Nano materials have wide use, expert says

 Binh Thuan (VNS/VNA) — New technologies that work at the nanolevel could be used to produce nano materials for mass market products, Jean-Charles Guibert, chairman of MINATEC, one of the largest world-wide innovation campuses in micro-nano-bio technologies, said.

Guibert told Viet Nam News that it was important, however, to set up intellectual property protection in order to use nanomaterials in products.

“Vietnam’s laboratories have the skills, but they need more equipment to develop Vietnamese intellectual property. In addition, it is important to ask public researchers and professors to transfer their knowledge to industry,” he added.

Speaking at an international workshop that began on November 9 in Binh Thuan province, he said that a favourite way to transfer knowledge to industry is via the creation of startups as they can move inventions into innovation for the market.

“This trend is supported by young researchers looking to develop their own company,” Guibert said.

At MINATEC laboratories, materials are at the core of multiple applications fueled by innovative startup products, he said.

He added MINATEC campus teams have created more than 50 material-based companies, he said, adding that this supported the MINATEC business model, with strong income in terms of R&D contracts and licences. Today, 30 percent of campus revenue is based on income from these startups.

The three-day workshop features a broad scope of important issues in nanotechnology, ranging from nanofabrication techniques and nanomaterials. Applications of micro-nanotechnology are also being highlighted.

Nae-Eung Lee, a lecturer at Sunkyunkwan University’s department of advanced materials science and engineering in the Republic of Korea, spoke about the essential requirements for developing nanosensors for smart and wearable electronics.

Sensors are critical components in many smart wearable systems that can be used for bio-medical diagnostics, prosthetics, prognostics, preventive medicine and rehabilitation medicine, according to Lee.

Integration of various sensor devices into mobile smartphones is now being investigated, which would enable the analysis of bio-markers from various body fluids, monitor physiological parameters, and detect hazardous gases around humans, he added.

For these purposes, the development of various sensors with high sensitivity, accuracy, durability and stability is required, he said.

Nguyen Duc Hoa, Vice Chairman of the Binh Thuan provincial People’s Committee, said that nanotechnology would help develop the economy in the fourth industrial revolution.

The International Workshop on Nanotechnology and Application, which ends on November 11, connects scientists, researchers, enterprises and investors, and strengthens co-operation in scientific research, training and nanotechnology, with the aim of making products that encourage sustainable growth, Hoa said.

The workshop was organised by the Institute for Nanotechnology at Vietnam National University-HCM City in cooperation with the People’s Committee of Bình Thuan and Commissariate à l’Energie Atomique et aux Energies Alternatives in France, supported by Vietnam’s Ministry of Science and Technology and other organisations.-VNA