydrogen production where they offer
optimum light absorption and efficiency117.
Many studies have been reported related to fuel cells.
Immobilization of Pt on carbon nanospheres has been achieved
by functionalization of carbon with triethylenetetramine and
coordination of Pt to the polymer chains. These catalysts
showed greater activity for methanol oxidation compared to
commercial catalysts118. Carbon cloth electrodes of microbial
fuel cells showed improved performance on being modified with
carbon nanotube119. Another catalyst that has been reported for
fuel cell applications is based on the Pt-Sn system prepared
using controlled surface reaction. This catalyst was found to be
113
Burress J, Kraus M, Beckner M, Cepel R, Suppes G, Wexler C, Pfeifer P
(2009) Hydrogen storage in engineered carbon nanospaces
114 Yang Y X, Bourgeois L, Zhao C, Zhao D, Chaffee A, Webley P A (2009)
Ordered micro-porous carbon molecular sieves containing well-dispersed
platinum nanoparticles for hydrogen storage Microporous and
Mesoporous Materials 119 (1) 39-46
115 Li J, Xiao B, Yan R, Xu X (2009) Development of a supported trimetallic catalyst and evaluation of the catalytic activity in biomass steam
gasification Bioresource Technology 100 (21) 5295-5300
116 Yan J M, Zhang X B, Han S, Shioyama H, Xu Q (2009) Magnetically
recyclable Fe–Ni alloy catalyzed dehydrogenation of ammonia borane in
aqueous solution under ambient atmosphere Journal of Power Sources,
194 (1) 478-481
117 Zhu J, Zäch M (2009) Nanostructured materials for photocatalytic
hydrogen production Current Opinion in Colloid & Interface Science 14 (4)
260-269
118 Kuo P L, Chen W F, Lin C Y (2009) Multichelate-functionalized carbon
nanospheres used for immobilizing Pt catalysts for fuel cells Journal of
Power Sources 194 (1) 234-242
119 Tsai H Y, Wu C C, Lee C Y, Shih E P (2009) Microbial fuel cell
performance of multiwall carbon nanotubes on carbon cloth as electrodes
Journal of Power Sources 194 (1) 199-205
effective for ethanol electrooxidation120. Nitrogen incorporated
iron impregnated CNT carpet was applied on polyelectrolyte for
novel membrane electrode assembly for fuel cells121. Fullerene
nanofibre loaded with Pt has also been used as an electrode for
direct methanol fuel cells and gave improved performance122.
Pd supported on MWCNT has been developed as anode
catalysts for direct alcohol fuel cells to substitute expensive Pt
and provide good dispersion in a conducting support. These
catalysts tested with membrane electrode assemblies showed
very good activity compared to Pt-Ru supported on multi wall
CNT (MWCNT)123. Ru deposited Pt catalyst for fuel cell using a
method yielding uniform sized Ru has been reported124.
Reduction of Pt amount in the electrocatalyst has also been
done by using Co-Pt and anatase on MWCNT support. In the
presence of Co, it was found the Pt surface area and activity
increased in spite of lower Pt amount125. PtVFe catalysts
supported on carbon showed very good performance compared
to commercial Pt-carbon catalyst in PEM fuel cell126. For the
fuel cell cathode catalyst, nano silica has been added to improve
water wettability. This improved electrode performance
particularly at low humidity127.
Novel support materials for polymer electrolyte membrane
(PEM) fuel cells are also being examined in the recent years and
120 Garcia-Rodriguez S, Somodi F, Borbath I, Margitfalvi J L, Pena M A
Fierro J L G, Rojas S (2009) Controlled synthesis of Pt-Sn/C fuel cell
catalysts with exclusive Sn-Pt interaction Applied Catalysis B,
Environmental 91 (1) 83-91, Sep 2009
121 Prehn K, Warburg A, Schilling T, Bron M, Schulte K (2009) Towards
nitrogen-containing CNTs for fuel cell electrodes Composites Science and
Technology 69 (10) 1570-1579
122 Wang Q, Zhang Y, Miyazawa K, Kato R, Hotta K, Wakahara T (2009)
Improved fullerene nanofiber electrodes used in direct methanol fuel cells
Journal of Physics: Conference Series 159 (1) 012023
123 Bambagioni V, Bianchini C, Marchionni A, Filippi J, Vizza F, Teddy J,
Serp P, Zhiani M (2009) Pd and Pt–Ru anode electrocatalysts supported
on multi-walled carbon nanotubes and their use in passive and active
direct alcohol fuel cells with an anion-exchange membrane (alcohol =
methanol, ethanol, glycerol) Journal of Power Sources 190 (2) 241-251
124 Zhu A L, Teo M Y, Kulinich S A (2009) A novel improvement on nanodeposition of Ru on Pt for fuel cell applications Applied Catalysis A,
General 352 (1) 17-26
125 Paunovic P, Radev I, Dimitrov AT, Popovski O, Lefterova E, Slavcheva
E, Jordanov SH (2009) New nano-structured and interactive supported
composite electrocatalysts for hydrogen evolution with partially replaced
platinum loading International Journal of Hydrogen Energy 34 (7) 28662873
126 Fang B, Luo J, Njoki P N, Loukrakpam R, Mott D, Wanjala B, Hu X,
Zhong C J (2009) Nanostructured PtVFe catalysts: Electrocatalytic
performance in proton exchange membrane fuel cells Electrochemistry
Communications 11 (6) 1139-1141
127 Zhu A L, Teo M Y, Kulinich SA (2009) A novel improvement on nanodeposition of Ru on Pt for fuel cell applications Applied Catalysis A,
General 352 (1) 17-26
reviewed in 2009128,129. These include doped diamonds, oxides,
carbides which are conductive and various nano carbon
structures. These can potentially avoid the corrosion problem
associated with carbon black supports. However, ceramic
supports have issues of lower surface area which results in poor
metal dispersion and low electrochemical activity. Therefore
research on high surface area ceramic supports and further
testing of these supports is required.
Several nano catalysts have been developed for bio diesel
application. Zeolite supported oxide catalysts (ZnO-Al2O3,
SnO-Al2O3) have been tested with sodium impregnation to
investigate its effect on transesterification of soybean oil using
methanol130. Nano gamma alumina impregnate with KF was
used for transesterification of vegetable oil with methanol.
Under optimised preparation and reaction conditions high bio
diesel yield was obtained and attributed to high surface area to
volume ratio of the nano catalyst131.
Membranes
Many studies on membranes for fuel cells have been reported.
Modified nafion membranes have been developed for direct
methanol fuel cells (DMFC). The membrane was modified with
nano TiO2 particles in the anatase form. These modified
membranes had reduced methanol crossover and increased
power132. Nafion has also been modified by CNT-metal (Pt, Fe)clay composites. This offered better mechanical properties, self
humidifying ability and barrier resistance133. Nano composite
membrane comprising of nafion-silica-phosphotungstic acid
has been prepared using sol gel synthesis. Fuel cell tests with
this membrane showed higher current density compared to
nafion membrane134. Nanocomposite, prepared by selfassembly of Sumecton SA (a synthetic saponite-like clay) with
128 Shao Y, Liu J, Wang Y, Lin Y (2009) Novel catalyst support materials
for PEM fuel cells: current status and future prospects J. Mater. Chem 19
46 - 59
129 Antolini E, Gonzalez E R (2009) Ceramic materials as supports for lowtemperature fuel cell catalysts Solid State Ionics 180 (9-10) 746-763
130 Kim M, Yan S, Salley S O, Ng K Y S (2009) The effect of sodium on the
catalytic activity of ZnO–Al2O3/ZSM-5 and SnO–Al2O3/ZSM-5 for the
transesterification of vegetable oil with methanol Catalysis
131 Boz N, Degirmenbasi N, Kalyon D M (2009) Conversion of biomass to
fuel: Transesterification of vegetable oil to biodiesel using KF loaded nanoγ-Al2O3 as catalyst Applied Catalysis B, Environmental 89 (3) 590-596
132 Tuan N , Nha N T, Tuyen N H (2009) Low-temperature synthesis of
nano-TiO2 anatase on nafion membrane for using on DMFC Journal of
Physics: Conference Series 187 (1) 012040
133 Li M K S, Gao P, Yue P L, Hu X (2009) Synthesis of exfoliated CNTmetal-clay nanocomposite by chemical vapor deposition Separation and
134 Mahreni A, Mohamad A B, Kadhum A A H, Daud W R W, Iyuke S E
(2009) Nafion/silicon oxide/phosphotungstic acid nanocomposite
membrane with enhanced proton conductivity Journal of Membrane
Science 327 (1)32-40
12-phosphotungstic acid heteropolyacid, and blended with
chemically modified styrene/ethylene-co-butylene/styrene
block copolymer has also been developed for PEM fuel cell135.
Nano particles have also been incorporated in other
applications. Ni nano dots have been added to amorphous silica
membranes for hydrogen separation at high temperature136.
Plybenzimidazole membrane has been modified with silica nano
particles for gas separation applications. Addition of silica
increased the CO2 permeability and its selectivity over
nitrogen137. Carbon – MWCNT composite gas separation layer
on alumina support was prepared by pyrolyzing MWCNT
containing polyimide. Incorporation of MWCNT led to
improvement in CO2/N2 separation factor138.
Solar Photovoltaic applications
Nanotechnology has been used in solar photovoltaic (PV)
applications to improve efficiency and reduce cost.
Nanomaterials have been used in the next generation solar cells
such as organic, thin film, dye sensitized and hybrid ones.
Examples of nanotechnology based interventions include
photovoltaic cells and organic light-emitting devices based on
quantum dots as well as carbon nanotubes in composite film
coatings for solar cells. Increase in efficiency in the conventional
Si cells is also achieved by introducing nanomaterial based
antireflection layers for higher light yield. The recent
developments in the use of nanotechnology for this application
are summarized below.
Organic solar cells from nano thin film polymers comprising
phenylenevinylene (PV) and p-phenyleneethylene (PE) have
been prepared139. Hybrid solar cells using polymeric layer
covered with a thin film of nanocrystal PbSe has been developed
to increase efficiency and protect the polymeric layer from UV
135
Vuillaume P Y, Mokrini A, Siu A, Theberge K, Robitaille L (2009)
Heteropolyacid / saponite-like clay complexes and their blends in
amphiphilic SEBS European Polymer Journal 45 (6) 1641-1651
136 Kenta Y, Yumi H I, Seiji T, Tsukasa H, Tomohiro S, Shogo S, Nobuo T,
Pratibha L G (2009) The three-dimensional morphology of nickel
nanodots in amorphous silica and their role in high-temperature
permselectivity for hydrogen separation, Nanotechnology 20 (31) 315703
137 Sadeghi M, Semsarzadeh M A, Moadel H (2009) Enhancement of the
gas separation properties of polybenzimidazole (PBI) membrane by
incorporation of silica nano particles Journal of Membrane Science 331 (1)
21-30
138 Tseng H H, Kumar I A, Weng T H, Lu CY, Wey M Y (2009) Preparation
and characterization of carbon molecular sieve membranes for gas
separation—the effect of incorporated multi-wall carbon nanotubes
Desalination 240 (1) 40-45
139 Tung N T, Nghia N D (2009) Preparation of nano-thin films from
conducting polymer by chemical vapor deposition method and its
application for light emitting diodes (LED) and organic solar cells Journal
of Physics: Conference Series 187 (1) 012006
radiation140. Film of oxidised single wall or multi wall CNT has
been coated on indium tin oxide electrode for hole extraction in
organic solar cells141. The metallic anode has been substituted
by nano TiO2 – G PEDOT (glycerol modified poly(3,4ethylenedioxythiophene)) film due to the simplicity of making
polymeric anodes using film forming techniques142. Quantum
dots and CNTs have been added to improve performance of
polymeric solar cells143.
Nano thin film solar cells based on CdS/copper indium
diselenide (CIS or CuInSe2) and Cu2S/CdS solar cells have been
studied to increase band gap and efficiency144. Nano CdS belts
have been used for Schottky junction PV devices145.
The first dye sensitised nanostructured solar cell which was
based on colloidal titanium dioxide films was introduced in
1991146. These films were sandwiched between a transparent
electrode acting as anode, which is based on a conducting glass,
and a platinum electrode, which acts as a catalytic conductor.
An electrolyte placed between the film and the platinum
electrode carries the electrons. In these cells, most of the light
absorption takes place in dye molecules. Since the invention,
dye-sensitized nanocrystalline solar cells have been fabricated
from nanoparticles of several
semiconductors147,148,149,150,151,152,153,154and different architectures
140 Kim S J, Kim W J, Cartwright A N, Prasad P N (2009) Self-Passivating
hybrid (organic/inorganic) tandem solar cell Solar Energy Materials and
Solar Cells 93 (5) 657-661
141 Hatton R A, Blanchard N P, Tan L W, Latini G, Cacialli F, Silva S R P
(2009) Oxidised carbon nanotubes as solution processable, high work
function hole-extraction layers for organic solar cells Organic Electronics
10 (3) 388-395
142 Xie F X, Liang C J, He Z Q, Tao Y L (2008) Polymer Photovoltaic Cell
Using TiO2/G-PEDOT Nanocomplex Film as Electrode International
Journal of Photoenergy 2008 1-7
143 Landi B J, Castro S L, Ruf H J, Evans C M, Bailey S G, Raffaelle R P
(2005) CdSe quantum dot-single wall carbon nanotube complexes for
polymeric solar cells Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells 87 (1) 733-746
144 Visweswaran J (2005) Fabrication and Characterization of CIS/CdS and
Cu2S/CdS Devices for Applications in Nano Structured Solar Cells,
Masters thesis, University of Kentucky, USA
145 Ye Y, Dai L, Wu P C, Liu C, Sun T, Ma R M, Qin G G (2009) Schottky
junction photovoltaic devices based on CdS single nanobelts
146 O’Regan B, Gratzel M. A (1991) low-cost, high-efficiency solar cell based
on dyesensitized colloidal TiO2 films. Nature; 353:737–40.
147 Corma A, Atienzar P, Garcia H, Chane-Ching JY. (2004) Hierarchically
mesostructureddoped CeO2 with potential for solar-cell use Nat Mater;
3:394–7
148 Singh RS, Rangari VK, Sanagapalli S, Jayaraman V, Mahendra S, Singh
VP. (2004) Nano-structured CdTe, CdS and TiO2 for thin film solar cell
applications. Sol Energy Sol Cells; 82:315–30
149 Singh VP, Singh RS, Thompson GW, Jayaraman V, Sanagapalli S,
Rangari VK. (2004) Characteristics of nanocrystalline CdS films fabricated
by sonochemical, microwave and solution growth methods for solar cell
applications. Sol Energy Mater Sol Cells;81:293–303
such as nanotubes, photonic crystals or photonic sponges
instead of nanoparticles155,156, which considerably increase their
efficiency. Polymer gel electrodes with nano TiO2 as filler have
been prepared for dye sensitized solar cells (DSSC)157. Oxygen
plasma treated nano TiO2 film increased the efficiency of DSSC
by reducing oxygen vacancy and improving electron
transport158. Coating a film of TiO2-nano Au or Ag on the
working electrode also improved the efficiency159. DSSCs based
on nano ZnO for holding the dye and ionic liquid gel have been
developed160. Composite electrodes have been developed for dye
sensitized solar cells comprising of graphite and CNT. This
composite electrode was found to have better performance and
lower resistance and cost compared to conductive glass
electrodes161. Counter electrode made of SWCNT film as well as
MWCNT film have been used in dye sensitized solar cell162,163.
The solution based colloidal route to making nanoparticles is
150 Mathew X, Enriquez JP, Sebastian PJ, McClure JC, Singh VP. (2000)
Charge transport mechanism in a typical Au/CdTe Schottky diode. Sol
Energy Mater Sol Cells; 63:355–65
151 Making cheaper solar cells. Technology review. MIT; 2007
152 Neale NR, Frank AJ. (2007) Size and shape control of nanocrystallites
in mesoporous TiO2 films J Mater Chem;17:3216–21
153 Katoh R, Furube A, Kasuya M, Fuke N, Koide N, Han L. (2007)
Photoinduced electron injection in black dye sensitized nanocrystalline
TiO2 films J Mater Chem;17:3190–6
154 Rodriguez I, Ramiro-Manzano F, Atienzar P, Martinez JM, Meseguer F,
Garcia H, et al. (2007) Solar energy harvesting in photoelectrochemical
solar cells. J Mater Chem;17:3205–9
155 Ramiro-Manzano F, Atienzar P, Rodriguez I, Meseguer F, Garcia H,
Corma A. (2007) Apollony photonic sponge based photoelectrochemical
solar cells Chem Commun;3:242–4
156 Rodriguez I, Atienzar P, Ramiro-Manzano F, Meseguer F, Corma A,
Garcia H. (2005) Photonic crystals for applications in
photoelectrochemical processes: photoelectrochemical solar cells with
inverse opal topology Photonics Nanostruct;3:148–54
157 Kang M S, Ahn KS, Lee J W (2008) Quasi-solid-state dye-sensitized
solar cells employing ternary component polymer-gel electrolytes Journal
of Power Sources 180 (2) 896-901
158 Kim Y, Yoo B J, Vittal R, Lee Y, Park N G, Kim K J (2008) Lowtemperature oxygen plasma treatment of TiO2 film for enhanced
performance of dye-sensitized solar cells, Journal of Power Sources 175
914–919
159 Chou C S, Yang R Y, Yeh C K, Lin Y J (2009) Preparation of
TiO2/Nano-metal composite particles and their applications in dyesensitized solar cells Powder Technology 194 (1) 95-105
160 Wei D, Unalan H E, Han D, Zhang O, Niu L, Amaratunga G, Ryhanen T
(2008) A solid-state dye-sensitized solar cell based on a novel ionic liquid
gel and ZnO nanoparticles on a flexible polymer substrate Nanotechnology
19 (42) 424006
161 Yen M Y, Yen C Y, Liao S H, Hsiao M C, Weng C C, Lin Y F, Ma C C M,
Tsai M C, Su A, Ho K K, Liu P L (2009) A novel carbon-based
nanocomposite plate as a counter electrode for dye-sensitized solar cells
Composites Science and Technology 69 (13) 2193-2197
162 Zhu H, Zeng H, Subramanian V, Masarapu C, Hung K H, Wei B (2008)
Anthocyanin-sensitized solar cells using carbon nanotube films as counter
electrodes Nanotechnology 19 (46) 465204
163 Ramasamy E, Lee W J, Lee D Y, Song J S (2008) Spray coated multiwall carbon nanotube counter electrode for tri-iodide (I3-) reduction in
dye-sensitized solar cells Electrochemistry Communications 10 (7) 10871089
being seen as a promising low cost method for the photo
absorbing layer of the solar cells164.
Quantum dots have been used in solar cells. The quantum dots
are nanoparticles made of direct bandgap semiconductor
crystals of materials like Cadmium-selenide (CdSe) or Leadselenide (PbSe) etc. Quantum dot thin film solar cells are based
on a silicon or conductive transparent oxide (CTO), like Indiumtin-oxide (ITO) substrate with a coating of nanocrystals165.
Quantum dots are extremely efficient light emitters because
they can emit as many as three electrons per every solar photon
absorbed; while Si cells produce one electron per photon
absorbed Moreover, Si based system mostly operates between
10-16% practically achievable efficiency and radiate back the
remaining as waste heat, whereas theoretical conversions
achieved for quantum dots could be as high as 65%. Current Si
solar cells act only in the green region, thus capturing only a
fraction of the available light energy. It has currently been
shown that the lead selenide (PbSe ) quantum dots can absorb
in the infrared, allowing for the development of PV cells far
superior in converting wider fractions of light to usable
energy166. Quantum well devices like quantum dots, and
quantum wires, and other carbon nanotubes embedded devices
primarily researched for space applications have shown
efficiencies as high as 45%. Phosphorus doped silicon quantum
dots have been deposited on crystalline silicon substrate for use
in tandem cells for higher efficiency167. Boron doped silicon
quantum dots have also been studied168. CdS quantum dots
have been deposited on TiO2 for quantum dot sensitized solar
cells169,170. Solar concentrators made with quantum dots
(CdSe/ZnS) embedded on plastic or glass have been examined
for building applications171.
164 Hillhouse H W, Beard M C (2009) Solar cells from colloidal
nanocrystals: Fundamentals, materials, devices, and economics Current
Opinion in Colloid & Interface Science 14 (4) 245-259
165 Ross RT, Nozik AJ. (1982) Efficiency of hot-carrier solar energy
converter. J Appl Phys; 53:3813–8
166 http://www.buffalo.edu
167 Park S, Cho E, Song D, Conibeer G, Green M A (2009) n-Type silicon
quantum dots and p-type crystalline silicon heteroface solar cells Solar
Energy Materials and Solar Cells 93 (6) 684-690
168 Hao X J, Cho E C, Flynn C, Shen Y S, Park S C, Conibeer G, Green M A
(2009) Synthesis and characterization of boron-doped Si quantum dots for
all-Si quantum dot tandem solar cells Solar Energy Materials and Solar
Cells 93 (2) 273-279
169 Chang C H, Lee Y L (2007) Chemical bath deposition of CdS quantum
dots onto mesoscopic TiO films for application in quantum-dot-sensitized
solar cells Applied Physics Letters 91 053503
170 Shen Y J, Lee Y L (2008) Assembly of CdS quantum dots onto
mesoscopic TiO2 films for quantum dot-sensitized solar cell applications
171 Gallagher S J, Norton B, Eames P C (2007)Quantum dot solar
concentrators: Electrical conversion efficiencies and comparative
concentrating factors of fabricated devices Solar Energy 81 (6) 813-821
The 4th generation PV technology, commonly known as
composite PV Technology, mixes conductive polymers or
mesoporous metal oxides with nanoparticles to make a single
multispectrum layer. Several of these layers while stacked could
lead efficiency up to 86.5%172. Nanosolar, Nanosys, Konarka
Technologies, Inc., etc are few companies which are engaged in
4th generation PV research currently173.
Others
Nanotechnology has also been used in thermoelectric
applications, battery and super capacitors.
In thermoelectric applications, nanomaterials offer lower
thermal conductivity and higher power. Some of the recent
materials investigated include ZnO doped with nano scaled
lanthanides174, nano grained bulk bismuth antimony
telluride175,176,177 boron and nitrogen doped multiwalled CNT178,
silicon nanowires179,180.
Energy storage devices such as batteries and supercapacitors
benefit from nanotechnology on account of their energy density
and charge discharge rate. Many studies have looked at nano
materials for lithium ion battery181. This includes incorporation
of inorganic nanoparticles in the electrolyte to improve
conductivity and use of nanomaterials in the electrodes to
improve storage capacity and performance. Lithium
manganese oxide in the nano form has been dispersed on CNT
for battery/capacitor electrode and showed good
performance182. Nano LiFePO4 coated with carbon has been
172
ibid
Ibid
174 Otal E H, Schaeuble N, Aguirre M H, Canepa H R, Walsöe de Reca N E
(2009) Thermoelectric effect in nano-scaled lanthanides doped ZnO
Journal of Physics: Conference Series 167 (1) p.012040
175 Yucheng L, Bed P, Yi M, Dezhi W, Mildred S D, Gang C, Zhifeng R
(2009) Structure study of bulk nanograined thermoelectric bismuth
antimony telluride Nano letters 9 (4) 1419-1422
176 Xie W, Tang X, Yan Y, Zhang O, Tritt T M (2009) Unique
nanostructures and enhanced thermoelectric performance of melt-spun
BiSbTe alloys Applied Physics Letters, 94(10) id. 102111
177 Li Y, Jiang J, Xu G, Li W, Zhou L, Li Y, Cui P (2009) Synthesis of
micro/nanostructured p-type Bi0.4Sb1.6Te3 and its thermoelectrical
properties Journal of Alloys and Compounds 480 (2) 954-957
178 Kunadian I, Andrews R, Menguc M P, Qian D Thermoelectric power
generation using doped MWCNTs Carbon 47 (3) 589-601
179 Shi L, Yao D, Zhang G, Li B (2009) Size dependent thermoelectric
properties of silicon nanowires Applied Physics Letters 95 (6) 063102
180 Zhang , Zhang O, Bui C T, Lo G O, Li B (2009) Thermoelectric
performance of silicon nanowires Applied Physics Letters 94 (21) id.
213108
181 Serrano E, Rus G, Garcýa-Martýnez J (2009) Nanotechnology for
sustainable energy Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 13 (2009)
2373–2384
182 Ma S B, Nam K W, Yoon W S, Bak S M, Yang X Q, Cho B W, Kim K B
(2009) Nano-sized lithium manganese oxide dispersed on carbon
nanotubes for energy storage applications Electrochemistry
173
prepared with new precursor for lithium ion battery cathode183.
Composite anode comprising carbon and nano silicon has been
studied for lithium battery and showed good performance184.
Other materials that have been examined for lithium battery
electrodes include carbon coated CoSb3 anode185, nano LiMnPO4
prepared by a novel method for cathode186, CoO thin films for
anode187, carbon coated nano porous TiO2188, nano
SnO2/Mg2SnO4 as anode189, carbon silicon composite nano fiber
for anode190. In alkaline secondary battery, doping of Mn3O4
electrode with nano-NaBiO3 led to charge / discharge
capability191.
Nano carbons such as CNTs192, carbon nano fibre, fullerene have
been explored as a replacement to activated carbon electrodes
in electrochemical double layer capacitors193. In case of pseudo
capacitors, use of nano transition metal oxide electrodes have
been examined194.
183 Koleva V, Zhecheva E, Stoyanova R (2009) A new phosphate-formate
precursor method for the preparation of carbon coated nano-crystalline
LiFePO4 Journal of Alloys and Compounds 476 (1) 950-957
184 Si Q, Hanai K, Imanishi N, Kubo M, Hirano A, Takeda Y, Yamamoto O
(2009) Highly reversible carbon-nano-silicon composite anodes for
lithium rechargeable batteries Journal of Power Sources 189 (1) 761-765
185 Mi C H, Cao Y X, Zhang X G, Li HL (2009) In situ synthesis of a
CoSb3/nano-carbon-web anode for Li-ion batteries Solid State
186 Wang D, Buqa H, Crouzet M, Deghenghi G, Drezen T, Exnar I, Kwon N
H, Miners J H, Poletto L, Grätzel M (2009) High-performance, nanostructured LiMnPO4 synthesized via a polyol method Journal of Power
Sources, 189 (1) 624-628
187 Do J S, Dai R F (2009) Cobalt oxide thin film prepared by an
electrochemical route for Li-ion battery Journal of Power Sources 189 (1)
204-210
188 Fu L J, Yang L C, Shi Y, Wang B, Wu Y P (2009) Synthesis of carbon
coated nanoporous microcomposite and its rate capability for lithium ion
battery Microporous and Mesoporous Materials 117 (1) 515-518
189 Xiao T, Tang Y, Jia Z, Feng S (2009) Synthesis of SnO2/Mg2SnO4
nanoparticles and their electrochemical performance for use in Li-ion
battery electrodes Electrochimica Acta 54 (8) 2396-2401
190 Ji L, Zhang X (2009) Fabrication of porous carbon/Si composite
nanofibers as high-capacity battery electrodes Electrochemistry
191 Pan J, Sun Y, Wang Z, Wan P, Fan M (2009) Mn3O4 doped with nanoNaBiO3: A high capacity cathode material for alkaline secondary batteries
Journal of Alloys and Compounds 470 (1)75-79
192 Shah R, Zhang X, Talapatra S (2009) Electrochemical double layer
capacitor electrodes using aligned carbon nanotubes grown directly on
metals Nanotechnology 20 (39) 395202
193 Zhang Y, Feng H, Wu X, Wang L, Zhang A, Xia T, Dong H, Li X, Zhang
L (2009) Progress of electrochemical capacitor electrode materials: A
review International Journal of Hydrogen Energy 34 (11) 4889-4899
194 Liu F J, Hsu T F, Yang C H (2009) Construction of composite electrodes
comprising manganese dioxide nanoparticles distributed in polyaniline–
poly(4-styrene sulfonic acid-co-maleic acid) for electrochemical
supercapacitor Journal of Power Sources 191 (2) 678-683
Summary
Table summarizes the focus of international NT developments
and applications in the environment and energy sector over the
last 5 years.
Table 1 : International NT developments and applications over the last 5 years
Nanomaterial
function
Adsorbent
Catalyst
Membrane
Others (hybrid)
Sector
Environment
Energy
• Water purification
• Hydrogen storage
• Pollutants sequestration for
improved analysis
• Water / wastewater
• Hydrogen production
treatment (photocatalysis,
• Fuel cells
oxidation of colour causing
• Aromatics cracking (refinery
compounds, reduction of
/ biorefinery)
metals / contaminants)
• Biodiesel
• Water purification
• CO2 separation
(disinfection / micropollutant
• Fuel cell (DMFC, PEMFC)
removal)
• Air enrichment
• Process improvement
(liquid-liquid separation,
desalination)
• Electrodes (for sensors)
• Fuel cells (Functional
• Wastewater treatment
membranes)
(mineralization of recalcitrant • Solar PV
compounds)
• Energy storage
In environment applications, nanotechnology has provided the
following main advantages / capability
Improved capacity and rapid reaction (adsorbents for
pollutants removal)
Higher process efficiency (catalysts / electrodes for
photocatalytic / electrochemical degradation)
Lower cost (lower noble metal catalyst requirements)
Customized properties (functionalized adsorbents,
antifouling membranes, specific sensor materials)
The challenges in these applications relate to the ensuring
nanomaterials quality (especially in the case of CNTs),
controlling nanomaterial properties (particle and pore size,
surface functionality, if applicable), system integration
(especially in remediation applications combining
biotechnology and nanotechnology), health and environmental
impacts.
In energy applications, nanotechnology has provided the
following main advantages / capability
Improved capacity (e.g. in adsorbents for hydrogen storage,
electrodes in energy storage batteries / capacitors)
Higher efficiency (catalysts, solar cells)
Lower cost (replacement of costly precious metal catalysts,
replacement of costly silicon solar cells, lower material
requirement due to higher efficiency)
Customized properties (reduced cross over in fuel cell
membranes, lower thermal conductivity in thermoelectric
materials)
The challenges in these applications are varied and include new
materials (e.g. thermoelectric applications), integration of
components (e.g. solar cells), characterization techniques (e.g
thermoelectric materials), control of nano material properties
(pore size, particle size etc. in all applications), health and
environmental impacts.
Advances in agriculture, food and health applications of nanomaterials
Agriculture and food processing
The primary issue faced by least developed / developing
countries in the agriculture and food sector is that of food
security. The world population is projected to reach 7.6 billion
in 2020. Further, almost the entire population growth over the
period 1996-2020 is estimated to take place in the developing
countries. The growing population is, in addition, facing
environmental threats including climate change that would
affect food productivity. In this context, it is imperative to
ensure intensification of agriculture, coupled with efficient food
handling, processing and distribution. In addition to
biotechnology solutions, nanotechnology is expected to play an
important role in this sector.
The current market for nanotechnology products in the food
industry is estimated to be around US$ 1 billion; this is
projected to increase to over US$20 billion in the next decade195.
The largest market for food nanotechnology is estimated to be
in Asia, particularly China. The field of food nanotechnology
has expanded significantly over the past few years. Of the over
1000 nano based consumer products available, nearly 70%
products are reportedly in the category of ‘‘Health and Fitness’’
and ‘‘Food and Beverage’’ 196. Apart from large multinationals
(Kraft, Unilever, Nestle etc.), there are several smaller players
with niche products (Annexure II). As per a study by the
Helmut Kaiser Consultancy Group197, it is predicted that by
2015, NT will be used in 40% of the food industries198.
Overall, NT applications in food and agriculture sector
encompass development of new functional materials and
products as well as methods and instrumentation to ensure food
safety and bio-security199,200. These products typically exploit the
large surface area to volume ratio of nanomaterials for various
purposes201. The research and development activities are
primarily targeted towards:
195
Chau C-F, Wu S-H, Yen G-C. (2007) The development of regulations for
food nanotechnology. Trends Food Science & Technology 18 269–80.
196 http://www.nanotechproject.org/
197 http://nano.foe.org.au/node/198
198 http://www.hkc22.com/nanofood.html
199 http://www.tahan.com/charlie/nanosociety/course201/nanos/AJ.pdf
200 Sozer N, Kokini J L (2009) Nanotechnology and its applications in the
food sector. Trends in Biotechnology, 27 (2) 82-89.
201 Chen H, Weiss J, Shahidi F. (2006) Nanotechnology in nutraceuticals
and functional foods. Food Technology 60 30–36.
Chen L, Remondetto GE, Subirade M. (2006) Food protein-based
materials as nutraceutical delivery systems Trends in Food Science &
Technology 17 272–83.
Improving food processing: This includes developments related
to smart packaging materials to optimize product shelf-life,
sensors to monitor feed safety, efficient and targeted delivery of
nutraceuticals (extracts of foods with medicinal effect), on
demand preservatives, customized foods.
Enhancing agricultural productivity: This includes
developments relating to disease detection and treatment in
plants, sensors and delivery systems to ensure optimal
nutrients availability to crops at the required time, more
efficient delivery systems for fertilizers, pesticides,
herbicides etc. thereby preventing excess dosing. In addition,
NT applications in the energy and environment sectors (such
as increased use of renewable energy sources, remediation of
polluted water and soils) would also contribute towards
providing an improved environment for agricultural
activities.
Nanomaterial preparation: This includes the use of
plants as factories for nanoparticles production, preparation
of nanomaterials from biomass based constituents like
cellulose etc.
Of the above, food related materials, processing and safety
applications are the most extensive (Figure 3). The following
sections summarize the NT developments in the agriculture and
food sector in the last 5 years.
Sanguansri P, Augustin M A. (2006) Nanoscale materials development — a
food industry perspective. Trends Food Science & Technology 17 547–56.
Garti N. (2005) Food goes nano. INFORM 6 588–589.
Luo, P. G., & Stutzenberger, F. J. (2008). Nanotechnology in the detection
and control of microorganisms. In A. I. Laskin, S. Sariaslani, & G. M. Gadd
(Eds.). Advances in Applied Microbiology London: Elsevier 63 145–181
London: Elsevier.
Figure 3 NT applications in food202 (adapted from Weiss et al. 2006)
Packaging
Conventional plastics, used widely in food packaging, are
difficult to degrade thereby creating a serious problem of solid
waste disposal. In this context, biomass based materials have
been explored for the development of eco-friendly food
packaging203, 204. The challenge is to overcome performance
related issues (e.g. poor mechanical strength, brittleness, poor
gas and moisture barrier), processing problems (e.g. low heat
distortion temperature), and high cost associated with
biopolymer based packaging. Incorporation of nanomaterials in
biopolymers (usually neutral polysaccharides such as starch,
cellulose and its derivatives205, polyesters such as
202
Adapted from Weiss J., Takhistov, P., McClements J (2006) Functional
Materials in Food Nanotechnology Journal of Food Science 71(9) R107R116
.http://members.ift.org/NR/rdonlyres/FA9DE19E-1AFF-4B94-9012CDAC3C45B0FF/0/Nanotech.pdf
203 Siracusa, V., Rocculi, P., Romani, S., Rosa, M.D. (2008) Biodegradable
polymers for food packaging: a review Trends in Food Science &
Technology 19 (12) 634-643
204 Farris S, Schaich K M, Liu L S, Piergiovanni L, Yam L K (2009)
Development of polyion-complex hydrogels as an alternative approach
for the production of bio-based polymers for food packaging
applications: a review Trends in Food Science & Technology 20 (8) 316332.
205 Darder, M., Aranda, P., & Ruiz-Hitzky, E. (2007). Bionanocomposites:
A new concept of ecological, bio-inspired, and functional hybrid
materials. Advanced Materials 19 1309–1319.
polyhydroxyalkanoates, poly(lactic acid)206 as well as plant oils,
gelatin, chitosan207 ) provides the necessary reinforcement,
improving both mechanical strength and barrier properties208;
in addition, cost-price-efficiency is also improved209,210.
A recent review on nanocomposites provides an overview of the
subject211. Nanocomposites with conventional polymers such as
nylon 6 have also been prepared with the aim of obtaining
lighter, stronger plastics with better heat resistance and barrier
properties212. Nanoclay reinforced synthetic polymers such as
polyethylene, polypropylene etc. are being used for food
packaging in view of their better strength and enhanced barrier
properties213,214. Yet another aim of nanoparticles addition has
been to obtain polymer degradation as well as stabilization215.
The following nanomaterials have been primarily employed in
food packaging applications216.
Nanoclays: Though polymer–clay nanocomposite
formulations have been known for nearly three decades217,
research into their application for food packaging picked up in
the late 1990s218. Clays and silicates are layered inorganic solids
that are readily available at low cost; further they are easy to
206
Bordes P, Pollet E, Avérous L (2009) Nano-biocomposites:
Biodegradable polyester/nanoclay systems Progress in Polymer Science
34 (2) 125-155.
207 Ray S S, Bousmina M (2005) Biodegradable polymers and their
layered silicate nanocomposites: In greening the 21st century materials
world Progress in Materials Science 50 (8) 962-1079.
208 Choudalakis G, Gotsis A D (2009) Permeability of polymer/clay
nanocomposites: A review European Polymer Journal 45 (4) 967-984.
209 Sorrentino, A., Gorrasi, G., & Vittoria, V. (2007). Potential perspectives
of bionanocomposites for food packaging applications. Trends in Food
Science & Technology 18(2) 84–95.
210 Rhim, J. W., & Ng, P. K. W. (2007). Natural biopolymer-based
nanocomposite films for packaging applications. Critical Reviews in Food
Science and Nutrition 47(4) 411–433.
211 Camargo P.H.C., Satyanarayana K. G., Wypych F. (2009)
Nanocomposites: synthesis, structure, properties and new application
opportunities Materials Res. 12, 1-39
212 Brody, A. L. (2007). Nanocomposite technology in food packaging.
Food Technology 61(10) 80–83.
213 Dadbin S., Noferesti M., Frounchi M. (2008) Oxygen barrier
LDPE/LLDPE/ Organoclay nanocomposites films for food packaging 274
22-27
214 Schirmer S., Ratio J., Froio D., Thellen C., Lucciarini J. (2008)
Nanocomposite polypropylene film for food packaging application
Technical papers, Regional tech conf – SPE 3 1365-1360
215 Kumar A P, Depan D, Tomer N S, Singh R P (2009) Nanoscale particles
for polymer degradation and stabilization—Trends and future
perspectives Progress in Polymer Science 34 (6) 479-515.
216 de Azeredo H M C (2009) Nanocomposites for food packaging
applications. Food Research International 42 (9) 1240-1253.
217 Collister, J. (2002). Commercialisation of polymer nanocomposites. In
R. Krishnamoorti & R. A. Vaia (Eds.), Polymer nanocomposites: Synthesis,
characterisation and modelling. Washington: American Chemical Society.
218 Ray, S., Easteal, A., Quek, S. Y., & Chen, X. D. (2006). The potential use
of polymer–clay nanocomposites in food packaging. International
Journal of Food Engineering 2(4) art. 5.
process and can result in significant improvement in properties.
The most extensively investigated clay is montmorillonite, a
hydrated alumina-silicate layered clay219.
Addition of nanoclays in polymer formulations results in several
benefits viz. enhanced mechanical properties220, 221, 222, 223, 224,
superior barrier properties because of the high tortuosity
imparted by these materials225,226; thus, permeability of oxygen
and water vapor can be significantly reduced227, 228, 229, 230, 231. In
addition, increased glass transition232 and thermal degradation
temperatures233,234 have also been observed. The only reported
219 Weiss, J., Takhistov, P., & McClements, D. J. (2006). Functional
materials in food nanotechnology. Journal of Food Science 71(9) R107–
R116.
220 Avella, M., De Vlieger, J. J., Errico, M. E., Fischer, S., Vacca, P., &
Volpe, M. G. (2005). Biodegradable starch/clay nanocomposite films for
food packaging applications. Food Chemistry 93 467–474.
221 Chen, B., & Evans, J. R. G. (2005). Thermoplastic starch–clay
nanocomposites and their characteristics. Carbohydrate Polymers 61
455–463.
222 Mangiacapra, P., Gorrasi, G., Sorrentino, A., & Vittoria, V. (2006).
Biodegradable nanocomposites obtained by ball milling of pectin and
montmorillonites. Carbohydrate Polymers 64 516–523.
223 Russo, G. M., Nicolais, V., Di Maio, L., Montesano, S., & Incarnato, L.
(2007). Rheological and mechanical properties of nylon 6
nanocomposites submitted to reprocessing with single and twin-screw
extruders. Polymer Degradation and Stability 92(10) 1925–1933.
224 Cyras, V. P., Manfredi, L. B., Ton-That, M. T., & Vázquez, A. (2008).
Physical and mechanical properties of thermoplastic
starch/montmorillonite nanocomposite films. Carbohydrate Polymers 73
55–63.
225 Mirzadeh, A., & Kokabi, M. (2007). The effect of composition and
draw-down ratio on morphology and oxygen permeability of
polypropylene nanocomposite blown films. European Polymer Journal
43(9) 3757–3765.
226 Adame, D., & Beall, G. W. (2009). Direct measurement of the
constrained polymer region in polyamide/clay nanocomposites and the
implications for gas diffusion. Applied Clay Science 42 545–552.
227 Cava, D., Giménez, E., Gavara, R., & Lagaron, J. M. (2006).
Comparative performance and barrier properties of biodegradable
thermoplastics and nanobiocomposites versus PET for food packaging
applications. Journal of Plastic Film and Sheeting 22 265–274.
228 Jawahar, P., & Balasubramanian, M. (2006). Preparation and
properties of polyesterbased nanocomposite gel coat system. Journal of
Nanomaterials, 4 [article ID 21656].
229 Koh, H. C., Park, J. S., Jeong, M. A., Hwang, H. Y., Hong, Y. T., Ha, S.
Y.,(2008). Preparation and gas permeation properties of biodegradable
polymer/layered silicate nanocomposite membranes. Desalination 233
201–209.
230 Lotti, C., Isaac, C. S., Branciforti, M. C., Alves, R. M. V., Liberman, S., &
Bretas, R. E. S. (2008). Rheological, mechanical and transport properties
of blown films of high density polyethylene nanocomposites. European
Polymer Journal 44 1346–1357.
231 Thellen C, Schirmer S, Ratto J A, Finnigan B, Schmidt D (2009) Coextrusion of multilayer poly(m-xylylene adipimide) nanocomposite films
for high oxygen barrier packaging applications Journal of Membrane
Science 340 (1-2) 45-51.
232 Petersson, L., & Oksman, K. (2006). Biopolymer based
nanocomposites: comparing layered silicates and microcrystalline
cellulose as nanoreinforcement. Composites Science and Technology 66
2187–2196.
233 Bertini, F., Canetti, M., Audisio, G., Costa, G., & Falqui, L. (2006).
Characterization and thermal degradation of polypropylene–
concern with polymer-nanoclay formulations is the decreased
transparency235.
Cellulose nanofiber: This is a low cost and readily available
nanomaterial obtained from the natural polymer cellulose236.
This has been used to improve thermomechanical and barrier
properties in biopolymers like starch without affecting the
biodegradability237. Cellulose nanoreinforcements also improve
moisture barrier238, 239, 240 and enhance thermal stability241, 242.
Carbon nanotubes (CNTs): CNTs have been incorporated in
various polymers such as polyvinyl alcohol243, polypropylene244
and polyamide245; the focus has been on improving the
mechanical properties.
montmorillonite nanocomposites. Polymer Degradation and Stability 91
600–605.
234 Cyras, V. P., Manfredi, L. B., Ton-That, M. T., & Vázquez, A. (2008).
Physical and mechanical properties of thermoplastic
starch/montmorillonite nanocomposite films. Carbohydrate Polymers 73
55–63.
235 Yu, Y. H., Lin, C. Y., Yeh, J. M., & Lin, W. H. (2003). Preparation and
properties of poly(vinyl alcohol)–clay nanocomposite materials. Polymer
44(12) 3553–3560.
236 Hubbe, M. A., Rojas, O. J., Lucia, L. A., & Sain, M. (2008). Cellulosic
nanocomposites : a review. Bioresources 3(3) 929–980.
237 Lima, M. M. D., & Borsali, R. (2004). Rodlike cellulose microcrystals:
structure, properties, and applications. Macromolecular Rapid
Communications 25(7) 771–787.
238 Paralikar, S. A., Simonsen, J., & Lombardi, J. (2008). Poly(vinyl
alcohol)/cellulose nanocrystal barrier membranes. Journal of Membrane
Science 320(1–2) 248–258
239 Sanchez-Garcia, M. D., Gimenez, E., & Lagaron, J. M. (2008).
Morphology and barrier properties of solvent cast composites of
thermoplastic biopolymers and purified cellulose fibers. Carbohydrate
Polymers 71 235–244.
240 Svagan, A. J., Hedenqvist, M. S., & Berglund, L. (2009). Reduced water
vapour sorption in cellulose nanocomposites with starch matrix.
Composites Science and Technology 69(3–4) 500–506.
241 Oksman, K., Mathew, A. P., Bondeson, D., & Kvien, I. (2006).
Manufacturing process of cellulose whiskers/polylactic acid
nanocomposites. Composites Science and Technology 66(15) 2776–2784.
242 Petersson, L., Kvien, I., & Oksman, K. (2007). Structure and thermal
properties of poly(lactic acid)/cellulose whiskers nanocomposite
materials. Composites Science and Technology 67 2535–2544.
243 Bin, Y., Mine, M., Koganemaru, A., Jiang, X., & Matsuo, M. (2006).
Morphology and mechanical and electrical properties of oriented PVA–
VGCF and PVA–MWNT composites. Polymer 47 1308–1317.
244 Prashantha, K., Soulestin, J., Lacrampe, M. F., Krawczak, P., Dupin, G.,
& Claes, M. (2009) Masterbatch-based multi-walled carbon nanotube
filled polypropylene nanocomposites: assessment of rheological and
mechanical properties. Composites Science and Technology 69(1112) 1756-1763
245 Zeng, H., Gao, C., Wang, Y., Watts, P. C. P., Kong, H., Cui, X., et al.
(2006). In situ polymerization approach to multiwalled carbon nanotubesreinforced nylon 1010 composites: mechanical properties and
crystallization behavior. Polymer 47 113–122
Others: Other nanomaterials used in polymer nanocomposites
include silica nanoparticles 246, starch nanocrystals 247, 248 ,
chitin249, chitosan nanoparticles 250.
As reinforcements like clays and cellulose nanofibers possess
hydrophilic surfaces, obtaining a uniform dispersion with
organic polymers could be a challenge. For instance, in low
density polyethylene-cellulose fiber nanocomposites, the
cellulose fibers display low interfacial compatibility, low
moisture resistance/barrier, and inter-fiber aggregation by
hydrogen bonding251. Also, high surface hydrophilicity could
result in high water absorption in the nanocomposite, which is a
disadvantage in packaging applications252. Thus, several workers
have examined surface modification of hydrophilic
nanomaterials. For cellulose nanoreinforcements, these include
acylation with fatty acids253, surfactant addition254,255, and
grafting between polymeric matrix and nanomaterial256.
Similarly surface modification of CNTs by introducing
carboxylic acid groups has also been attempted to enhance
246
Tang S, Zou P, Xiong H, Tang H (2008) Effect of nano-SiO2 on the
performance of starch/polyvinyl alcohol blend films Carbohydrate
Polymers 72 (3) 521-526.
247 Kristo, E., & Biliaderis, C. G. (2007). Physical properites of starch
nanocrystalreinforced pullulan films. Carbohydrate Polymers 68 146–
158.
248 Chen, Y., Cao, X., Chang, P. R., & Huneault, M. A. (2008). Comparative
study on the films of poly(vinyl alcohol)/pea starch nanocrystals and
poly(vinyl alcohol)/ native pea starch. Carbohydrate Polymers 73 8–17.
249 Sriupayo, J., Supaphol, P., Blackwell, J., & Rujiravanit, R. (2005).
Preparation and characterization of a-chitin whisker-reinforced chitosan
nanocomposite films with or without heat treatment. Carbohydrate
Polymers 62 130–136.
250 De Moura, M. R., Aouada, F. A., Avena-Bustillos, R. J., McHugh, T. H.,
Krochta, J. M., & Mattoso, L. H. C. (2009). Improved barrier and
mechanical properties of novel hydroxypropyl methylcellulose edible
films with chitosan/tripolyphosphate nanoparticles. Journal of Food
Engineering 92 448–453.
251 Freire, C. S. R., Silvestre, A. J. D., Pascoal Neto, C., Gandini, A., Martin,
L., & Mondragon, I. (2008). Composites based on acylated cellulose fibers
and lowdensity polyethylene: effect of the fiber content, degree of
substitution and fatty acid chain length on final properties. Composites
Science and Technology 68(15–16) 3358–3364.
252 de Rodriguez G, Lis N; Thielemans, W; Dufresne (2006). A Sisal
cellulose whiskers reinforced polyvinyl acetate nanocomposites. Cellulose
13(3) 261-270
253 Freire, C. S. R., Silvestre, A. J. D., Pascoal Neto, C., Gandini, A., Martin,
L., & Mondragon, I. (2008). Composites based on acylated cellulose fibers
and low density polyethylene: effect of the fiber content, degree of
substitution and fatty acid chain length on final properties. Composites
Science and Technology, 68(15–16) 3358–3364.
254 Ljungberg, N., Bonini, C., Bortolussi, F., Boisson, C., Heux, L., &
Cavaillé, J. Y. (2005). New nanocomposite materials reinforced with
cellulose whiskers in atactic popypropylene: effect of surface and
dispersion characteristics. Biomacromolecules 6(5) 2732–2739.
255 Petersson, L., Kvien, I., & Oksman, K. (2007). Structure and thermal
properties of poly(lactic acid)/cellulose whiskers nanocomposite
materials. Composites Science and Technology 67 2535–2544.
256 Mokoena, M. A., Djokovic´, V., & Luyt, A. S. (2004). Composites of
linear low density polyethylene and short sisal fibres: the effects of
peroxide treatment. Journal of Materials Science 39 3403–3412.
intermolecular interactions with the polymer matrix257. In
general, the properties are affected by the degree of dispersion
of the nanomaterial in the polymer matrix. For example,
barrier properties in films with exfoliated nanoparticles
(complete dispersion of the nanoparticle between the polymeric
chains) are reportedly superior to that with intercalated
nanoparticles. Therefore, it is important to optimize the
experimental parameters in the nanocomposite preparation258;
further plasticizers can also be successfully used to increase the
degree of exfoliation259.
In addition to its reinforcing function, nanomaterials in
packaging material can also impart “smart” properties e.g.
antimicrobial activity, oxygen scavenging and several others.
Antimicrobial films for food packaging mostly incorporate
nanosilver260, 261 which is a well established broad spectrum
antimicrobial262; nanosilver is also reported to extend shelf life
of fruits and vegetables 263,264. Cellulose absorbent pads used in
retail food packaging as liners to absorb exudates from meat etc.
can be impregnated with nanosilver to maintain aseptic
conditions265; further, nanosilver loaded onto cellulose based
filter paper grafted with acrylamide has also been reported266. In
addition to nanosilver, other options are CNTs which have the
ability to puncture microbial cells267, antimicrobial peptides like
257 Kim, J. Y., Han, S., II, & Hong, S. (2008). Effect of modified carbon
nanotube on the properties of aromatic polyester nanocomposites.
Polymer 49 3335–3345.
258 de Abreu D A P, Losada P P, Angulo I, Cruz J M (2007) Development of
new polyolefin films with nanoclays for application in food packaging,
European Polymer Journal 43 (6) 2229-2243.
259 Tang X, Alavi S, Herald T J (2008) Effects of plasticizers on the
structure and properties of starch–clay nanocomposite films
Carbohydrate Polymers 74 (3) 552-558
260 Damm, C., Münstedt, H., & Rösch, A. (2007). Long-term antimicrobial
polyamide 6/silver-nanocomposites. Journal of Materials Science 42(15)
6067–6073.
261 Damm, C., Münstedt, H., & Rösch, A. (2008). The antimicrobial
efficacy of polyamide 6/silver-nano- and microcomposites. Materials
Chemistry and Physics 108 61–66.
262 Rai M, Yadav A, Gade A (2009) Silver nanoparticles as a new
generation of antimicrobials Biotechnology Advances 27 (1) 76-83
263 An, J., Zhang, M., Wang, S., & Tang, J. (2008). Physical, chemical and
microbiological changes in stored green asparagus spears as affected by
coating of silver nanoparticles-PVP. LWT – Food Science and Technology
41(6) 1100–1107.
264 Li, H., Li, F., Wang, L., Sheng, J., Xin, Z., Zhao, L., et al. (2009). Effect
of nano-packing on preservation quality of Chinese jujube (Ziziphus
jujuba Mill. var. inermis (Bunge) Rehd). Food Chemistry 114(2) 547–552.
265 Fernández A, Soriano E, Carballo G L, Picouet P, Lloret E, Gavara R,
Muñoz P H (2009) Preservation of aseptic conditions in absorbent pads
by using silver nanotechnology Food Research International 42 (8) 11051112.
266 Tankhiwale R, Bajpai S K (2008) Graft copolymerization onto
cellulose-based filter paper and its further development as silver
nanoparticles loaded antibacterial food-packaging material Colloids and
Surfaces B: Biointerfaces 69 (2) 164-168.
267 Kang, S., Pinault, M., Pfefferle, L. D., & Elimelech, M. (2007). Singlewalled carbon nanotubes exhibit strong antimicrobial activity. Langmuir
23 8670–8673.
nisin268,269, enzymes like lysozyme (which have been tested in
multilayer nanofilm of poly(L-glutamic acid) and lysozyme
prepared by layer-by-layer assembly270) and silver ions adsorbed
in nano-structured calcium silicate271. Multifunctional materials
like zinc oxide with applications in gas sensors and antibacterial
materials272 have also been investigated e.g. a pea starch-zinc
oxide nanoparticle bionanocomposite has been prepared and
characterized273.
Maintaining low oxygen levels in packaged foods is yet another
application. This is required to prevent food spoilage either due
to direct oxidation (e.g. browning of fruits, rancidity in
vegetable oils) or indirectly by aerobic microorganisms. For
this purpose, oxygen scavengers such as titania nanoparticles274
have been incorporated into the packaging material. In another
food preservation application, nano-structured calcium silicate
with around 300 wt% of alkane phase change material has been
examined for packaging of perishable food material during
transportation275
In the development of novel functional foods, to ensure stability
of bioactive compounds, micro- and nanoencapsulation either
in the packaging and/or within foods is an attractive
technique276. Functional substances that can be incorporated in
packaging include phytochemicals (non-nutritive plant
chemicals, typically polyphenolic compounds with antioxidant
activity), vitamins, dietary fiber, prebiotics (typically
268 Haynie, D. T., Zhang, L., Zhao, W., & Rudra, J. S. (2006). Proteininspired multilayer nanofilms: science, technology and medicine.
Nanomedicine: Nanotechnology, Biology, and Medicine 2 150–157.
269 Li, B., Rozas, J., & Haynie, D. T. (2006). Structural stability of
polypeptide nanofilms under extreme conditions. Biotechnology Progress
22 111–117.
270 Rudra, J. S., Dave, K., & Haynie, D. T. (2006). Antimicrobial
polypeptide multilayer nanocoatings. Journal of Biomaterials Science Polymer Edition 17(11) 1301-1315.
271 Johnston J H, Borrmann T, Rankin D, Cairns M, Grindrod J E,
Mcfarlane A (2008) Nano-structured composite calcium silicate and some
novel applications Current Applied Physics 8 (3-4) 504-507.
272 Chandramouleeswaran, S., Mhaske1, S. T., Kathe, A. A., Varadarajan, P.
V., Virendra, P., & Vigneshwaran, N. (2007). Functional behaviour of
polypropylene/ZnO soluble starch nanocomposites. Nanotechnology 18
385702–385709.
273 Ma X, Chang P R, Yang J, Yu J (2009) Preparation and properties of
glycerol plasticized-pea starch/zinc oxide-starch bionanocomposites
Carbohydrate Polymers 75 (3) 472-478
274 Xiao-e, L., Green, A. N. M., Haque, S. A., Mills, A., & Durrant, J. R.
(2004). Light-driven oxygen scavenging by titania/polymer
nanocomposite films. Journal of Photochemistry and Photobiology A:
Chemistry 162 253–259.
275 Johnston J H, Grindrod J E, Dodds M, Schimitschek K (2008)
Composite nano-structured calcium silicate phase change materials for
thermal buffering in food packaging Current Applied Physics 8 (3-4)
508-511.
276 Lopez-Rubio A, Gavara R, Lagaron J M (2006) Bioactive packaging:
turning foods into healthier foods through biomaterials Trends in Food
Science & Technology 17 (10) 567-575
carbohydrates such as lactulose and inulin that are not digested
in the small intestine and thus serve as substrate for the flora in
the colon). Further, to address enzyme linked health issues
(such as lactose intolerance or high cholesterol levels),
incorporation of appropriate enzymes (lactase, cholesterol
reductase) in the packaging materials has been reported277.
Sensors
From the viewpoint of food safety and biosecurity, there is
considerable interest in the development of nanosensors that
can respond to environmental changes (e.g., temperature,
humidity, oxygen levels), degradation products or microbial
contamination278. The main advantage of nanosensors is that it
significantly reduces detection time279. A variety of nanosensors
are used in food applications viz. array biosensors (for detection
of food borne contaminants), electronic nose (for wine
discrimination)280, nanoelectromechanical systems (NEMS) (for
pathogen detection), silicon-based microfluidic devices
(laboratory-on-a-chip technology), carbon nanotube based
sensors etc. In addition, NT based sensors for detection and
quantification of food components have also been reported281,282,
283. Nanosensors can be placed directly into the packaging
material; alternatively, they could be stand-alone measurement
systems based on microfluidics devices284.
Conducting polymer nanocomposites (CPC) involving
conducting particles incorporated into an insulating polymer
matrix have been used to detect and identify food borne
pathogens285 and food spoilage286. To detect the presence of
277 Fernández, A., Cava, D., Ocio, M. J., & Lagaron, J. M. (2008).
Perspectives for biocatalysts in food packaging. Trends in Food Science &
Technology 19(4) 198–206
278 Bouwmeester, H., Dekkers, S., Noordam, M. Y., Hagens, W. I., Bulder,
A. S., de Heer, C., et al. (2009). Review of health safety aspects of
nanotechnologies in food production. Regulatory Toxicology and
Pharmacology 53(1) 52–62.
279 Bhattacharya, S.; Jang J., Yang, L., Akin D., Bashir, R (2007) Biomems
and nanotechnology based approaches for rapid detection of biological
entitities. Journal of Rapid Methods & Automation in Microbiology 15 1–
32
280 Garcia, M. et al. (2006) Electronic nose for wine discrimination.
Sensors and Actuators. B 113 911–916
281 Valdes M. G., Valdes A. C. G., Garcia J. A. C., Diaz Garcia M. e. (2009)
Analytical nanotechnology for food analysis (in press)
282 D’Orazio G., Cituentes A., Fanali S., (2008) Chiral nano-liquid
chromatography –mass spectrometry applied to amino acids analysis for
orange juice profiling Food Chemistry 108 1114-1121
283 Tang D., Sauceda J. C., Lin Z., Ott S., Basova E., Goryacheva I., Biselli
S., Lin J., Niessner R., Knopp D. (2009) Magnetic nanogold microspheres
based lateral flow immunodipstick for rapid detection of aflatoxin BZ in
food Biosensors and Bioelectronics 25 514-518.
284 Baeummer, A. (2004) Nanosensors identify pathogens in food. Food
Technology 58 51–55
285 Arshak, K., Adley, C., Moore, E., Cunniffe, C., Campion, M., & Harris, J.
(2007). Characterisation of polymer nanocomposite sensors for
quantification of bacterial cultures. Sensors and Actuators B 126 226–231.
oxygen in packed foods, oxygen sensors incorporating titania
nanoparticles287 or nanocrystalline SnO2288 have been used for
the photosensitive reduction of methylene blue dye. The dye
remains colorless upon exposure to UV irradiation with any
subsequent exposure to oxygen restoring the color. The
application of nanosensors can be further extended to detect
product tampering and product tracking through the
processing289.
Since nanostructures (nanobeads, nanofibres) generated by
electrospinning290 can entrap bioactive molecules to yield high
activities, they have been used for incorporating enzymes291 in
biosensors. Sensors with the ability to detect pathogenic
organisms and their toxins are especially of interest. Often, such
sensors tend to combine nanomaterials with biological systems
/ components. Immunofluorescent nanoparticles prepared by
conjugating dye-doped silica nanoparticles with antibodies for
E. coli were capable of rapid detection of this bacterium in
ground beef292. Another example is nanocantilevers that detect
biological-binding interactions (e.g. antigen-antibody, enzymesubstrate, cofactor-receptor etc.) through physical and/or
electromechanical signaling293,294. These devices have been
successfully used for contaminant detection in food products295,
296
286 Joseph,
T., & Morrison, M. (2006). Nanotechnology in agriculture and
food. <http://
www.nanoforum.org/nf06~modul~showmore~folder~99999~scid~377~.
html?action=longview_publication>.
287 Lee, S. K., Sheridan, M., & Mills, A. (2005). Novel UV-activated
colorimetric oxygen indicator. Chemistry of Materials 17(10) 2744–2751.
288 Mills, A., & Hazafy, D. (2009). Nanocrystalline SnO2-based, UVBactivated,colourimetric oxygen indicator. Sensor and Actuators B:
Chemical 136(2) 344–349.
289 Nachay, K. (2007). Analyzing nanotechnology. Food Technology 61(1)
34–36.
290 Torres-Giner, S., Gimenez, E., & Lagaron, J. M. (2008)
Characterization of the morphology and thermal properties of zein,
prolamine nanostructures obtained by electrospinning. Food
Hydrocolloids 22(4) 601-614
291 Ren, G. L., Xu, X. H., Liu, Q., Cheng, J., Yuan, X. Y., Wu, L. L (2006).
Electrospun poly(vinyl alcohol)/glucose oxidase biocomposite
membranes for biosensor applications. Reactive & Functional Polymers
66(12) 1559-1564.
292 Zhao, X, Hilliard, L. R, Mechery, S. J., Wang, Y., Bagwe, R. P., Jin, S.,
Tan, W. A (2004) Rapid bioassay for single bacterial cell quantitation
using bioconjugated nanoparticles. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 101(42)
15027-15032.
293 Hall, R.H. (2002) Biosensor technologies for detecting microbiological
food borne hazards. Microbes Infect. 4 425–432
294 Kumar, C.S.S.R. (2006) Nanomaterials for Biosensors. Wiley-VCH
Weinheim
295 Ramirez Frometa, N. (2006) Cantilever biosensors. Biotecnologia
Aplicada 23 320–323
296 Gfeller, K.Y. et al. (2005) Micromechanical oscillators as rapid
biosensor for the detection of active growth of Escherichia coli.
Biosensensors & Bioelectronics 21 528–533
Delivery systems
Nanomaterial based formulations (e.g. micelles, liposomes,
nanoemulsion etc.) have been explored extensively for the
delivery of nutraceuticals and functional foods.
Nanoencapsulation can be carried using existing, approved food
additives like carrageenan, chitosan, gelatin, polylactic acid,
alginate etc.
Nanoparticle formulations for improving the bioavailability
(fraction of a dose that is available at the site of action in the
body) of active ingredients (nutrients, nutraceuticals) is an
important area of research297. The focus is on ingredients with
poor water-solubility and little has been done on the uptake of
water soluble minerals (like calcium and iron) and antioxidants
(such as isoflavones). Nanoparticle formulations have also been
examined for controlled / target release of active ingredients.
For soluble but poorly absorbed nutrients and nutraceuticals, it
is expected that bioavailability can be improved using selfassembled protein and lipid micro- and nanoparticle systems
that are appropriately targeted to active sites. Nanoparticle
delivery systems that make use of lipids, proteins and
polysaccharides as additives have led to the development of new
functionalities. The current focus in the development of
nanoparticle based nutrient and nutraceutical delivery systems
is on improving the dissolution mechanisms of particles in the
intestine and subsequent absorbing through the intestinal wall.
However, there is little understanding about side-effects e.g.
unwanted transportation / deposition of active ingredients /
intermediates, unforeseen increase in absorption of other
substances present in the food matrix.
For long duration preservation of foods, controlled release of
the preservative is desired. To achieve this, a nanohybrid
involving the intercalation of D-gluconate (a food additive and
an acidity regulator), into the interlamellae of zinc–aluminumlayered double hydroxide, was prepared and characterized298. In
addition, nanoencapsulation of flavour enhancers and cooking
oils is also reported299.
297 Acosta E (2009) Bioavailability of nanoparticles in nutrient and
nutraceutical delivery Current Opinion in Colloid & Interface Science 14
(1) 3-15.
298 Ghotbi M Y, bin Hussein M Z, Yahaya A H, Rahman M Z A (2009)
LDH-intercalated d-gluconate: Generation of a new food additiveinorganic nanohybrid compound Journal of Physics and Chemistry of
Solids 70 (6) 948-954.
299 Peter S., Given J. (2009) Encapsulation of flavours in emulsion for
beverages, Current opinion in colloid and interface science 14 43-47
Processing
The use of nanoporous materials (especially membranes in the
ultrafiltration and nanofiltration range) for separation in the
food industry is well accepted300 and new applications / process
schemes are being developed301,302. Related research activities
in this field are focused on improving membrane properties and
operations for a variety of applications; as such, this topic is
quite diverse and not dealt with here. There are few novel
applications of nanomaterials in the food processing field. For
instance, to provide continued protection against microbial
contamination, nanosilver impregnated elastomer (rubber)
seals have been recommended in food processing equipments
like pumps, valves, mixing vessels etc303. Nano supported
catalysts for applications like hydrogenation of edible oils have
been used; such applications exploit the high surface area of
these materials304.
Agriculture
NT applications in agriculture are intricately linked to
developments in biotechnology (e.g. improved seeds and
planting material) and materials (e.g. sensors, delivery systems
for controlled release of chemicals etc.). The materials related
developments are quite broad and encompass various sectoral
applications; in fact, there are limited reports on NT research
exclusively in agriculture.
NT has been examined for the development of soil erosion
resistant agents. For instance, PAM (polyacrylamide) nanofibers have been prepared by electrospinning technique and
further developed into PAM/PAN (polyacrylonitrile) nanofibroses hybrid fabric305.
PAM in granular form is a super absorber of water; with the
enhancement in the surface area per unit mass provide by the
nanofibres, the water absorption of the fabric was 4.3–3.6 times
higher than that of the commercial PAM granular like shape.
Other materials with super absorbent properties like chitosan
300 Girard, B., Fukumoto, L R (2000) Membrane processing of fruit juices
and beverages: a review. Critical reviews in food science and nutrition
40(2) 91-157
301 Aider M, de Halleux D, Bazinet L (2008) Potential of continuous
electrophoresis without and with porous membranes (CEPM) in the biofood industry: review Trends in Food Science & Technology 19(7) 351-362
302 Coutinho C M, Chiu M C, Basso R C, Ribeiro A P B, Gonçalves L A G,
Viotto L A (2009) State of art of the application of membrane technology
to vegetable oils: A review Food Research International 42(5-6) 536-550
303 Peel N (2008) Sealing for the food and beverage industry Sealing
Technology 9 11-14.
304 Hussain S. T., Zia F., Mazhar A. (2009) Modified nanosupported
catalyst for selective catalytic hydrogenation of edible oils Eur. Food Res.
Technol 228 799-806
305 Ali A A (2008) New generation of super absorber nano-fibroses hybrid
fabric by electro-spinning Journal of Materials Processing Technology
199(1-3) 193-198
based nanocomposites can also be examined for water
conservation and retention306, 307. There are some studies on the
synthesis and assessment of nanocomposites with potential
applications in sensors for agricultural applications. For
instance, chitosan-poly(acrylic acid) composite membrane with
a 3D network nano-structure has been successfully tested for
ammonia detection308 and silica based nanochannels have been
used for urea detection309. Nanosensors to detect specific
sequences in genetically modified seeds have also been
developed310.
The antimicrobial property of nanosilver has been exploited in
post-harvest storage. It was observed that the life of cut Gerbera
jamesonni flowers was extended by pulse treatment by 2-5 nm
diameter nanosilver solution311.
Nanomaterials from plants / food sources
Value added nanomaterials and products from biomass sources
is another area of interest. For example, cellulose nanofibers of
100 nm diameter have been prepared by electrospinning of
cellulose (C6H10O5)n 312. Cellulose constitutes around 90% of
cotton; thus scrap cotton that accounts for nearly one-fourth of
the material wasted during cotton processing can be used as the
raw material for this purpose. Cellulose nanofibres have
potential applications in air filtration, protective clothing,
biodegradable nanocomposites, biodegradable cellulose mats
for absorption / release of fertilizers and pesticides etc. The
preparation of nanocomposites based on natural polymers from
plant / animal sources is another well researched area (as
described in the section on packaging). Other examples include
electroactive polymers for a variety of applications including
biosensors313.
306 Depan D., Kumar B., Singh R. P. (2008) Preparation and
characterization of novel hybrid of chitosan –g- PDMS and sodium
montmorrilonite J. Biomed Mater res Part B: Appl Biomate 84B 184-190
307 Xu Y., Ren X., Hanna M. A. (2006) Chitosan/clay nanocomposite film
preparation and characterization J. Appl. Polym. Sci 99 1684-1691
308 Wang J., Chen C., Kuo Y. (2008) Chitosan–Poly (acrylic acid) nanofiber
networks prepared by the doping induction of succinic acid and its
ammonia – response studies Polymers for Advanced Technologies 19
1343-1352
309 Chen Y., Wang X., Hong M., Erramilli S., Mohanty P. (2008) Surface
modified silicon nano-channel for urea sensing Sensors and Actuators B
Chemical 133 593-598
310 Wang M., Du X., Liu I., Sun Q., Jiang X. (2008) DNA biosensor
prepared by electrodeposited Pt nanoparticles for the detection of specific
deoxyribonucleic acid sequence in genetically modified soybean Chinese J.
Anal. Chem 36 890-894
311 Liu J., He S., Zhang Z., Cao J., Lv P., He S., Cheng G., Joyce D.C. (2009)
Nano-silver pulse treatments inhibit stem-end bacteria on cut gerbera cv.
Ruikou flowers, Postharvest Biology and Technology 54 (1) 59-62
312 Frey M W (2008) Electrospinning Cellulose and Cellulose Derivatives
Polymer Reviews 48(2) 378 - 391
313 Ma X., Yu J., Wang N. (2008) Glycerol plasticized – starch/multiwall
carbon nanotube composites for electroactive polymers Compos. Sci.
Technol. 68 268-273.
Plants can also be exploited as factories for nanomaterial
production. For instance, using different plant species growing
under extreme conditions viz. a xerophyte (Bryophyllum sp.), a
mesophyte (Cyprus sp.) and a hydrophyte (Hydrilla sp.), silver
nanoparticles have been prepared, characterized and the
synthesis mechanism examined314. Plant silica bodies have been
explored for NT applications as well315 since silica nanoparticles
have wide biotechnological and biomedical applications in
biosensors, drug delivery and imaging. The route appears
attractive in view of the ready availability of crop residues, high
silica purity, and the fact that microencapsulation and
microcrystalline quartz with special optical characteristics may
be obtained.
Nanotubes can also be obtained from food material. For
example, nanotubes prepared by partial hydrolysis of the milk
protein α-lactalbumin have high viscosity and can be used as a
thickening agent316, 317.In addition, the 8 nm in diameter cavity in
these α-lactalbumin nanotubes are suited to nutraceutical
encapsulation.
Health applications
The health applications of nanotechnology are expected to have
a big impact and the main areas receiving a lot of attention are
drug delivery, nano diagnostics and regenerative medicine. The
advantages of nanotechnology in these areas are higher
sensitivity, ability to reach specific sites, possibilities for
biomimetics and personalized therapy.
In the case of drug delivery, nanotechnology offers the means
to send the drugs to targeted sites, and have the drug release in
a controlled manner. These can lead to delivery of drugs that
are otherwise difficult to administer, reduce side effects due to
lower dosage and site specific administration, minimize or
prevent drug degradation by using pathways other than gastrointestinal. Drug release can occur in a sustained manner (by
diffusion out of carrier or of carrier) or in response to a stimuli
such as temperature, pH etc. In future, applications such as
drug delivery combined with analysis of drug overdose, release
314 Jha
A K, Prasad K, Prasad K, Kulkarni A P (2009) Plant system:
Nature's nanofactory Colloids and Surfaces B: Biointerfaces 73 (2) 219223
315 Neethirajan S, Gordon R, Wang L (2009) Potential of silica bodies
(phytoliths) for nanotechnology Trends in Biotechnology 27 (8) 461-467.
316 Ipsen, R. and Otte, J. (2007) Self-assembly of partially hydrolysed
alactalbumin. Biotechnology Advances 25 602–607
317 Graveland-Bikker, J.F. and de Kruif, C.G. (2006) Unique milk protein
based nanotubes: food and nanotechnology meet. Trends Food Sci.
Technol. 17 196–203
of drugs after reaching diseased cell are envisaged. It is
expected that efficient drug delivery may be available
mainstream by 2015. Among the diseases to benefit from
nanotechnology in drug delivery, cancer is rated high since
many options will be available for treatment methods.
In the field of diagnostics nanotechnology offers high sensitivity
as well as reliability. The devices can be miniaturized thus
smaller sample amounts are required and several analysis can
be done in parallel. This will lead to a high throughput both in
terms of extent of analysis possible from a single sample and
number of samples that can be analyzed. Nanotechnological
interventions can be in the form of biosensors that signal
features about molecules in solution; integrated devices
(biochips) that enable analysis of several signals, imaging tools,
markers/contrast agents that enable early detection and therapy
monitoring. In the case of biochips, nanotechnology offers high
miniaturization and novel architectures; similarly
nanotechnology can provide biosensors with new functions (e.g.
through coatings) thereby broadening their applications.
The high resolution offered in improved analysis techniques
(microscopic, spectroscopic) as a result of nanotechnology
development will also contribute towards basic research in
understanding workings of disease and drugs. In molecular
imaging, nanotechnology is also envisaged to act as both
monitoring and delivering agents combining delivery and
analysis (theranostics). In biophotonics, nanotechnology offers
means to more effectively target photosensitizers and can
contribute towards therapies like Photo Dynamic Therapy.
The use of nanotechnology in regenerative medicine is
facilitated by nanobiomimetic strategy. They enable design of
suitable materials that can initiate the required regenerative
event by releasing suitable signals at the required rate. This is
applicable in various sites such as such as heart, bone, brain
tissue. Nanotechnology allows fabrication of nano sized
macromolecules with required properties. Advances in nano
fabrication methodologies have led to preparation of materials
with different shapes (e.g. nanoporous scaffolds, nanowires,
dendrimers etc.). The applications include coating on implants
to improve bonding with tissue and / or minimize rejection,
improvement in mechanical properties to prevent fatigue
failures, improved electrical properties for maintaining
performance over a longer duration in case of neural
prostheses.
Most of the products are expected to enter mainstream by 2015
and beyond. However, some products are in the advanced
stage. This includes Phase 3 clinical trial of paliperidone
palmitate in an injectable nanoformulation which overcomes
the insolubility issues with the previous version (Johnson &
Johnson); FDA approval for nano based harmone replacement
therapy (Novavax).
While nanotechnology offers many advantages, a detailed
understanding of the toxicity and other risks is required. It is
also important to have manufacturing that is reproducible,
economical and characterization techniques that are
standardized. It requires interdisciplinary cooperation and
research including legal and ethical aspects. Cost is also
important to make these accessible. The investment in R&D
needs to be recovered therefore impact should be huge and also
offset the costs and time associated with approvals.
Drug delivery
Many inorganic, polymeric nanoparticles, polymeric micelles,
liposomes are being used for this application. Other
nanoparticles are also being studied to widen the scope and
functions. Nano particles are also being considered for nose to
brain delivery of drug318. Polymeric nanoparticles have also
been prepared for oral drug delivery which could have
advantages for chemotherapy319. Azole antifungals have been
encapsulated in nanoparticles of polyactide-co-glycolide or
alignate for oral consumption. The nano encapsulation
enhanced the bioavailability of the drug320.
Polymeric micelles of 2-methacryloyloxyethyl
phosphorylcholine (MPC) copolymerized with 2(diethylamino)ethyl methacrylate (DEA) and 2(diisopropylamino)ethyl methacrylate (DPA) have been
developed and showed good size, stability and drug release321.
Polyeurathane based systems have also been developed.
Polyallylamine nanoparticles loaded with the antibiotic
cefamandole nefate and encapsulated in carboxylated
polueurathane showed controlled release and extended
antimicrobial activity322. Nano fibrous collagen microspheres
318
Mistry A, Stolnik S, Illum L (2009) Nanoparticles for direct nose-tobrain delivery of drugs International Journal of Pharmaceutics 379 (1)
146-157
319 Bisht S, Feldmann G, Koorstra JB, Mullendore M, Alvarez H, Karikari
C, Rudek M A, Lee C K, Maitra A, Maitra A (2008) In vivo
characterization of a polymeric nanoparticle platform with potential oral
drug delivery capabilities Molecular Cancer Therapeutics 7 (12) 38783888.
320 Pandey R, Ahmad Z, Sharma S, Khuller G K (2005) Nanoencapsulation of azole antifungals: potential applications to improve oral
drug delivery International Journal of Pharmaceutics 301 (1-2) 268-276.
321 Salvage J P, Rose S F, Phillips G J, Hanlon G W, Lloyd A W, Ma I Y,
Armes S P, Billingham N C, Lewis, A.L (2005) Novel biocompatible
phosphorylcholine-based self-assembled nanoparticles for drug delivery
Journal of Controlled Release 104 (2) 259-270.
322 Crisante F, Francolini I, Bellusci M, Martinelli A, D'Ilario L, Piozzi A
(2009) Antibiotic delivery polyurethanes containing albumin and
have been prepared for protein drug delivery. The retention
and release of drug from these microspheres was improved by
photochemical crosslinking323. Nanoparticles of copolymer beta
amino ester – polyethylene glycol were studied for cytoplasmic
drug delivery for cancer. These nanoparticles were able to enter
the cancer cells and release the drug324. Water soluble
amphiphilic poly N vinylpyrrolidones have also been studied as
an efficient drug carrier325. Another amphiphilic material that
has been studied is micelles from co polymer polyphosphazene
grafted with poly ethylene glycol. Studies with doxorubicin
loading showed sustained drug release. These carriers are
expected to contribute towards improved drug sensitivity326.
In order to provide a steric barrier to nano sized, functionalised
liposome drug carriers, they have been covered with poly
ethylene glycol. These drug carriers have been prepared for
targeting colon cancer cells and show potential for providing the
drug directly to colon cells327. Polymeric micelles that were
worm shaped were prepared by blend of polylactic acid and
amphiphile. The shape is expected to have an advantage in the
penetration of tissue and controlled drug release328.
Biodegradable L-tyrosine-polyphosphate nanospheres have
been prepared for intracellular drug delivery. These nano
spheres were not toxic and degraded in seven days329. Chitosantripolyphosphate nanoparticles have been prepared for delivery
of gene / protein macromolecules. The characteristics of the
nanoparticles were found to be dependent on the chitosan
polyallylamine nanoparticles, European Journal of Pharmaceutical
Sciences 36 (4) 555-564.
323 Chan O C M, So K F, Chan B P (2008) Fabrication of nano-fibrous
collagen microspheres for protein delivery and effects of photochemical
crosslinking on release kinetics Journal of Controlled Release 129 (2) 135143
324 Shen Y, Tang H, Zhan Y, Van Kirk E A, Murdoch W J (2009)
Degradable Poly(β-amino ester) nanoparticles for cancer cytoplasmic
drug delivery Nanomedicine: Nanotechnology, Biology, and Medicine 5
(2) 192-201
325 Kuskov A N. Shtilman M I, Goryachaya A V, Tashmuhamedov R I,
Yaroslavov A A, Torchilin V P, Tsatsakis A M, Rizos A K (2007) Selfassembling nanoscaled drug delivery systems composed of amphiphilic
poly-N-vinylpyrrolidones Journal of Non-Crystalline Solids, 353 (41),
3969-3975
326 Zheng C, Qiu L, Yao X, Zhu K (2009) Novel micelles from graft
polyphosphazenes as potential anti-cancer drug delivery systems: Drug
encapsulation and in vitro evaluation International Journal of
Pharmaceutics 373 (1) 133-140
327 Garg A, Tisdale A W, Haidari E, Kokkoli E (2009) Targeting colon
cancer cells using PEGylated liposomes modified with a fibronectinmimetic peptide International Journal of Pharmaceutics 366 (1) 201-210
328 Kim Y, Dalhaimer P, Christian D A, Discher D E (2005) Polymeric
worm micelles as nano-carriers for drug delivery Nanotechnology, 16 (7)
S484-S491
329 Ditto A J, Shah P N, Lopina S T, Yun Y H (2009) Nanospheres
formulated from L-tyrosine polyphosphate as a potential intracellular
delivery device International Journal of Pharmaceutics 368 (1-2) 199-206
tripolyphosphate weight ratio and other processing
parameters330.
Self nano emulsified drug delivery systems (SNEDDS) have
been characterized by ultrasonic resonator technology and it
was found that it was a reliable measure for physical properties
and as an indication of the stability331. Study has also looked at
different SNEDDS prototype preparation using different oil,
surfactant and co-surfactant ratios for protein drug delivery
orally332.
Calcium deficient nano hydroxyapatite has also been studied as
nano carriers for drug release. These nano carriers were
prepared by two different techniques and their uptake and
release behavior was studied using bovine serum albumin
(BSA). The amount of BSA uptake depended method of
preparation of the nano hydroxyapatite. The release of BSA
under one preparation condition took place with bursting due to
desorption of BSA. In other preparation conditions the release
took place gradually and was associated with dissolution of
nano hydroxyapatite333. Nano calcium carbonate particle have
shown promise as drug carriers. The nano particles
incorporated with betamethasone phosphate showed better
release compared to only betamethason phosphate solution.
This nanoparticle is expected to be suitable for hydrophilic
drugs and proteins334. Calcium phosphate nano particles have
been used to encapsulate chemotherapeutic drugs. These
nanoparticles can be used for imaging and drug delivery by
loading both flourophores and the drug335. Nano composites of
hydroxyapatite-chitosan-konjac glucomannan were prepared
for potential use as implantable drug delivery systems. It was
found that the biodegrability and drug delivery rates could be
330
Gan Q, Wang T, Cochrane C, McCarron P (2005) Modulation of surface
charge, particle size and morphological properties of chitosan-TPP
nanoparticles intended for gene delivery Colloids and Surfaces B:
Biointerfaces 44 (2) 65-73
331 Shah R B, Zidan A S, Funck T, Tawakkul M A, Nguyenpho A, Khan M A
(2007) Quality by design: Characterization of self-nano-emulsified drug
delivery systems (SNEDDs) using ultrasonic resonator technology
International Journal of Pharmaceutics, 341 (1) 189-194
332 Venkata Ramana Rao S, Shao J (2008) Self-nanoemulsifying drug
delivery systems (SNEDDS) for oral delivery of protein drugs
International Journal of Pharmaceutics 362 (1) 2-9
333 Liu T Y, Chen S Y, Liu D M, Liou S C (2005) On the study of BSAloaded calcium-deficient hydroxyapatite nano-carriers for controlled
drug delivery Journal of Controlled Release 107 (1) 112-121
334 Ueno Y, Futagawa H, Takagi Y, Ueno A, Mizushima Y (2005) Drugincorporating calcium carbonate nanoparticles for a new delivery system
Journal of Controlled Release 103 (1) 93-98
335 Kester M, Heakal Y, Fox T, Sharma A, Robertson G P, Morgan TT,
Altinoğlu E I, Tabaković A, Parette M R, Rouse SM, Ruiz-Velasco V, Adair
J H (2008) Calcium phosphate nanocomposite particles for in vitro
imaging and encapsulated chemotherapeutic drug delivery to cancer
cells Nano Letters 8 (12) 4116-4121
controlled by controlling the ratio of the constituents of the
composite336.
Magnetic clay based drug delivery systems have been prepared.
These were prepared by using iron oxide loaded magnetic clay
to obtain organic inorganic nanostructures (aspirin-clay)337.
Guo et. al., have reported a low cost method of preparing single
crystal magnetite nano particles which are mesoporous and
superparamagnetic. These particles were promising for drug
delivery with their high drug uptake and appropriate release338.
Magnetic ferrosponges have been prepared using magnetic
nano particles and gelatin. These had nano pores that were
interconnected and showed expansion and contraction with
magnetic field. Thus these are expected to be suitable for drug
release controlled by magnetism339. Magnetic iron
nanoparticles with cisplatin adsorbed in them were studied for
drug release in magnetic heating treatments for cancer. It was
observed that cisplatin desorbed from the nanoparticle in
response to hypothermal or thermal ablative heating340.
Mesoporous silica drug carriers have been prepared with
different pore and particle size to control drug release. Water
soluble captopril was used to study the loading and release
kinetics. It was found that the loading increased with
increasing surface area. The release was dependent on the pore
diameter and particle morphology341. Fullerene based
nanocarriers have also been prepared (called Buckysomes) for
delivering hydrophobic anticancer drugs and were found to
have good efficacy and no cytotoxicity342.
Nano Fe3O4 has been used to accumulate and improve drug
uptake in leukemia cells. Drug sensitive and resistant cells
336 Zhou G, Li Y, Zhang L, Zuo Y, Jansen J A (2007) Preparation and
characterization of nano-hydroxyapatite/chitosan/konjac glucomannan
composite Journal of Biomedical Materials Research Part A 83 (4) 931-939
337 Carja G, Chiriac H, Lupu N (2007) New magnetic organic-inorganic
composites based on hydrotalcite-like anionic clays for drug delivery
Journal of Magnetism and Magnetic Materials 311 (1) 26-30
338 Guo S, Li D, Zhang L, Li J, Wang E (2009) Monodisperse mesoporous
superparamagnetic single-crystal magnetite nanoparticles for drug
delivery Biomaterials 30 (10) 1881-1889
339 Hu S H, Liu T Y, Liu D M, Chen S Y (2007) Nano-ferrosponges for
controlled drug release Journal of Controlled Release 121 (3) 181-189
340 Kettering M, Zorn H, Bremer-Streck S, Oehring H, Zeisberger M,
Bergemann C, Hergt R, Halbhuber K J, Kaiser W A, Hilger I (2009)
Characterization of iron oxide nanoparticles adsorbed with cisplatin for
biomedical applications Physics in Medicine and Biology 54 (17) 51095121
341 Qu F, Zhu G, Huang S, Li S, Sun J, Zhang D, Qiu, S (2006) Controlled
release of Captopril by regulating the pore size and morphology of
ordered mesoporous silica Microporous and Mesoporous Materials 92 (1),
1-9
342 Partha R, Mitchell L R, Lyon J L, Joshi P P, Conyers J L (2008)
Buckysomes: fullerene-based nanocarriers for hydrophobic molecule
delivery ACS Nano 2 (9) 1950-1958
showed enhanced update of doxorubicin in the presence of nano
Fe3O4343. Nano particles have also been studied for inhibiting
multi drug resistance in tumor cells. In vitro studies on drug
resistant leukemia cells have shown that nano TiO2 along with
UV irradiation led to increased accumulation of anticancer drug
and thereby changes in the cell membrane344.
In related application, Damm et. al. examined polyamide 6 –
silver nanocomposites and microcomposites for their
antibacterial property using E coli. Antibacterial activity is
required for polymers used in application such as sutures,
artificial tendons medical packaging etc. They found that the
nanocomposite showed a much better response compared to the
microcomposite. This was attributed to the rate of silver release
which was found to be an order of magnitude higher in case of
the nanocomposite compared to the microcomposite345.
Diagnostics
Hollow nano particles have been prepared for use as ultrasound
contrasting agents and for drug delivery. The mechanical
properties of these particles were studied and found to depend
on shell thickness to particle radius ratio346. Silicon quantum
dots with luminescence have potential for medical imaging. To
overcome the problem of photoluminescence instability and
attaching of hydrophilic molecules, silicon quantum dots have
been encapsulated in phospholipids miscelles and tested as
labels for pancreatic cancer cells347. Electrodes based on gold
nanomaterials have been studies as immunosensors by means
of electrochemical impedence spectroscopy. Electrodes
modified with gold nanorods showed better performance than
those modified with gold nanoparticles348. Electrochemical
impedence spectroscopy has also been used with conducting
nano polymer alpha carboxy pyrrole appended to polypyrrole.
343
Zhang R, Wu C, Wang X, Sun Q, Chen B, Li X, Gutmann S, Lv G (2009)
Enhancement effect of nano Fe3O4 to the drug accumulation of
doxorubicin in cancer cells Materials Science and Engineering C, 29 (5)
1697-1701
344 Song M, Zhang R, Dai Y, Gao F, Chi H, Lv G, Chen B, Wang X (2006)
The in vitro inhibition of multidrug resistance by combined
nanoparticulate titanium dioxide and UV irradition Biomaterials 27 (23)
4230-4238
345 Damm C, Munstedt H, Rosch A (2008) The antimicrobial efficacy of
polyamide 6/silver-nano- and microcomposites Materials Chemistry and
Physics, 108 (1), 61-66
346 Hadinoto K (2009) Mechanical stability of hollow spherical nanoaggregates as ultrasound contrast agent International Journal of
Pharmaceutics 374 (1-2) 153-161
347 Erogbogbo F, Yong K T, Roy I, Xu G, Prasad P N, Swihart M T (2008)
Biocompatible luminescent silicon quantum dots for imaging of cancer
cells ACS Nano 2 (5) 873-878
348 Wasowicz M, Viswanathan S, Dvornyk A, Grzelak K, Kludkiewicz B,
Radecka H (2008) Comparison of electrochemical immunosensors based
on gold nano materials and immunoblot techniques for detection of
histidine-tagged proteins in culture medium Biosensors and
Bioelectronics 24 (2) 284-289
These biosensors were found to be highly stable and
reproducible349. Gold nanoparticles have been used as
contrasting agents for optical coherence tomography. These
consisted of silica core with a gold shell and provided greater
intensity and brightness in the locations where they were
present350. Gold nanorods conjugated with antibody have been
studied as contrast agents in photoacoustic imaging for
prostrate cancer detection. By controlling the aspect ratio, the
penetration depth could be increased with improved
sensitivity351.
Ferrofluids from dextran coated magnetite nanoparticles have
been examined for MRI application. It was found that the
signal from normal areas decreases on injection of ferrofluid
while in case of tumor, the signal did not decrease thus making
it identifiable352. Magnetite dextran nanocomposite have been
prepared for making magnetic fluid for biomedical applications.
The magnetite nanoparticles were coated with dextran to
facilitate the preparation of water based magnetic fluid353.
Magnetic nanoparticles combined with chemotherapeutic drug
were encapsulated in poly(hexadecylcyanoacrylate)
nanoparticles and coated with polycationic polyethylenimine for
combined imaging and drug delivery. This system displayed
good efficacy and was non toxic354.
Polyanaline is another material suitable for diagnostic
applications due to its properties. In order to improve its
processability, it has been prepared in the form of particles
349 Shamsipur M, Kazemi S H, Mousavi M F (2008) Impedance studies of a
nano-structured conducting polymer and its application to the design of
reliable scaffolds for impedimetric biosensors Biosensors and
Bioelectronics 24 (1) 104-110
350 Zagaynova E V, Shirmanova M V, Kirillin M Y, Khlebtsov B N, Orlova A
G, Balalaeva I V, Sirotkina M A, Bugrova M L, Agrba P D, Kamensky V A
(2008) Contrasting properties of gold nanoparticles for optical coherence
tomography: phantom, in vivo studies and Monte Carlo ... Physics in
Medicine and Biology 53 (18) 4995-5009
351 Agarwal A, Huang S W, O’Donnell M, Day K C, Day M, Kotov
N,Ashkenazi S (2007) Targeted gold nanorod contrast agent for prostate
cancer detection by photoacoustic imaging, Journal of Applied Physics
102, 064701
352 Hong R Y, Feng B, Chen L L, Liu G H, Li H Z, Zheng Y, Wei D G (2008)
Synthesis, characterization and MRI application of dextran-coated
Fe3O4 magnetic nanoparticles Biochemical Engineering Journal 42 (3)
290-300
353 Hong R Y, Li J H, Qu J M, Chen L L, Li H Z (2009) Preparation and
characterization of magnetite/dextran nanocomposite used as a
precursor of magnetic fluid Chemical Engineering Journal 150 (2) 572580.
354 Seo S B, Yang J, Hyung W, Cho E J, Tong-Il Lee, Song Y J, Yoon H G,
Suh J S, Huh Y M, Haam S (2007) Novel multifunctional PHDCA/PEI
nano-drug carriers for simultaneous magnetically targeted cancer
therapy and diagnosis via magnetic resonance imaging Nanotechnology
18 (47) 475105.
dispersed in hydrogel. These are expected to find applications
as optoelectronic devices355.
Glucose biosensors using nano platinum clusters and nano
silica particles have been examined. The biosensor was
sensitive and stable over a wide pH range356. Sensors based on
glucose/galactose binding protein combined with flourophores
have been prepared and flouresence lifetime imaging was used
as the analytical technique and is expected to be suitable for
glucose monitoring in diabetes management357. Glucose sensors
have also been prepared with carbon paste electrodes
containing nanostructured manganese oxide octahedral
molecular sieves as mediator and glucose oxidase as
biocomponent. These sensors were reliable, stable with easy
and low cost construction and renewal358.
Magnetic chitosan nanoparticles have been developed as
photosensitizer for PDT. It has the advantage of being nontoxic, biodegradable and soluble in water. These can be
monitored and targeted by MRI for PDT. These particles
showed good results in both in vitro and in vivo studies359.
Another group has also studied chitosan nanoparticles as
carriers for photosensitizer. Glycol chitosan nano particle was
used as a carrier for photosensitizer, protophorphyrin IX
(PpIX). A high drug loading was possible and the release was
sustained. The efficacy was better in case of the nano carrier
encapsulated photosentisizer compared to the free one360. BSA
nanospheres functionalized with magnetic nano particles has
been developed as novel material for DPT combined with
hypothermia. In vitro tests did not reveal any cytotoxicity361.
355
Dispenza C, Leone M, Presti C Lo, Librizzi F, Spadaro G, Vetri V (2006)
Optical properties of biocompatible polyaniline nano-composites, Journal
of Non-Crystalline Solids 352 (36) 3835-3840
356 Yang H, Zhu Y (2007) Glucose biosensor based on nano-SiO2 and
''unprotected'' Pt nanoclusters Biosensors and Bioelectronics 22 (12)
2989-2993
357 Saxl T, Khan F, Matthews D R, Zhi Z L, Rolinski O, Ameer-Beg S,
Pickup J (2009) Fluorescence lifetime spectroscopy and imaging of nanoengineered glucose sensor microcapsules based on glucose/galactosebinding protein Biosensors and Bioelectronics 24 (11) 3229-3234
358 Cui X, Liu G, Lin Y (2005) Amperometric biosensors based on carbon
paste electrodes modified with nanostructured mixed-valence manganese
oxides and glucose oxidase Nanomedicine: Nanotechnology, Biology, and
Medicine 1 (2) 130-135
359 Sun Y, Chen Z, Yang X, Huang P, Zhou X, Du X (2009) Magnetic
chitosan nanoparticles as a drug delivery system for targeting
photodynamic therapy Nanotechnology 20 (13) 135102
360 Lee S J, Park K, Oh Y K, Kwon S H, Her S, Kim I S, Choi K, Lee S J, Kim
H, Lee S G (2009) Tumor specificity and therapeutic efficacy of
photosensitizer-encapsulated glycol chitosan-based nanoparticles in
tumor-bearing mice Biomaterials 30 (15) 2929-2939
361 Rodrigues M M A, Simioni A R, Primo F L, Siqueira-Moura M P, Morais
P C, Tedesco A C (2009) Preparation, characterization and in vitro
cytotoxicity of BSA-based nanospheres containing nanosized magnetic
particles and/or photosensitizer Journal of Magnetism and Magnetic
Materials 321 (10) 1600-1603
Covalently linked photosentisizer on organically modified silica
nanoparticles has been reported. Compared to physical
encapsulation this has the advantage of not releasing the drug
during circulation362. Another novel material is dendrimer
phthalocyanine encapsulated in polymeric miscelle. The use of
such nano carriers led to improved efficacy and efficiency363.
Another novel design uses photosentisizer covalently linked to
an aptamer which is then placed on the surface of single-walled
carbon nano tube. The nano tube had the advantage that it
would quench the singlet oxygen; this would be restored only in
the presence of target which would disrupt the aptamer binding
with the nano tube. Thus this offers target molecule regulation
as well as improved performance and specificity364. Nano colloid
has also been prepared for carrying photosensitizer using 3aminopropyltriethoxysilane. This showed good water solubility
and photostability365.
Regenerative medicine
Nanomaterials for orthopaedic applications have been
reviewed366, 367. Hybrid constructs have been developed to
overcome the biocompatibility issues of synthetic materials and
strength issues of constructs with only proteins. These
structures were fibrous and consisted of extracellular matrix
protein and polycaprolactone. These showed very good
properties for regeneration application368. Fibrin gels on the
nanoscale level have been prepared using magnetic force to
guide the fibrin fibril self assembly. This technique had the
advantage of preparing large scaffolds with little starting
362 Ohulchanskyy T Y, Roy I, Goswami L N, Chen Y, Bergey E J, Pandey R
K, Oseroff A R, Prasad P N (2007) Organically modified silica
nanoparticles with covalently incorporated photosensitizer for
photodynamic therapy of cancer Nano Letters 7 (9) 2835-2842
363 Nishiyama N, Nakagishi Y, Morimoto Y, Lai P S, Miyazaki K, Urano K,
Horie S, Kumagai M, Fukushima S, Cheng Y, Jang W D, Kikuchi M,
Kataoka K (2009) Enhanced photodynamic cancer treatment by
supramolecular nanocarriers charged with dendrimer phthalocyanine
Journal of Controlled Release 133 (3) 245-251
364 Zhi Z, Zhiwen T, Joseph A P, Ronghua Y, Hui W, Weihong T (2008)
Regulation of singlet oxygen generation using single-walled carbon
nanotubes Journal of the American Chemical Society 130 (33) 1085610857
365 Zhou L, Dong C, Wei S.H, Feng Y Y, Zhou J H, Liu J.H (2009) Watersoluble soft nano-colloid for drug delivery Materials Letters 63 (20) 16831685
366 Balasundaram, G., Webster, T.J. (2007)An overview of nano-polymers
for orthopedic applications Macromolecular Bioscience 7(5)635-642.
367 Stylios, G., Wan, T., Giannoudis, P. (2007) Present status and future
potential of enhancing bone healing using nanotechnology Injury 38
(SUPPL. 1)S63-S74.
368 Schenke-Layland K, Rofail F, Heydarkhan S, Gluck J M, Ingle N P,
Angelis E, Choi C H, MacLellan W R, Beygui R E, Shemin R J,
Heydarkhan-Hagvall S (2009) The use of three-dimensional
nanostructures to instruct cells to produce extracellular matrix for
regenerative medicine strategies Biomaterials 30 (27) 4665-4675
material. The fibrils have application in tissue engineering369.
Novel composites of nano hydroxyapatite with chitosan and
carboxymethyl cellulose were prepared and characterized. The
composite had interconnected porosity, good mechanical
properties, biocompatibility and has potential for bone tissue
engineering370. Nano hydroxyapatite chitosan scaffolds have
also been prepared with in situ formation of nano particles. The
nano particles led to improved mechanical properties and the
scaffold had good bioactivity371. Porous nanocomposites based
on nano hydroxyapatite in a matrix of poly-2hydroxyethylmethacrylate (PHEMA)/polycaprolactone (PCL)
were prepared and characterized. This showed bioactivity and
potential for use as scaffolds for bone repair372. Other nano
hydroxyapatite based scaffolds have been examined including
with poly(lactide-co-glycolide) acid (PLGA) and blended
PLGA/Collagen nanofibers373; poly D,L-lactide374; polyamide375,
titania376, collagen377. Chitosan (obtained by deacetylation of
chitin) can be made into nanowhiskers for application in
scaffolds378. Nanocomposites have also been developed for
369 Eben A, Efraim F, Joy M P, Mara P, Donald I E (2006) Magneticallyguided self-assembly of fibrin matrices with ordered nano-scale structure
for tissue engineering Tissue Engineering 12 (11) 3247-3256
370 Jiang L, Li Y, Xiong C (2009) Preparation and biological properties of
a novel composite scaffold of nano-hydroxyapatite /chitosan
/carboxymethyl cellulose for bone tissue engineering Journal of
Biomedical Science 16 (1) 65-65
371 Di C J, Yingjun W, Xiaofeng C (2009) In situ fabrication of nanohydroxyapatite in a macroporous chitosan scaffold for tissue engineering
Journal of biomaterials science Polymer Edition 20 (11) 1555-1565
372 Jie H, Wan L Y, Wei F X, Serena B M, Roger A B, Neil R, William B
(2007) Development of nano-sized hydroxyapatite reinforced composites
for tissue engineering scaffolds.Journal of Materials Science. Materials in
Medicine 18 (11) 2151-2157
373 Michelle N, Susan L, Avinash J P, Ziyuan C, Casey K C, Ramakrishna S
(2009) The fabrication of nano-hydroxyapatite on PLGA and
PLGA/collagen nanofibrous composite scaffolds and their effects in
osteoblastic behavior for bone tissue engineering Bone 45 (1) 4-16
374 Jie R, Peng Z, Tianbin R, Shuying G, Kefeng P (2008) Poly (D,Llactide)/nano-hydroxyapatite composite scaffolds for bone tissue
engineering and biocompatibility evaluation Journal of Materials Science
Materials in Medicine 19 (3) 1075-1082
375 Huanan W, Yubao L, Yi Z, Jihua L, Sansi M, Lin C (2007)
Biocompatibility and osteogenesis of biomimetic nanohydroxyapatite/polyamide composite scaffolds for bone tissue
engineering Biomaterials 28 (22) 3338-3348
376Pushpakanth, S., Srinivasan, B., Sreedhar, B., Sastry, T.P. (2008) An in
situ approach to prepare nanorods of titania-hydroxyapatite (TiO2-HAp)
nanocomposite by microwave hydrothermal technique Materials
Chemistry and Physics 107 (2-3)492-498.
377Pek, Y.S., Gao, S., Arshad, M.S.M., Leck, K.-J., Ying, J.Y. (2008) Porous
collagen-apatite nanocomposite foams as bone regeneration scaffolds
Biomaterials 29 (32)4300-4305
378 Lertwattanaseri T., Ichikawa N., Mizoguchi T., Tanka Y., Chirachanchai
S. (2009) Microwave technique for efficient deacetylation of chitin
nanowhiskers to a chitosan nanoscaffold Carbohydrate Research 344
331-335
surgical applications 379, bone cements380, nerve repair381 and
dental / bone implant material382 etc.
Summary
NT applications in the food and agriculture sector are
targeted at improving food processing and storage (covering
smart packaging, delivery systems for nutraceuticals /
bioactive compounds, sensors for food quality monitoring),
enhancing agricultural productivity and exploiting plants for
nanomaterials production.
There are several NT applications in the food sector that are
already in the market. This trend appears to be driven by the
significant market for nutraceuticals / bioactive products
that, unlike pharmaceutical products, do not require
exhaustive field testing and regulatory approvals.
There is growing concern on lack of information on the risks
associated with nanomaterials in the food sector (e.g.
degradation, durability and toxicity of polymer–
nanoparticulate systems in packaging, leaching of nanosilver
in various food related consumer goods like nanocoated
cookware etc.).
The use of nanotechnology in health offers many advantages
in aspects of drug delivery, diagnostics as well as
regeneration. These include enhanced sensitivity, lower
dosage requirement, targeted therapeutics, combined
therapeutics and diagnostics, reduced side effects etc. Many
of the applications are expected to enter the mainstream by
2015 or beyond.
Given the high investment required for research and the cost
and time required for getting clearances, profitability of the
product is important in NT application in the health sector.
In the health sector as well, the risks involved are not clear
with a variety of materials and applications opening up.
379 Balázsi, C., Bishop, A., Yang, J., Sedlácková, K., Wéber, F., Gouma, P.I.
(2008) Biopolymer-hydroxyapatite nanocomposite from eggshell for
prospective surgical applications Materials Science Forum 589 61-65.
380 Liu-Snyder, P., Webster, T.J. (2008) Developing a new generation of
bone cements with nanotechnology Current Nanoscience 4(1)111-118.
381 Lin, Y.-L., Jen, J.-C., Hsu, S.-h., Chiu, I.-M. (2008)Sciatic nerve repair
by microgrooved nerve conduits made of chitosan-gold nanocomposites
Surgical Neurology 70 (SUPPL. 1)S9-S18.
382 Wang, W., Watari, F., Omori, M., Liao, S., Zhu, Y., Yokoyama, A., Uo,
M., Kimura, H., Ohkubo, A. (2007) Mechanical properties and biological
behaviour of carbon nanotube/polycarbosilane composites for implant
materials Journal of Biomedical Materials Research - Part B Applied
Biomaterials 82 (1) 223-230.
A NNEXURE I: List of Commercial Nanomaterials producers
Asia
Company
Country
Beijing Chamgo Nano-Tech China
Products
Manufactures antimicrobial fibers and plastics and
nanocomposite materials.
Manufacturer of nanodispersions and polymers for
coatings and surface treatments in the textile and
construction material industry
Producer of tungsten and tungsten carbide
nanopowders.
Pecializes in nitride and carbide series of
nanoparticle ceramic powders.
URL
http://www.chamgonano.com/
http://www.nanotubeseu.com/
http://www.huperoptik.com/
China
Producer of carbon nanotubes.
Develops and manufactures nano-ceramic
coatings.
Focused on development, manufacture and
application of nanomaterials and adhesives.
Producer of wide range of nanoparticles, coating
supplements and finishing agents.
Produces metal nanoparticles.
China
Producer of nanoparticles.
http://www.chengying.com/
China
http://www.nanotubes.com.cn/
http://www.sunnano.com/
http://www.titanpe.com/
Chin Shiang Light Ray Co
China
Chongyi Zhangyuan
Tungsten Co.
HeFei Kaier Nanometer
Technology Development
Co.
HeJi
Hüper Optik
China
China
China
NaBond
China
Shanghai Huzheng Nano
Technology
Shenzen Junye Nano
Material Co.
Shenzhen Chengyin
Technology
Shenzhen NanoTechnologies Port
Sun Nanotech
TitanPE Technology
(Shanghai)
EnvironmentalCare
China
China
China
Supplier of carbon nanotubes.
Produces nano photocatalysts.
Hong Kong
United Nanotechnologies
India
Nanocid
Iran
B.G. Polymers
Israel
Nano-Size
Israel
NutraLease
Israel
Sol-Gel Technologies
Israel
ABC Nanotech
Nano Co.
Nanomag
Nano-Vision Tech
Korea
Korea
Korea
Korea
Manufactures nano-TiO2 catalytic surface coating http://www.environmentalcare.com.
materials.
hk/fotocide.htm
Manufactures nanoparticle-based coatings.
http://www.unitednanotechnologies.
com/
Produces silver nanoparticles for antimicrobial
http://www.nanocid.com
applications.
Develops, manufactures and markets unique
http://www.bgpol.co.il/
water-based acrylic nano-polymers and pigments.
Specializes in research, development and
http://www.nano-size.com/
production of exceptionally high specific surface
area powders, nanoparticle dispersions and ultra
fine grinding.
Develops nano-encapsulation technology for
http://www.nutralease.com/
delivery applications for nutraceuticals and drugs.
Encapsulation, at room temperature, of active
http://www.sol-gel.com/
ingredients in micro- and nano-sized glass (silica)
matrices as well as nanospheres utilizing a
chemical process called sol-gel.
Silver and silica nanoparticles and nano coatings http://www.abcnanotech.com/
Producer of photocatalytic nanopowders.
http://www.nanoin.com/
Producer of nanoparticles.
http://www.nanomag.co.kr/eng/
Producer of various nanomaterials such as
http://www.nanovistech.com/
particles, fibers and carbon nanotubes.
China
http://www.zy-tungsten.com/
http://www.hfkiln.com/
http://www.nabond.com/
http://www.hznano.com/en/
http://www.junyenano.com/
Company
Altimate EnviroCare
Services
Inspiraz Technology
Country
Singapore
Singapore
NanoMaterials Technology
s.
Singapore
Singular ID
Singapore
Advanced Nano Products
South Korea
Ecopro
South Korea
FinePolymer, Inc.
South Korea
Iljin Nanotech
South Korea
Nano-Infinity Nanotech Co. Taiwan
Sino Technology
Corporation
Teco Nanotech
Taiwan
Products
Manufactures nano-TiO2 based photocatalytic
surface coatings.
Manufactures antiviral, antimicrobial and
hydrophobic coatings based on silver, carbon and
photocatalyst nanoparticles.
Development and commercialization of production
technologies for nanomaterials in the
pharmaceutical, electronics and chemical sectors.
Provides individually tailored tagging solutions
designed to combat counterfeiting and forgeries.
The technology offers unique, irreproducible tags
with nanoscale magnetic regions that act like
fingerprints to identify each tagged item.
Manufacturing and supplying the chemically
processed nanocrystalline materials and their
chemical precursors for coating and powder
processing applications.
URL
http://www.altimateenvirocare.com/
http://www.inspiraz.com.sg/
http://www.nanomt.com/
http://www.singular-id.com/
http://www.anapro.com/
Manufactures carbon nanoparticles that are an
http://www.ecopro.co.kr/
alternative to activated charcoal catalysts.
Produces nanosilver masterbatches and other nanosilver related products.
http://hnt.hanwha.co.kr/
Manufacturer of nanoparticles and finished
http://www.nano-infinity.com.tw/
nanoparticle cleaning and deodorant products.
Nanoscale coating materials.
http://www.nanosino.biz/
Taiwan
Producer of carbon nanotubes and equipment
systems for synthesis and testing
http://wwwe.teconano.com.tw/
Company
Microniser
Country
Ausralia
URL
http://www.micronisers.com/i
Advanced Nanotechnology
Limited (Advanced Nano)
CeramiSphere
Australia
Australia
DatatraceDNA
Australia
Nanotec
Australia
Nanotechnology products
and services
Star Pharma
Australia
Products
Producer of nanoparticles for use in the plastics,
personal care, textile, coatings, veterinarian and
pharmaceutical industries.
Advanced nanomaterials and nanomaterials
products
Commercializes a nano and micron sized ceramic
spheres technology that provides encapsulation
and controlled release of active molecules for a
variety of applications including drug delivery,
cosmeceuticals and speciality chemicals.
Nanoparticle-based security technology for anticounterfeiting, identification and authentication
applications.
Developer, marketer and distributor of
nanotechnology surface protection treatments.
Nanotechnology products and services for the
construction industry
Develops dendrimer nanotechnology products for
pharmaceutical, life science and other applications.
Produces nanopowders of complex metal oxides.
Austrailia
Very Small Particle
Company
Australia
Australia
http://www.antaria.com/
http://www.ceramisphere.com.au/
http://www.datatracedna.com/
http://www.nanotec.com.au/
http://www.nanovations.com.au/
http://www.starpharma.com/
http://www.vspc.com/
Europe
Company
Country
PlasmaChem Surface- and Germany
Nano-Technology Nanothinx S.A.
Greece
MBN Nanomaterialia
Italy
Lenntech Water Treatment
& Air Purification
n-Tec
Netherlands
Norway
BioAlliance Pharma
Paris
NanoCarbLab
Nanogap
Russia
Spain
Nanoenergy Technologies
Sweden
Nanosensor -
Switzerland
Mo6
The
Netherlands
Yüksek Teknoloji
Malzemeleri Arastirma ve
Gelistirme
Eurochem Auto Chemicals
Turkey
U.K
General Applications
U.K
Intrinsiq Materials Ltd
U.K
Products
Manufacturer and supplier of a wide range of industrial
nanomaterials and nanotechnology-based medical
devices.
Develops methods for the large-scale, high-yield and
low-cost production of carbon nanotubes.
Producer of nanopowders such as nanostructured metal
alloys, ceramics and metal-ceramics nanocomposites,
polymeric alloys, fillers and nanostructured additives.
Offers nanofiltration systems.
URL
http://www.plasmachem.de/
Producer of carbon nanotubes, carbon cones and
related carbon nanomaterials.
Manufactures a nanoparticle-based drug delivery
platform.
roducer of nanoparticles and clusters of zero-valence
metal atoms, with sizes in the range of ~ 2 to 50 atoms
(~ 0.3nm to 2nm).
Develops a thermoelectric coolchip having a high
efficiency, 10-15 times higher than so-called Peltierelements working on the same basic principle. The
coolchip, which consists of different semiconductor
materials, built using nanotechnology.
Manufactures scanning probes for scanning probe
microscopy.
The company Mo6 was formed with the aim to
commercialize synthesis of transition metal
chalcogenide (TMC) nanomaterials and develop new
applications based on this important new class of
nanomaterials.
Produces nanopowders.
http://www.n-tec.no/
Manufactures the Nano8 range of nanoparticle surface
coatings.
Creates insulating materials based on aerogel particles
coated in nanoscale layers of metal or polymer.
A leading European manufacturer of novel materials for
applications in the Clean Tech and Wellness sectors.
The company originally started as Qinetiq
Nanomaterials, a spinout of international defence and
security technology company QinetiQ Plc.
http://www.eurochem.co.uk/
http://www.nanotubesx.com/
http://www.mbn.it/
http://www.lenntech.com/
http://www.bioalliancepharma.c
om/
http://nanocarblab.com/
http://www.nanogap.es/
http://www.nanofreeze.se/
http://www.nanosensors.com/
http://www.mo6.com/
http://www.nano-tekno.com/
http://www.generalapplications.
com/
http://www.intrinsiqmaterials.co
m/
Iota Nanosolutions
U.K
Developer of organic nanodispersion technologies for
industrial applications.
http://www.iotanano.com/
JR Nanotech
U.K
Producer of various metal nanoparticles.
http://www.jrnanotech.com/
Keeling & Walker
U.K
Manufacturer of a range of nanoparticulate powders
and dispersions.
http://www.keelingwalker.co.uk
/
Company
Liquids Research
Country
U.K
Products
URL
Offers a wide range of ferrofluids in which the magnetic http://www.liquidsresearch.com
nanoparticles are one of a variety of ferrites or transition /
metals, such as iron and cobalt.
Mel Chemicals
U.K
Metal Nanopowders
Nanoco Technologies
U.K
U.K
Oxonica
U.K
Q-Flo
U.K
Queensgate Instruments
U.K
Surrey Nanosystems
U.K
Thomas Swan
ATDBio
U.K
UK
dispersia ltd
UK
NanoFluorescent Materials
Ukraine
Producer of zirconium nanoparticles and nano stabilized
zirconia materials.
Production of metal powders at the sub-100nm scale.
Manufactures fluorescent quantum dots from semiconductor and metallic materials.
Develop nanocrystalline materials for commercial use,
such as nanoparticle phosphors for flat screen displays,
catalysts, chemical reactants, and quantum dots.
Commercialize research findings in the areas of
advanced nano-enabled materials, specifically in the
area of carbon nanotube materials and their
applications.
NanoPositioning and nanosensor solutions for OEM
development and automation applications.
NanoGrowth CNT materials growth technologies for
carbon nanotubes and silicon nanowire growth on
substrates within a CMOS process window.
Produces carbon nanotubes.
Provides labelled and chemically modified
oligonucleotide scaffolds for nanotechnology
applications.
Dispersia creates and produces advanced heat transfer
fluids for thermal management and process
intensification based on proprietary nanoparticle
technologies.
Inorganic semiconductor fluorophores nanodots and
nanorods for high-sensitive fluorescence analysis.
http://www.zrchem.com/nano.h
tm
http://www.nanocotechnologies
.com/
http://www.oxonica.com/
http://www.q-flo.com/
http://www.nanopositioning.co
m/
http://www.surreynanosystems.
com/
http://www.thomas-swan.co.uk/
http://www.atdbio.com/
http://www.dispersia.co.uk/
http://www.nanofm.com/
U.S.A
Company
AcryMed
Country
USA
Advanced Diamond
Technologies (ADT)
Agile Nano
USA
USA
Ahwahnee Technologies
USA
Inc.
Air Products Inc.
USA
Altair Nanotechnologies, Inc. USA
Ambit Corporation
USA
American Elements
USA
Products
SilvaGard®, a silver nanoparticle antimicrobial
surface treatment for medical devices
Nanocrystalline diamond (3-5 nm grains) for
various applications (probes, seals etc.)
Produces Agilezorb™, a nanotechnology-based
compressible energy absorbing liquid. Agilezorb
absorbs energy on a near molecular scale instead
of relying on the mechanical properties of solid
materials.
Offers carbon nanotubes material and productiona
and application knowhow.
Manufactures nanoparticle dispersions.
Manufacturer of proprietary nanomaterials and
nano-based products
Positioning technology and systems for carbon
nanotube and nanowire applications.
Manufacturer of advanced and engineered
materials including ultra high purity refining
(99.9999%) and nanoparticles.
URL
http://www.acrymed.com/
http://www.thindiamond.com/
http://www.agilenano.com/
http://www.ahwahneetech.com/
http://www.airproducts.com/
http://www.altairnano.com/
http://www.ambitcorp.com
http://www.americanelements.com/
Company
Angstrom Medica
Country
USA
Antibodies Incorporated -
USA
Apex Nanomaterials
USA
ApNano Materials
USA
Apogee Technology
USA
Applied Microstructures
USA
Applied Nanomat Inc.
USA
Applied NanoWorks
USA
Applied Thin Films
USA
Argonide Nanomaterials
USA
Aspen Aerogels
USA
Authentix
BioForce Nanosciences
USA
USA
BioNanomatrix -
USA
Biophan Technologies
USA
Canano Technologies
Carbolex
Carbon Nanotechnologies
Incorporated
Carbon Solutions Inc.
USA
USA
USA
Catalytic Materials
USA
Celsia Technologies
USA
USA
Products
A life-sciences biomaterials company that
harnesses nanotechnology for orthopedic
applications. Its flagship product is a patented
biomimetic nanostructured material similar in
composition to human bone.
A provider of biomedical quantum dots
(antibodies).
Manufacturer of single-walled carbon nanotubes at
kilogram scale.
Commercializes proprietary technology for
nanospheres and nanotubes made from inorganic
compounds.
Applies advanced MEMS and nanotechnologies to
develop value add sensing solutions for the
measurement industry.
Manufactures nanoscale films for applications in
the microelectronics and biotech industries.
Develop semiconducting nano-structures for
advanced nanodevices in the fields of energy,
electronics, sensors, and medical devices.
Provides nanomaterials and analytical services to
meet both university and industrial research needs.
Developing thin film technologies to serve defense,
energy, aerospace, and other industrial needs.
Manufacturer and supplier of specialized nano
materials and ceramics. Composites, Catalysts,
Bio-medical, Microelectronic and Aerospace
applications.
Manufacturer of aerogels for thermal insulation
products.
Authentication and anti-counterfeit technology.
Developer of ultra-miniaturized nanoarray
technologies. Molecular analysis systems are
capable of providing nanometer scale, single
molecule resolution. Applications in proteomics,
diagnostics, and therapeutics.
A bionanotech designer and maker of
nanostructured chips, devices and systems for fast
and low-cost analysis of native state genomic,
epigenomic and proteomic information with
sensitivity at the single cell / single molecule level.
Develops nanotechnology drug delivery systems
based on novel nanomaterials that provide precise
control over location and timing of drug delivery.
Provides custom engineered nanopowders.
Manufacturer of carbon nanotubes.
URL
http://www.pioneersurgical.com
http://www.antibodiesinc.com/
http://www.apexnanomaterials.com
http://www.apnano.com/
http://www.apogeemems.com
http://www.appliedmst.com/
http://www.appliednanomat.com/
http://www.appliednanoworks.com/
http://www.atfinet.com/
http://www.argonide.com/
http://www.aerogel.com/
http://www.authentix.com/
http://www.bioforcenano.com/
http://www.bionanomatrix.com/
http://www.biophan.com/
http://www.cananopowders.com/
http://www.carbolex.com/
http://www.unidym.com/
Research, development and commercialization of http://www.carbonsolution.com/
single-walled carbon nanotubes, its chemistry and
application to carbon based nanotechnology
Producer of carbon nanotubes, carbon nanofibers http://www.catalyticmaterials.com/
and carbon nanochips.
Research, development and commercialization of http://www.celsiatechnologies.com/
next-generation cooling solutions that are built on
an exclusive patent portfolio in the field of
thermofluid nanotechnology.
Company
Cheap Tubes Inc
Country
USA
ChelaTech
USA
Class100Nanofibers -
USA
Cleantechnology
International
CogniTek
USA
USA
Crystalplex
USA
DA Nanomaterials
USA
Diamond-Fusion
International
USA
3DM
USA
Donaldson Company
Ecology Coatings
USA
USA
Eikos
USA
eMembrane
USA
Emergency Filtration
Products
USA
eSpin Technologies
USA
Evident Technologies
USA
Products
A supplier of high quality, low cost carbon
nanotubes for research and industry. We ship
worldwide.
The company commercializes patented
nanomaterial-based ion exchange technology to
deliver cheaper, faster, and more recovery of
precious, commodity and specialty metals from
ores.
Synthesis of biopolymer, inorganic and hybrid
nanofibers. The nanofibers are fabricated on a
state of the art laboratory equiped with an ISO
Class 5 (Class 100) room.
Supplier of high quality nanostructured carbon
material such as solid carbon nanosphere chains.
Expertise is in the conversion of nanoscale
materials into enhanced fluids, phase change
materials, and polymeric composites into
respectively nanofluids, nano-PCMs and
nanocomposites.
Develops and commercializes innovative
fluorescent markers for use in basic life science
research, pharmaceutical research, diagnostics
and histology. The technology is based on
proprietary composition-tunable nanocrystals
(quantum dots).
A joint venture between DuPont and Air Products
develops and manufactures colloidal silica sols
and particles for electronic applications.
The company's coating process works at
nanoscale levels, approximately 30 nanometers.
The change of the molecular composition of the
silica-based surface created by bonding
nanoparticles enables the full efficiency of the
coating process at an atomic scale.
The firm commercializes a family of selfassembling nanoscale scaffolds called PuraMatrix.
3DM’s materials assemble upon injection into
nanofibers, serving as a scaffold for tissue
regeneration.
Manufactures nanofiber filter media.
Develops and manufactures solvent-free, UV
curable, advanced materials. Includes details of
technologies and applications, together with
information for investors.
Develops unique carbon nanotube formulations for
coatings.
The Company's proprietary platform technology is
nano-grafting of combinatorial polymer brushes for
filter membranes.
Manufacturer of NanoMask®, a facemask utilizing
nanoparticle enhanced filters to address potentially
harmful airborne contaminants.
Manufactures polymeric nanofibers.
Manufacturer of quantum dots and developer of
quantum dot applications.
URL
http://www.cheaptubes.com/
http://www.chelatech.biz/
http://www.class100nanofibers.com/
http://www.cleantechnano.com/
http://www.cognitek.com/
http://www.crystalplex.com/
http://www.nanoslurry.com/
http://www.dfinanotechnology.com/
http://www.puramatrix.com/
http://www.donaldson.com/
http://www.ecologycoatings.com/
http://www.eikos.com/
http://www.emembrane.com/
http://www.emergencyfiltration.com/
nanomask.html
http://www.espintechnologies.com/c
ontact.htm
http://www.evidenttech.com/
Company
First Nano
Country
USA
Five Star Technologies
USA
Foster
USA
Fractal Systems
USA
General Nanotechnology
USA
Green Millennium -
USA
Greenyarn
USA
Headwaters Nanokinetics
USA
Helix Material Solutions
USA
High Performance Coatings USA
Hybrid PLastics
USA
Hyperion Catalysis
USA
Idaho Space Materials
USA
Immunicon
USA
Industrial Nanotech
USA
Inframat Advanced Materials USA
Products
First Nano develops solutions for nanotube and
nanowire synthesis.
Developing a range of conductive dispersions for
use in electrode inks and pastes targeted to the
most demanding applications. Includes carbon
nanofiber dispersions, carbon nanotube
dispersions and nanosilver dispersions.
Develops a family of nanocomposite materials
designed to increase mechanical performance in
medical applications.
Research and development on conductive
polymers, nanomaterials and nanocomposites for
electronic and electrochemical applications,
including sensors and power sources.
Makes Probe 3D and SmartFocus Software: used
by major manufacturers in Atomic Force and
Confocal Microscopy systems, and in semiconductor wafer profiling equipment. GN's imaging
software is useful for SPM and optical microscopy,
including laser and Nipkow disk confocal imaging.
Photo-catalyst nanomaterial and solution provider
in the domain of environmental coating services
and business integration.
Manufactures antibacterial and antimicrobial textile
fibers coated with bamboo-carbon nanoparticles.
Develops and manufactures nanotechnology
catalysts for use in chemical and pharmaceutical
manufacturing; fuel cells; NOx and VOC emissions
reduction; water treatment/remediation; fillers and
coatings; precious metal catalyst regeneration and
other applications.
Manufactures coating materials that offer
increased durability and corrosion resistance by
the incorporation and use of the nanomaterials.
Pioneered and continues to specialize in the
design, manufacture, and application of
Nanostructured® Chemical Tools derived from a
class of chemicals known as Polyhedral Oligomeric
Sil sesquioxanes (POSS®).
Carbon nanotube development and
commercialization.
Producer of single-walled carbon nanotubes in
research quantities.
Developed and integrated several patented
technologies for the isolation, manipulation and
analysis of rare cells. Patented magnetic
nanoparticles, called ferrofluids, are at the heart of
rare cell isolation for their kits and marker
reagents.
Nanoparticle based insulation and coating
materials.
Produces a wide range of nanoparticles such as
oxides, carbides, nitrides and metals.
URL
http://www.firstnano.com/
http://www.fivestartech.com/
http://www.fostercorporation.com/
http://www.fractalsystemsinc.com/
http://www.gennano.com/
http://www.greenmillennium.com/
http://www.greenyarn.com/
http://www.htigrp.com/nano.asp
http://www.helixmaterial.com/
http://www.hpcoatings.com/products
/nanotechnology.aspx
http://www.hybridplastics.com/
http://www.fibrils.com/
http://www.idahospace.com/
http://www.immunicon.com/
http://www.industrial-nanotech.com/
http://www.advancedmaterials.us
Company
InMat
Country
USA
Innovalight
USA
Integran
JenLaur
USA
USA
Kanematsu USA
USA
Liekki
USA
Liquida -
USA
Litmus Nanotechnology
USA
Lumiphore
USA
Luna Nanoworks
USA
Mach I
USA
Mad City Labs
USA
Marketech International
USA
Material Methods
USA
materials Modification
USA
Materials Technologies
Research MTR Limited
Mayaterials Inc.
USA
USA
Meliorum Technologies
USA
M.E.R. Corporation
USA
Products
Develops products in the field of nanocomposite
coatings that improve the barrier properties of
polymers and elastomers.
Has developed a silicon nanocrystalline ink for the
production of low-cost solar power modules.
Provider of nanostructured material technologies.
Produces metallofullerenes and metallofullerene
composites.
Manufactures a range of nanomaterials such as
powders, coatings, polymers, colloids or resins.
Supplier of highly doped fibers designs,
manufactures and markets high performance fibers
as well as fiber components and subassemblies
(optical engines) for fiber amplifiers and lasers
using its unique and proprietary Direct
Nanoparticle Deposition (DND) technology.
Develops a template manufacturing proces that
utilizes technologies adopted from the
microelectronics industry for the fabrication of
engineered shape and size-specific nanomaterials.
Specializes in the production of ultra pure high
quality nanostructure materials such as carbon
nanotubes and carbon nanofibers.
Develops and markets biological detection systems
based on luminescent lanthanide complexes,
which provide a unique combination of sensitivity,
reliability, flexibility and high throughput.
Produces carbon nanomaterials such as
nanotubes and fullerenes, including fullereneenclosed metal atoms.
Produces nanoparticles for applications in
advanced materials and aerospace industries.
Manufacturer of nanopositioning systems with subnanometer precision.
Offers custom fabricated finished components from
advanced materials as well as semi-finished stock
including nanofoams and nanopowders.
Manufactures and markets separation and energy
devices and components built on nano-structured
materials.
Provides innovative solutions in materials science
based on nanocrystalline metals and ceramics.
Producer of fullerenes.
URL
http://www.inmat.com/
http://www.innovalight.com/
http://www.integran.com/
http://www.jenlaurltd.com/
http://www.kanematsuusa.com/
http://www.liekki.com/
http://www.liquidia.com/
http://www.litmusgti.com/
http://www.lumiphore.com/
http://www.lunananoworks.com/
http://www.machichemicals.com/
http://www.madcitylabs.com/
http://www.mkt-intl.com/
http://www.materialmethods.com/
http://www.matmod.com/
http://www.mtr-ltd.com/
The company commercializes nanocoating and
http://www.talmaterials.com/
nanocomposite technologies. The firm's business
objectives are to provide the academic and
commercial communities with large-scale
quantities of these materials and to help
companies realize commercial products based on
them through contract research and intellectual
property development.
Producer of semiconductor, metal and oxide
http://www.meliorum.com/
nanomaterials.
Research and development of advanced materials, http://www.mercorp.com/mercorp/
including fullerenes and carbon nanotubes
Company
MicroTechNano
Country
USA
Molecular Diamond
Technologies
USA
Molecular Nanosystems
USA
MTI Corporation
USA
Nano Pulp and Paper
USA
NanoBioMagnetics
USA
NanoBlox
USA
NanoBreeze
USA
Nano-c
Nanocerox
USA
USA
Nanocomp Technologies
USA
nanoComposix
USA
Nanocopeia
USA
Nanocs
USA
NanoDynamics
USA
NanoEner -
USA
Nanoexa
USA
NanoGram -
USA
Products
Producer of carbon nanotubes, nanoparticles and
nanowires.
Produces diamondoids, tiny diamond fragments
which come in a wide variety of shapes and are
very rigid and stable. These properties, plus their
minute size, make diamondoids potentially useful
building blocks for molecular-size machines, or
nanotechnology.
Uses patent-protected site-selective chemical
vapor deposition technology to develop solutions
for the field of electronics.
Producer of nanoparticles, crystals and
manufacturer of precision machines for crystal and
materials processing.
Applies nanotechnology processes and
applications to pulp and paper production.
Pioneering an emerging area of nanomedicine
referred to as organ-assisting-device (OAD)
technologies.
Creates materials known as Ultra-Dispersed
Diamond (UDD), Nanocrystalline diamond or
Nanodiamond (the Nanoblox) for industrial and
biomedical uses.
Manufactures nano-TiO2 photocatalyst material for
use in its air purifiers.
Producer of carbon nanotubes and fullerenes.
Produces mixed-metal oxide spherical
nanopowders.
Production technology for carbon nanotubes and
application focused, nanotube based products.
Specializes in the fabrication of multi-component
nanoparticles that are tailored for specific
applications.
Commercializes its proprietary process for creating
advanced coatings and drug formulations through
its ability to nanoformulate compounds and/or
apply those novel formulations as coatings onto
the surfaces of medical devices.
Producer of carbon nanotubes and gold and silver
nanoparticles.
Produces high performance materials including
metal and ceramics nanoparticles and carbon
nanotubes.
Pioneers high-efficiency nanomaterials deposition
technologies for the production of different types of
electrodes and other structural materials in several
milliseconds.
Develops nanotechnology software design tools
that enable modeling and simulation of nano
materials.
Develop and commercialize new nanoscale
materials for optical, electronic and energy storage
applications and products : nanomaterials
synthesis, laser process, LDR, RMS,
manufacturing.
URL
http://www.microtechnano.com/
http://moleculardiamond.chevron.co
m/
http://www.monano.com/
http://mtixtl.com/
http://www.nanopulpandpaper.com/
http://www.nanobmi.com/
http://www.nanobloxinc.com/
http://www.nanobreeze.com/
http://www.nano-c.com/
http://www.nanocerox.com/
http://www.nanocomptech.com
http://www.nanocomposix.com
http://www.nanocopoeia.com/
http://www.nanocs.com/
http://www.nanodynamics.com/
http://www.nanoener.com/
http://www.nanoexa.com/
http://www.nanogram.com/
Company
NanoH2O -
Country
USA
NanoHorizons
USA
NanoLab Inc.
USA
Nanomaterials Company
USA
Nanomaterials Discovery
Corporation
NanoMech
Nanomix
USA
USA
USA
Nanophase
USA
NanoPrism Technologies
USA
Nanoprobes
USA
Nanoridge
USA
Nanorisk
USA
NanoSafeguard
USA
Nanoscale Corporation
USA
NanoSelect
USA
NanoSolar
USA
NanoSonic
USA
Nanostellar
Nanostructured and
Amorphous Materials
USA
USA
Products
Enhances current polymer-based membranes with
nanostructured material that allows additional
'degrees of freedom' in the control of membrane
properties.
Engineering company with a focus on silver
nanoparticles.
Produces carbon nanotubes using the CVD growth
process. The process produces arrays of aligned
carbon nanotubes on substrates.
Specializes in the production of nanomaterials
(nanoparticles and nanopowders) having complex
composition and exacting particle size and particle
size distribution and tailored surface
characteristics.
Develops nanostructured materials using highthroughput combinatorial electrochemical methods.
Nanostructured coatings and coating systems.
Develops nanotechnology based sensors and
hydrogen storage systems.
Engineers and produces nanocrystalline materials
(ceramic and metallic materials in powder form)
using several techniques including Physical Vapor
Synthesis and Discrete Particle Encapsulation.
A developer of ferro- and magneto-rheological
fluids with dispersed nanoparticles in both aqueous
and non-aqueous media specially designed for
implementation in various specific highperformance applications in life sciences and the
biomedical field.
Manufacturer of nanoparticle immunogold labeling
and immunoassay tests.
Technologies focused on applications of carbon
nanotubes and other nanoparticles for production
and sales of advanced nanomaterials.
Website and newsletter addressing the issues of
risk associated with engineered nanoparticles.
Manufactures nanoparticle-based surface
treatment products for a wide range of materials.
roducer of nanoscale metal oxides, granules and
suspensions.
Developing chemical and biological sensors to
monitor the quality and safety of our municipal
water supply systems.
Focused on certain optoelectronically relevant
materials and include semiconductor quantum dots
and nanoparticles as well as nanotemplates with
precise three-dimensional order.
Develops molecular self-assembly processes that
allow the controlled synthesis of material structure
at the nanometer level and the manufacturing of
new materials with designed novel and useful
engineering constitutive behaviors.
Engineered nanomaterials for emissions control.
Manufacturer and supplier of nanoscale metal
oxides, nitrides, carbides, diamond, carbon
nanotubes for research and industry.
URL
http://www.nanogram.com/
http://www.nanohorizons.com
http://www.nano-lab.com/
http://www.nanomaterialscompany.c
om/
http://www.nanomaterialsdiscovery.
com/
http://www.nanomech.biz/
http://www.nano.com/
http://www.nanophase.com/
http://www.nanoprism.net/
http://www.nanoprobes.com/
http://www.nanoridge.com/
http://www.nanorisk.org/
http://www.nanosafeguard.com/
http://www.nanmatinc.com/
http://www.nanoselect-sensors.com/
http://www.nanosolar.com/
http://www.nanosonic.com/
http://www.nanostellar.com/
http://www.nanoamor.com/
Company
Nanosyn
Country
USA
NanoTechLabs
USA
Nanotex
USA
NanoVec ts.
USA
Nanoviricide
USA
Nansulate
NaturalNano
USA
USA
nCoat
USA
NEI Corporation
USA
Nextreme Thermal Solutions USA
nGimat -
USA
NN-Labs
USA
Noble Polymers
USA
Novacentrix
USA
Nucryst
USA
Nyacol Nano Technologies
USA
Optodot Corporation
USA
Pacific Fuel Cell
USA
Pacific Industrial
Development Corporation
USA
Products
Design, synthesis, and analysis of small molecule
organic compounds for the pharmaceutical
industry.
Development and production of military and
commercial products that have performance
benefits through the incorporation of
nanotechnology.
Nanotechnology engineered textile fibers and
fabrics.
Developing next generation nanobiomolecular
vaccines and therapeutics against infectious
diseases, cancer and biothreats.
Utilizing nanoscale materials and processes to
develop anti-viral drugs against a wide range of
human and animal viruses.
Coating products from Industrial Nanotech, Inc.
Develops and markets proprietary technologies
and products that provide novel properties to a
variety of materials such as industrial polymers,
plastics and composites. Core product: Halloysite
nanotubes.
nano-level processes and nano-formulated
materials to develop surface coatings.
Develops, manufactures and distributes nanoscale
materials to create significant performance
improvements in high-volume manufactured
goods.
Manufactures solid-state heat pumps fabricated
from a nano-structured thin film.
Manufactures engineered nanomaterials in the
following areas: nanopowders, thin film coatings,
and devices.
Production of colloidal nanocrystals and research
into nanocrystal-based technologies such as
LEDs, solar cells and biolabels.
Develops and manufactures high-performance
nanocomposite resin compounds and plastics
solutions.
Develops a portfolio of nanoscale metal inks for
printable electronics applications.
Develops, manufactures and commercializes
medical products based on nanocrystalline silver
technology.
Colloidal dispersions and inorganic oxides for
applications involving translucency, transparency,
flame-retardants, abrasion resistance, catalyst
binders and refractory binders.
Developed two material platforms for energy,
security and communications applications:
nanoporous membranes and organic
semiconductor materials.
Utilizes nanotechnology to manufacture fuel cell
components.
Ffocused on producing specialty chemicals and
performance nanomaterials for a wide array of
environmentally focused products.
URL
http://www.nanosyn.com/
http://nanotechlabs.com/
http://www.nano-tex.com/
http://www.nanovec.com/
www.nanoviricides.com
http://www.nansulate.com/
http://www.naturalnano.com/
http://www.ncoat.com/
http://www.neicorporation.com/
http://www.nextremethermal.com/
http://www.ngimat.com/
http://www.nn-labs.com/
http://www.noblepolymers.com/
http://www.nanoscale.com/
http://www.nucryst.com/
http://www.nyacol.com/
http://www.optodot.com/
http://www.pfce.net/http://www.hoov
ers.com/pacific-fuel-cell/
http://www.pidc.com/
Company
PChem Associates
Country
USA
QuantumSphere
USA
Rave Nanomachining
USA
Reactive Nanotechnologies USA
Reade Advanced Materials USA
Salvona
USA
Seal-Guard
USA
SES Research
Silco International
USA
USA
Smart Engineering Tools Solaris Nanosciences
USA
USA
Southwest
Nanotechnologies
Stanford Materials
USA
USA
Strem Chemicals
USA
Synkera Technologies, Inc. USA
Telemolecular
USA
Term USA
Third-Order
Nanotechnologies
Triton Biosystems
USA
USA
USA
Uluru
USA
Products
Patented nanomaterial technology for printed
electronics.
Manufacturer of nano catalysts for applications in
portable power, renewable energy, electronics,
defense and other markets demanding advanced
materials.
Nanomachining solutions for ultra microfinishing
and advanced photomask repair systems.
Develops and manufactures NanoFoil™,
fabricated by vapor depositing thousands of
alternating nanoscale layers of aluminum and
nickel, to precisely control the instantaneous
release of heat energy for reaction initiation and
joining applications.
Distributor of metal, ceramic, and composite
nanostructures down to 5 nm.
Developed several controlled-release nanosphere
delivery systems for use in industries involving
health care, personal care, food, beverage, fabric
and household products.
Manufactures nanoparticle-based resins for
surface protection.
Producer of fullerenes and carbon nanotubes.
Producer of high quality and ultra pure colloidal
silica and customizable silica sols.
Fullerene producer.
Develops and commercializes core-shell
nanostructures and nanomaterials for solar cell
applications.
Manufacturer of carbon nanotubes
URL
http://www.nanopchem.com/
Supplier of rare earth, non-ferrous, advanced
ceramic materials and carbon nanotubes.
Manufacturer of metal nanoclusters, nanocolloids,
nanopowders and magnetic fluids.
Develops and markets a range of products based
on nanotechnology and microfabrication
techniques, including chemical sensors, ceramic
membranes, and nanocomposites. Overview of
company, technologies, and products.
Produces synthetic DNA nanocircles and PGLA
biodegradable nanoparticles for applications in
human tissue regeneration.
Supplier of fullerenes.
Designs and produces high-end electro-optic
polymeric materials.
Magnetic nanomaterials and magnetic field energy
to make antibodies tumoricidal and more
therapeutically selective, without the side effects of
conventional therapies.
Developed and manufactures a novel, biomaterial
which utilizes hydrogel nanoparticles which
aggregate to form a material of varying strength
and elasticity which has medical application
including wound management and burn care,
tissue regeneration and drug delivery devices.
http://www.stanfordmaterials.com/
http://www.qsinano.com/
http://www.ravellc.com/
http://www.rntfoil.com/
http://www.reade.com/
http://www.salvona.com/
http://www.seal-guard.com/
http://www.sesres.com/
http://www.silco-intl.com/
http://www.fullereneproduct.com/
http://www.solarisnano.com/
http://www.swnano.com/
http://www.strem.com/
http://www.synkera.com/
http://www.telomolecular.com/
http://www.fullerenesforsale.com/
http://www.third-order.com/
http://www.adurobiotech.com/
http://www.uluruinc.com/
Company
XetaComp
Country
USA
Xintek
USA
Zyvex
USA
Zyvex Performance
Materials Chemicon
CIMA NanoTech
USA
USA
USA
Dais Analytic
USA
Dendritic Nanotechnologies USA
MicroMagnetics
USA
Seashell Technologies
USA
American Dye Source
Canada
Labopharm
Canada
MCH Nano Solutions
Canada
Nanoledge
Canada
NanoNB
Nanox
Canada
Canada
Northern Nanotechnologies Canada
Raymor Industries -
Canada
LaSys
Mexico
Products
Focusing on the manufacture and
commercialization of physical sunblocks that are
broad-spectrum UVA/UVB attenuators.
Major products include: carbon nanotube(CNT)based field emission electron source, field
emission grade CNT material, field emission x-ray
source and CNT AFM probes.
Nanotechnology research and development
company. Creates technology for atomically
precise manufacturing.
Provides carbon nanotube powered producucts
such as additives and concentrates.
Molecular biology research tools.
Manufactures nanomaterial-based products for use
in electronics applications. These products include
conductive inks and pastes for inkjet and
conventional printing of electronics.
Nanotechnology polymer materials company.
A developer and provider of advanced dendritic
polymers.
Leader in commercial applications of spintronics, a
new technology which combines the fields of
magnetism, electronics, and nanotechnology.
Supplies nanoparticles and nanostructured
materials for academic research, development
projects and for industrial processes. The unique
properties of these materials and devices are
utilized for biomedical, photonic, thermal,
electronic, metrology, envir
Manufacturer of various nanoscale materials such
as fillerenes, quantum dots and nanoparticles.
Develops novel polymeric, nano-delivery systems
for delivery of water-insoluble and poorly bioavailable drugs.
Manufactures photocatalytic coatings with
nanoTiO2.
Design of industrial standard nanotube-based
materials for the following markets: aeronautics,
automobile, sports, telecom's, plastics processing,
renewable energy sources, building and public
works and electronics.
Supplier of carbon nanotubes and fullerenes.
Producing engineered high performance advanced
materials, including nanocomposites and
nanomaterials, for applications in the
environmental and energy industries.
Develops and supplies custom nanomaterials to
both industry and researchers.
Single-walled carbon nanotubes and metallic
nanopowders.
Develops novel nanocomposite materials with
enhanced optical properties.
URL
http://www.xetacomp.com/
http://www.xintek.com/
http://www.zyvex.com/
http://www.zyvexpro.com/
http://www.millipore.com/
http://www.cimananotech.com/
http://www.daisanalytic.com/
http://dnanotech.com/
http://www.micromagnetics.com/
http://www.seashelltech.com/
http://www.adsdyes.com/
http://www.labopharm.com/
http://www.mchnanosolutions.com/
http://www.nanoledge.com/
http://www.nanonb.com/
http://www.nanoxnps.com/
http://www.nntech.com/
http://www.raymor.com/
http://www.lasysinc.com/
ANNEXURE
II: Nanotechnology based consumer items in the
food sector
Company
Country
Details
La Posta del Aguila
NanoSlim
Nano Care Technology, Ltd.
Shenzhen Become Industry & Trade Co., Ltd.
Galaxia Nano Technology Limited
Argentina
Canada
China
China
China
Haier YuHang
China
Bottled water produced using filtration and nano silver treatment
NT based technology for weight loss
Tableware & kitchenware with nano silver coating
Nanotea
Nano Refrigerators Oriental Health Card,
Nanotechnology insulation materials and other advanced space
technologies, refrigerator.
Quan Zhou Hu Zheng Nano Technology Co.,
Ltd.
China
Galaxia Nano Technology Limited
China
Pro-Idee GmbH & Co. KG
Melitta
Germany
Germany
Aquanova GmbH
Germany
Shemen Industries
Israel
NutraLease Ltd.
A-DO Global
Daewoo
Israel
Korea
Korea
A-DO Global
Korea
LG Electronics
Korea
Baby Dream Co., Ltd.
Changmin Chemicals
Korea
Korea
Samsung
Korea
Skybright Natural Health
New
Zeland
SongSing Nano Technology Co., Ltd.
Taiwan
Nano-Infinity Nanotech Co., Ltd.
Taiwan
Top Nano Technology Co., Ltd.
Taiwan
SongSing Nano Technology Co., Ltd.
Taiwan
GreenPan™
USA
NanoFilm® Ltd.
OilFresh® Corporation
USA
USA
Saeco USA Inc.
USA
Nano-silver Storage Box
Increase the human immune system and the promotion of metabolism,
elimination of subhealth / Nano Oxygen Supply Wateractivater
Nanosilver incorporated cutting board
Aluminium foil
Dietary supplement, functional foods and drinks, as well as the cosmetics
industries
Canola oil with NSSL (Nano-sized self assembled structured liquids) i.e
miscelles as carriers for vitamins, minerals and phytochemicals
Nano-sized Self-assembled Structured Liquids (NSSL) technology.
Nanosilver incorporated cutting board
Refrierator using Nano Silver Poly technology
Silver with Nano technology food container for the Antibacterial, Antibiotic
effect by Nano Silver
Bio silver and Bio shield with nano-size silver particles coat the interior of
LG side by side refrigerator (Bio silver) and the gasket (Bio shield) of the
refrigerator
Silver nano poly system for feeding bottle
Nano-silver bowls
Nano technology for the interior coating of refrigerators for effective
sterilization,deodorization and ant-bacterial effects
The Colloidal Silver & Aloe Vera Gel has been formulated specifically for
use in healing minor burns, sunburn, cuts, abrasions, insect bites and skin
irritations
Nanosilver spray for water purification / other applications
Glycerin containing nano micelle product for removing pesticide residues
on fruits/vegetable and oil/dirt on cutlery
Precious metals techniques for reducing spiciness to give more aroma to
malt wine
Nano Plastic Wrap: which is used for 1. Anti-UV 2. Reflecting IR 3.
Sterilizing and anti-mold 4. Having better temperature tolerance 5. Fireproof 6. Bearing grinding
PTFE-free hybrid polymer nano-composite non-stick technology
(ThermolonTM)
10 nm non-stick coatings for glass bakeware
NT based frying oil refining catalytic device
Coffee machine with nano silver coating to ensure milk residue buildup
within the machine
Company
Country
Details
Ceramic non-stick Nano-GlazeTM on the inside and outside of vessels,
Ceramcor, LLC
USA
teaware
Nanoceuticals™ Slim Shake Chocolate using cocoa nanoparticles
RBC Life Sciences®, Inc.
USA
("CocoaClusters") for enhanced flavor without the need for excess sugar
Ecosynthetix
USA
Starch adhesive using NT
BlueMoonGoods, LLC
USA
Silver Nanoparticle Food Storage Containers
Sharper Image
USA
silver nanoparticles food storage container & plastic storage bags
Nano-nylon materials that can beat the cost of high-barrier plastics or even
Honeywell
USA
glass.
NT based an ultra thin coating applied on a 48 gauge polyester film
Constantia Multifilm
USA
laminated to a CPP or PE sealant web
American Biotech Labs
USA
Engineered Nano Silver Particles
Alternative for eliminating Candida, parasites, worms, yeast, fungi, and
Nano Health Solutions
USA
amoebas from the body without harmful side effects
Life Enhancement
USA
Bionic Joint Support Nanotechnological–based supplements specifically targeted for
SportMedix, Inc.
USA
professional and amateur athletes
Nano Health Solutions
USA
Humic and Fulvic Acids
Pharmanex
USA
Nutritional anti-aging program using NT
Vitamin C using NT - Deliver tiny amounts of therapeutic substances to
LivOn Labs
USA
specific organs or tissues without being altered and without affecting any
other parts of the body
MaatShop
USA
Skin Rejuvenator using nano-ized formula
Natural mineral supplement in the form of an iridium colloid consisting of
nanometer particles of 0.995 pure iridium / Natural mineral supplement in
the form of a copper colloid consisting of nanometer particles of 0.9999
Purest Colloids, Inc.
USA
pure copper / Natural mineral supplement in the form of a palladium colloid
consisting of nanometer particles of 0.9995 / Natural mineral supplement in
the form of a platinum colloid consisting of nanometer particles of 0.9999
pure platinum
Colloidal gold - has been reported to have a calming effect, increase
Colloids for Life LLC
USA
energy and mental acuity, improve brain functions
Nutrition By Nanotech, LLC
USA
Vitamin B-12
Mag-I-Cal.com
USA
Nano Calcium/Magnesium
Developed a new line of nutritional and skincare supplements using
RBC Life Sciences, Inc.
USA
nanotechnology / lowering the surface tension of drinking water using NT
Life Enhancement
USA
Health supplement using NT
Engineered nano-particle silver solution that can be used as an immune
Greenwood Consumer Products
USA
support system
NanoNutra Labs
USA
Nano-engineered medicine for weight loss
Nanotechnology that transforms fat-soluble nutrients into water-soluble
Solgar
USA
ones
Nano Nutritional Supplement supporting cellular function for balanced
Revive Health, LLC
USA
blood sugar levels and to hydrate cells / NT for the production of
specialized supplement health products
American Biotech Labs
USA
Engineered silver nano particle
Health Plus International®, Inc.
USA
NT based Vitamin supplements
Mercola Advanced Nutrition
USA
NT based Vitamin D Spray
Utopia Silver Supplements®
USA
Advanced Colloidal Silver
Source: http://www.nanotechproject.org/inventories/consumer/browse/categories/food_beverage/food/

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