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Download the latest NanoNews-Letter as PDF, March 2009

Linking nanoparticle exposure to pulmonary fibrosis and mortality 

In a newly published paper from Song et. al. Published in the European Respiratory Journal, the paper for the first time claims a concrete link between exposure to nanoparticles in adhesive paint and development of severe pulmonary fibrosis in a group of young female workers; two of whom went on to suffer fatal lung failure. The occurence has received some news coverage and you can find the most important articles here:

The SaveNano editor Bryoni Ross evaluates and discusses the findings

Andrew Maynard and a number of key experts in the field (including Ken Donaldson, Gunter Oberdorster, Vicki Stone, Anthony Seaton, Kristen Kulinowski and our own Rob Aitken) have provided their opinions on the piece as additional food for thought. To learn more, click here to access this invaluable resource .
August 2009

GoodNanoGuide a new website to assist all working in nanotechnologies. It is a collaboration platform to exchange ideas on how best to handle nanomaterials in an occupational setting.
May 2009

Global review of environment, health and safety research into nanomaterials by SAVENANO

The review, led by the SAFENANO initiative at the Institute of Occupational Medicine in Edinburgh, UK provides a unique identification and analysis of research carried out worldwide on nanotechnology safety, including that relating to hazard, exposure, risk assessment & regulation.
May 2009

Environmental Health Services , a non profit organization in the US reported on an article that appeared in ‘Toxicology' (Murray, AR, E Kisin, SS Leonard, SH Young, C Kommineni, VE Kagan, V Castranova and AA Shvedova. 2009. Oxidative stress and inflammatory response in dermal toxicity of single-walled carbon nanotubes . Toxicology doi:10.1016/j.tox.2008.12.023 .

Iron-containing nanomaterials can damage skin. Iron serves as a catalyst in the production of single walled carbon nanotubes. Following synthesis, the metal catalysts often remain at high levels in the finished product. The researchers tested the penetration ways of residual iron nanoparticles on engineered skin, human skin cells and mice skin. Their conclusion is that Iron-containing nanomaterials can cause inflammation and other cell damage if it touches skin.
February 2009

Eu projects supporting responsible nanotechnology

Several EU projects have been launched last year and the first outputs can now be found on the respective homepages.

observatory NANO

Developments in ten broad technology sectors are being mapped and analyzed:
aerospace, automotive and transport; agrifood; chemistry and materials; construction; energy; environment; health, medicine and nanobio; ICT; security; and textiles.

Reports on economic and market; ethical and societal; environmental, health and safety; standards and regulatory aspects will be published in April.

Framing Nano

FramingNano is a 2-year FP7-funded project established with the objective of defining a governance framework aimed at supporting a responsible development of NS&T (Nanoscience and Technology). This will be achieved by establishing an open and international multi-stakeholder dialogue amongst the scientific, institutional, industrial, non-governmental, and broader public communities. The final outcome of the FramingNano project will be a proposal for a Governance Plan highlighting the needs, actions and recommendations for a safe development of NS&T at EU level and beyond. 

The first output of Framing Nano is a mapping study on the regulation of nanotechnology worldwide. It lists stakeholders and gives an overview over the different regulatory approaches.

NanoCharM

This is a european project that aims to support non destructive characterization techniques for nanomaterials. Information and access training for polarimetry and ellipsometry is available through the project webside. On the webside they state that:

The ellipsometry/polarimetry community in Europe has demonstrated the capability to characterize nanostructures, nanocomposites, hybrid systems, interface behaviour, surface-related phenomena and molecular self-assembling. For all those systems, ellipsometry/polarimetry characterization can yield information on compositional, optical, electrical and magnetic characteristics associated with specific nanostructures.

February 2009

Indkaldelse af forslag til medlemmer af Det Frie Forskningsråds fem faglige råd samt bestyrelse

Forsknings- og Innovationsstyrelsen indkalder hermed forslag til medlemmer af Det Frie Forskningsråds fem faglige forskningsråd samt bestyrelsen med frist for forslag den 18. marts 2009 kl. 12.00.
February 2009

New Standard for Particle Size measurement

ASTM International has issued a 'Standard Guide for Measurement of Particle Size Distribution of Nanomaterials in Suspension by Photon Correlation Spectroscopy (PCS) (ASTM E2490 – 08)'.

According to the ASTM website, the new standard has the following Scope:
‘1.1 This guide deals with the measurement of particle size distribution of suspended particles, which are solely or predominantly sub-100 nm, using the photon correlation (PCS) technique. It does not provide a complete measurement methodology for any specific nanomaterial, but provides a general overview and guide as to the methodology that should be followed for good practice, along with potential pitfalls.
1.2 This standard does not purport to address all of the safety concerns, if any, associated with its use. It is the responsibility of the user of this standard to establish appropriate safety and health practices and determine the applicability of regulatory limitations prior to use.'

ASTM International, originally known as the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) is one of the largest voluntary standards development organizations in the world.

January 2009

ISO publishes the second standard in the field of Nanotechnology:
'Health and safety practices in occupational settings relevant to nanotechnologies'

According to the sales website, the publication ‘ISO/TR 12885:2008 focuses on the occupational manufacture and use of engineered nanomaterials. It does not address health and safety issues or practices associated with nanomaterials generated by natural processes, hot processes and other standard operations which unintentionally generate nanomaterials, or potential consumer exposures or uses, though some of the information in ISO/TR 12885:2008 might be relevant to those areas.

Use of the information in ISO/TR 12885:2008 could help companies, researchers, workers and other people to prevent adverse health and safety consequences during the production, handling, use and disposal of manufactured nanomaterials.'

Purchase the standard on ISOs webpage.

January 2009

ISO publishes first international standard on Nano object terminology and definitions

In September 2008 the international standard organisation (ISO) has published a document entitled 'Nanotechnologies – Terminology and definitions for nano-objects – Nanoparticle, nanofibre and nanoplate'( ISO/TS 27687:2008).
The definitions should facilitate the comunication between organisations, industry and all persons within the working field of nanotechnology.

Read more on ISOs homepage

New webpage launched: www.observatory-nano.eu

The page is financed under FP7 for a period of 4 years. Its primary aim is to support European decision-makers with information and analysis on developments in nanoscience and nanotechnology (N&N). To get their newsletter simply register online.

Read more

November 2008

An introduction to NaNets work, homepage and the link to the newsletter that appears every two month. You do not automatically get this newsletter, sign up for it on NaNets homepage.
Read more

March 08

Partnering workshop for materials topics in the 2nd call of NMP in FP 7
Date: October 22, 2007
Place: Berlin, Germany
Special emphasis will be given to international cooperation.
Poster presentations for the networking part are still possible.
Agenda >>

The Danish Agency for Science Technology and Innovation (Forsknings og Innovationsstyrelsen) asks for participation in determining the relevant scientific topics for Denmarks future. August 2007
As one step in a longer procedure the government and 'Folketinget' ask scientists, people from industry and everybody who is willing to invest a bit of their time for the schema on the homepage to participate and point out what they think is important for the future. The public-opinion poll will be open for comments until October 7, 2007.
Details: www.forsk2015.dk

Ten English biotek companies search for Danish partners in science and industry, August 2007
A delegation of 10 UK Biotech companies interested in R&D partnering and mutual technology opportunities are visiting Medicon Valley in Copenhagen on the 10th and 11th of October 2007. These companies offer opportunities for collaboration with the latest technological advances within either drug discovery or protein analysis, stabilisation, & production.
Further reading

The highest environmental award in the United States is given to a nanotechnology based development, June 27, 2007
Title of the work is 'Direct Synthesis of Hydrogen Peroxide by Selective Nanocatalyst Technology'

Coworker of NanoSYD obtains renowned scientific price , June 2007
Dr. Manuela Schiek has obtained the Albert-Weller-price for the most outstanding, ground breaking scientific thesis in chemistry in 2007.

4.3 Millions to Nanoscience in Sønderborg from 'Fabrikant Mads Clausens Fond' , January 2007
Professor Horst-Günter Rubahn will use the money to equip the cleanroom with the most modern equipment for etch processes on surfaces. An ICP-RIE is the instrument of choice if you want to increase etch rates of reactive ion etching (RIE) without damaging the substrate. ICP stands for ‘Inductively Coupled Plasma' etching and allows very directed etching of structures into a sample without destroying the areas that should not be irradiated. The typical structure size achieved by this ion bombardment is in the range of 10 nm and depths of hundreds of nanometers are easily reached. This is in fact the only way to achieve structures with nanometric resolution including such a high aspect ratio –and is in turn important if one talks about nano electromechanical structures (NEMS) for the worlds smallest membranes or other future-oriented devices.

The new European framework program FP7 starts. January 2007
The program will run for 7 years and has a total budget of €50.521 billion , first calls an be found here

The Ministry of Science Technology and Innovation published a support of 40 mio DKK to scientists at universities and small companies to get their ideas and prototypes to a product on the market.
Support is given e.g. for scientists in the possibility to get free from teaching and for companies to get support to buy knowledge at a univeristy. Read the article in Danish >> , December 18, 2006

December 7, 2006: FNU ( Forskningsråd for Natur og Univers) has distributed ca. 90 mio DKK where SDU got 9 grants with a total of 7.39 mio DKK. The overall success rate was 43%. For details please check >>

December 6, 2006: Get a short list of important points from the meeting about the new FP7 framework program of the EU under:http://www.nano.sdu.dk/reports.html

You will find a PDF of the NMP work program here >>

December 1st , 2006: Date for the opening of the first calls for proposals under the Seventh Framework Programme (FP7) will be on December 22nd, 2006. The program has a total budget of 54.58 billion Euro. Read more >>

November 16, 2006: The Danish National Advanced Technology Foundation (HTF) has announced the 5 hightechnology platforms that will be supported during the next 3-4 years. SDU is included in 2 projects. Read the details >>

November 13, 2006: Get support at the national contact points for FP7. Klick on the link >> and then choose the country and for example NMP for Nanosciences, Nanotechnologies, Materials, and new Production Technologies.

November 9, 2006: Ingeniøren reports that the American Bridgehead Group, a venture capital company, bought the chare of CAT on NIL Technology. NIL Technology creates stamps with the help of nano imprint-lithography and is situated in Copenhagen. Read the article in 'Ingeniørens Nyhedsbrev'

October 2006: On October 20 there will be an informal meeting in Finland where the heads of gouvernment will discuss the new 10 point innovation plan of the EU.
Read about the plan >>

October 2006: Ask now to get support for the preparation of an application to EUs 7th Framework Program. Find the conditions for support under the respective research council (FSS, FNU, FTP) in Danish >>

September 2006: HTF announces support to 13 new projects. SDU was twice lucky.
The Danish National Advanced Technology Foundation (HTF) has granted 13 projects out of more than 100 with an amount of 5-11 MDKK. Five out of the 13 financed projects deal with nanotechnology and four of them deal with biotechnology. The University of Southern Denmark has two projects that are financed. One is from the Mærsk Mc-Kinney Møller Institute and the second one deals with nanotechnology and is led by Horst-Günter Rubahn , Mads Clausen Institute, with the title ‘Nanoteknologiske sikkerhedsmarkører'. The project will use organic nanofibers to mark products for their authenticity. Furthermore will the potential of these nanofibers as new sensors be explored. The three year project has a total budget of 11 MDKK where HTF finances 6.4 MDKK.
Details about all projects can be found in Danish on: http://www.hoejteknologifonden.dk/

PDF of the March'09 NanoNews Letter >>

PDF of the March'08 NanoNews Letter >>

PDF of the July '07 NanoNews Letter >>

PDF of the Febuary '07 NanoNews Letter >>

PDF of the September '06 NanoNews Letter >>

PDF of the April NanoNews Letter >>

PDF of the January NanoNews Letter >>
You can read the study on the Structure of the Global Nanotechnology Literature here >>

PDF of the September '05 NanoNews Letter >>

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September 2006: HTF announces significant change in handling of Intellectual Property Rights
The Danish National Advanced Technology Foundation has announced that for new projects it is possible to transfer IPR to the industrial part without charging royalties. Condition is that the industrial part has earned the IPR by own work within the supported HTF project. (source: HTF and NaNet )

April 2006: Strategic Research Agenda in Photonics, Recommendations to the EU , get the PDF here >>

November 2005: Strategic Research Agenda
European Technology Platform Nanoelectronics, get the PDF here >>

September 2005: European Technology Platform on NanoMedicine
Nanotechnology for Health, Vision paper, get the PDF here >>

July 2005: 'Nanotechnology-a key Technology for the Future of Europe'
This is a report provided by the EU. It lists some state of the art investigations as well as opinions in which direction we should move with research addressing important global needs. This might be important to have in mind when applying for FP7.

February 27, 2006: New Nanosensortechnology network in Denmark starts. On February 27 the new network had its constitutional meeting with the boardmembers beeing:

- Tom Olesen, Unisensor A/S
- Steffen B. Petersen, Aalborg Universitet
- Jørgen Kjems, AU

The new network has already established a webside: http://www.nanosensor.aau.dk/
It is working for a better understanding of the nanosensortechnology, to give companies a platform for understanding of the latest developments and to help them to incorporate it into new products .

Denmark wants to increase the budget for science from 0.72% of the gross national product to about 1% by the year 2010. This means new investments of about 6 billion DKK.

Read the article at the side of the Danish Research Agency >>

March 7, 2006: Mogens Hørder is chairman for the Danish-Indian board for biotechnology. Jesper Wengel is one of the boardmembers. The aim is to support Danish-Indian biotechnology projects with the help of the Danish Research Agency.
You will get informations in Danish on a first workshop here >>
Informations on the program are available in Danish here >>

February 17, 2006: Ingeniøren announces Flemming Besenbacher to be the third most important person influencing Danish research.
Short comment available in Danish here >>

January 29, 2006: Jydske Vestkysten, Interview with Horst-Günter Rubahn and Flemming Besenbacher, PDF here >>

November 22 , 2005: Award from Dansk Optisk Selskab
to Kaspar Thilsing-Hansen for his master project: 'Ultrafast Response of Aligned Organic NanoFibres - Towards Organic Nanolasers'
Read the article in Danish here >> .

October 31, 2005: Valuable science that is accepted by the public

Article by Jyllands-Posten

Nanotecnology opens a world of new possibilities- but it rises as well a number of health, environmental and ethical questions. Read the article in Danish here>>.

Within the article Jørgen Staunstrup states: I 2005 har vi alt i alt omkring 50 mio. kr. til forskning, der kombinerer nano, bio og IT. Og i 2006 håber vi at have omkring 98 mio. kr. til disse tre områder.

October 2005: Article in Ny Viden about the new company: Nanofiber A/S

Read the article in Danish here>>.

Still growing investments in Nanotechnology

Estimated Government Nanotechnology R&D Investments in 1997-2004 ($ Millions)

Source: M. Roco, National Science Foundation

You will find the report on the homepage: http://www.nano.sdu.dk/documents/PDF/FINAL_PCAST_NANO_REPORT.pdf

Denmarks Nano Environment

Nanoforum, the nanotechnology network funded by the European Union provides information on European nanotechnology efforts (www.nanoforum.org). The database lists, for example, all centers with activities in the field for the different European countries. Denmark is listed with 12 centers and the research expenditures characterized as well above European average. Below you will find a table with the Danish centers.

The Structure and Infrastructure of the Global Nanotechnology Literature

Original by Ronald N. Kostoff et al.

A text mining analysis of the global open nanotechnology literature was performed. Records from the Science Citation Index/ Social Science Citation Index (SCI) were analyzed to provide the infrastructure of the global nanotechnology literature (prolific authors/ journals/ institutions/ countries, most cited authors/ papers/ journals) and the thematic structure (taxonomy) of the global nanotechnology literature, from a science perspective. Records from the Engineering Compendex (EC) were analyzed to provide a taxonomy from a technology perspective.

The full analysis can be found under: http://www.onr.navy.mil/sci_tech/special/354/technowatch/textmine.asp

The authors state that from 50969 authors listed in the 21474 downloaded records the twenty most prolific authors appear to be of Asian origin.

The twenty journals containing the most nanotechnology papers tend to be in the technical disciplines of Physics, Chemistry, and Materials, with an emphasis on surface science. The top tier in volume of nanotech-related articles had three physics journals (Applied Physics Letters, Physical Review, and Journal of Applied Physics).

Table 1 contains the most prolific paper-producing countries for 2003, and the most prolific countries for nanotechnology patents granted by the US Patent Office in 2003. The most striking difference is observed for China, which is tied for second on the paper-producing list and tied for 20 th on the patent-producing list. Canada, Netherlands, and Israel have a paper performance that outproduces the patent performance by a substantial margin. Denmark has a total of 197 nano papers in 2003 and ranks place 16 in patents.

Table 1: MOST PROLIFIC COUNTRIES – SCI; USPTO PATENTS - 2003

The following charts, created by using the data given in the reference, shows the total number of nano papers published by the different countries in 2004.

Having this in mind it is interesting to compare how big the increase in nano puplications was within 10 years. The growth factor G is normalized by the total number of publications by the respective country and year. This means a growth factor G=1 states no increase in nano publications between 1994 and 2004.

It can be seen that the nano paper output increased by a factor of 3.6 ( ± 1.7) in the respective years. In the last issue of the NanoNews-Letter you could read that the estimated governmental nanotechnology R&D investments increased worldwide by a factor of 8-10 between 1997 and 2004. Given the time delay between investments and research results we look forward to an even bigger increase in publications in this field.

Where are we in Denmark?

As one of the small countries Denmark has a remarkable place 16 in patents (Tab.1). A communication with one of the authors of the survey, Ronald Kostoff, revealed a few more interesting details for Denmark. Table 2 gives a list of the 10 most prolific institutions. The figure of 1754 nano papers is the total number of papers in the field for Denmark without any time limit.

Table 2: MOST PROLIFIC INSTITUTIONS

Table 3: MOST PROLIFIC AUTHORS

The analysis revealed as well that most collaborations resulting in a common paper were done with USA (14.2%) followed by Germany (11%) and Sweden (6.7%).

The increase in nano publications in the years between 1994 and 2004 gives a growth factor G=2 and is thus somewhat lower than average, c.f. the graph.

In conclusion it seems that there should be still some potential for more publications in Denmark.

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