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Engineering Industry Developments and Awards
News Release from: Faraday Plastics
Edited by the Engineeringtalk Editorial
Team on 19 May 2003
Nanocomposites presentations go online
A sizeable industry forum of over 50 delegates attended the "Nanocomposites in industry" event at Sheffield Hallam University meeting last month.
A sizeable industry forum of over 50 delegates attended the "Nanocomposites in industry" event at Sheffield Hallam University meeting last month The seminar was organised by Hybridnet (an EPSRC funded academic network) and supported by Faraday Plastics, Faraday Advance and QinetiQ
This article was originally published on Engineeringtalk on 28 Sep 2004 at 8.00am (UK)
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The Sheffield nanocomposites event heard about current and future nano applications in a range of applications including packaging, automotive, aerospace and electrical.
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Specific areas covered related to nano-clay composites in Nylon 6 materials; carbon black nanocomposites for use in fuel cells and flame retardant nano clays in electrical wiring.
Prof Dick Petherick, of Faraday Plastics partner, Strathclyde University, gave a talk on Faraday-funded work that has produced flame retarded flexible PU foams using nano clays exfoliated with ultrasound, developed in order to replace brominated flame retardants.
Industry delegates found the 15th April presentations and the networking opportunities useful.
A key message from the audience and challenge to the suppliers of the new technology was that the new nanopolymers must be processable on conventional and tried and tested machinery.
This, to date, has not always been easy to achieve.
The meeting also recognised that more research is needed to determine the long term properties and behaviours of the new materials - weathering, fatigue, creep etc - as well as their cost-benefit assessments.
For their part, Faraday Partnerships are determined to advance the science of nanocomposites and polymers - through encouraging and facilitating research and development through the UK's leading companies and universities.
Indeed the Impact Faraday Partnership (relating to colloid science) has recently begun a 3-year, GBP 4.2 million Link programme called ACORN (a collaboration on research into nanoparticles) to carry out research into this area of technology.
"We are extremely interested to hear from those who are developing or want to develop the technology", says Nick Brooks, Faraday Plastics Technology Translator.
Copies of the "Nanocomposites in industry" presentations are available on the Faraday Plastics website.
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