Final Report Summary - NAPOLYNET (Setting up research intensive clusters across the EU on characterisation of polymer nanostructures)
Executive summary:
NANOPOLYNET is a coordination action initiated by the European Commission (EC) within the Seventh Framework Programme (FP7) theme 4 - Nanosciences, nanotechnologies, materials and new production technologies (NMP). It has started in April 2008 for 36 months and is performed by 17 partners from 10 countries. NANOPOLYNET addresses the area of characterisation of polymer nanostructures in the field of packaging, textiles and membranes aiming to contribute to the identification of the key factors that govern formation of ordered nanopatterns in polymer nanosystems. The project is coordinated by the Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche - Instituto di Chimica e Tecnologia dei Polimeri with Dr Clara Silvestre as coordinator: silvestre@ictp.cnr.it; A main information pool of NANOPOLYNET is the website: http://www.NANOPOLYNET.eu/ that provides information about project partners, results, European open laboratory (EOL) equipment and expertise, events, database of characterisation procedure/experts and that will continue to be active after the project end. NANOPOLYNET has fully achieved its objectives and technical goals. The very valuable results are the following:
1.The creation and the setting of the EOL with unique equipment and expertise in the field of characterisation of polymer nanostructure for advanced applications. (EOL) will continue to last beyond NANOPOLYNET closure, thanks to the high level of network among partners reached through NANOPOLYNET; The impact of the EOL is already demonstrated by the high number of joint publications on high rank Journal and joint projects submitted to national and international calls. The EOL facilities / expertise were exploit also by ESRs, that performed scientific stages hosted by NANOPOLYNET partners at the EOL location.
2.The development of measurement strategies and methodologies for determination of the effect of nanofillers on structure formation in polymers, available at www.NANOPOLYNET.eu .
3. The preparation of a database of European characterisation procedures / experts for polymer nanomaterials operational and available on the web page.
4. The involvement of numerous young researchers (through the SDVs and the training activities coming also from outside the partners institution) and the interest showed by several the Small and medium-sized enterprise (SME)s on the project activity.
5. The development of the DIN SPEC 91127: Temperature calibration of differential scanning calorimeters for sample mass and scan rate that describes protocol of temperature calibration procedures for fast scanning calorimeters for high to very high scan rates and low to very low sample masses respectively, thus complementing ISO 11357. This procedure was urgently needed as thermal history of polymers, and sample/product treatment can change their behaviour drastically, leading to deviating end properties.
6. The contribution to the development of a coordinated, coherent and cost-effective deployment of resources in the field of nanomaterials within the European Union (EU) values of sustainability, life cycle approach, precautionary principle and integrated European competitiveness and innovation.
In conclusion NANOPOLYNET has constituted a successful pilot initiative aiming at contributing to the identification of the key factors that govern formation of ordered nanopatterns in polymer-based hybrid systems and is an example that it is not always necessary to have big-scale organisations of departments, universities and companies to reach competitive and innovative results, NANOPOLYNET demonstrated that the fundamental point is the synergistic combination of multidisciplinary teams and complimentary high level skill sets: networks of top-experts sharing EOL of instrumentation / expertise and working together, (almost) irrespective of the institute / company / country they are located. So it is suggested that the EU duplicates NANOPOLYNET schema, bringing together top-experts and their EOLs and combining their complimentary 'excellence' in small and dedicated networks in order to stimulate fruitful cooperation.
Project context and objectives:
NANOPOLYNET is a coordination action initiated by EC within FP7 for Research under 'Cooperation' theme 4 - NMP. NANOPOLYNET addresses the area of characterisation of polymer nanostructures in the field of packaging, textiles, filtration and separation and membranes with the main goal to network at European level with experts on characterisation of polymer nanostructured materials, facilitating transnational access to unique equipment and to bridge the gap between scientific and engineering approaches towards improved understanding of the structure-performance correlation in polymer nanodevices.
NANOPOLYNET started in April 2008 for a 36-month period and was performed by 17 partners from 10 European countries.
NANOPOLYNET represents a pilot initiative aiming at contributing to the identification of the key factors that govern formation of ordered nanopatterns in polymer-based hybrid systems, addressing the area of characterisation of polymer nanostructures in the field of packaging, textiles, filtration and separation and membranes with the main goal of enabling communication between experts in different disciplines, and to increase knowledge in the fields of regulations, patenting, ethics, health and safety, sustainability and precaution.
The project work plan has the following specific objectives:
1. To network at European level with partners / labs experts on characterisation of polymer nanostructured materials, facilitating transnational access to important and unique equipment for academic researchers and SMEs technologists. The researchers belonging to the consortium have large and well-recognised skills at international level in all field of analysis and characterisation of structural, morphological physical, thermal, mechanical and processing properties of polymer nanomaterials. With these competencies the nanopolymeric materials can be studied at all hierarchical scales of organisation, mastering the phenomena involved in phase transitions and structural development as well as the interfacial interactions including orientation effects of the nanodomains according to preferred patterns due to the processing conditions imposed.
2. To bridge the gap between scientific and engineering approaches towards improved understanding of the structure-performance correlation in polymer devices.
It is generally accepted that a better understanding of the structure-property relationships, i.e. of the relationships between composition, processing, structure / morphology, dynamics and properties, is a necessary condition for optimising the design of polymer nanostructured materials with predicted properties. Moreover many new characterisation techniques are not well known or are not affordable for SMEs. There is a lack of knowledge transfer from the scientific community to the SMEs and a need of tailored interfaces to translate quickly the research results on characterisation methods into usable tools adequate to be used by industries and especially by SMEs.
3. To make available the latest experimental and theoretical strategies and routines to produce reliable data on nanostructured materials and to correctly interpret them. Access to several traditional characterisation methods is commonly possible for academic and industrial researchers. Nevertheless the intensive research in the field of polymer nanostructured materials of the last years has open new questions and new tasks; in particular there is a lack of information to allow researchers to become aware of the newest development of characterisation tool. With the presence of nanoparticles the already complex behaviour of polymer materials becomes even more complex and not only the composition and the kind of nanoparticles must be taken into account, but also the spatial arrangement of the nanofillers and the induced orientation of the crystals and nanofillers as function also of processing condition and finally the influence of these nanoparticles on the polymer matrix. These characteristics determine the final properties of the material.
4. To provide practical demonstrations of the new methodologies for scientists, technologists and SMEs producers. Characterisation of polymer nanostructure requires a high degree of interdisciplinary and trans-disciplinary co-operation and communication. This is due to the fact that at nanoscale level the expertise of researchers in physics, chemistry, biology and engineering is complementary. Its multidisciplinary nature makes a challenging field for recruiting and training the technical force that is needed and for educating the public as to its significance for the increase of attractiveness of research careers for young scientists offering also better job opportunities. The multidisciplinarity of the project and the training ambitions clearly necessitate the broad inter-disciplinarity network of the project by gathering specialists from different domains.
5. To harmonise work for new standards in the field of characterisation of polymer nanostructures and to manage the health and safety implications of polymer nanostructures.
Standardisation of nanotechnology is of significant importance for policy makers developing regulatory frameworks in government departments as well as for nanotechnology industries / enterprises. Unique and especially valuable is the multidisciplinary methodology for testing all materials on the nanoscale to evaluate the potential for human exposure. It is the latest objective of the project to stimulate research that is essential for gaining leadership in the competitive global nanotechnology market.
Project results:
NANOPOLYNET addresses the area of characterisation of polymer nanostructures in the field of packaging, textiles, filtration and separation and membranes with the following main objectives:
- to network at European level with experts on characterisation of polymer nanostructured materials, facilitating transnational access to unique equipment and to bridge the gap between scientific and engineering approaches towards improved understanding of the structure-performance correlation in polymer nanodevices;
- to make available the latest experimental and theoretical strategies and routines allowing average trained users to produce reliable data on nanostructured materials, to correctly interpret them and to provide practical demonstration of the new methodologies;
- to harmonise work for new standards in the field of characterisation of polymer nanostructures and to manage the health and safety, and environmental implications of polymer nanostructures.
The activities of NANOPOLYNET are grouped in seven Work package (WP)s listed below:
WP1 - Project management and assessment of progress and results: WP1 aims to:
- guarantee the administrative and financial management of the project;
- assessing the progress and results of the project;
- monitoring the knowledge dissemination; and
- to support the transfer of information between partners.
WP2 - Mapping and setting up an EOL for characterisation of polymer nanomaterials: WP2 aims to:
- offer an overview of the state of the art in nanomaterials characterisation;
map the advanced equipment for nanomaterials characterisation;
set up an EOL where all the expertise and equipment are available for transnational access.
WP3 - Demonstration course, round table and short demo visits for young academic and SMEs researchers: WP3 aims to contribute to train young scientists and SMEs active in nanomaterial production in latest methodologies and advanced tools for characterisation of polymer nanostructure and properties. This will help to link senior scientists with younger colleagues for advice and support and to keep SMEs with a leader position.
WP4 - Making available the latest characterisation tools including molecular modelling tools: WP4 aims to make available experimental and theoretical strategies and routines in developing stage at the EOL location. This will allow average trained users of equipment for thermal, structural, morphological, mechanical characterisation to produce reliable data on nanostructured materials and correctly interpret them.
WP5 - International workshops 'Characterisation of safe nanostructured polymeric materials'. WP5 aims to support nanomaterial development, in particular, the design of intrinsically safe nanomaterials and to contributing to the dissemination of project findings and results through the organisation of an international workshop planned on processing-structure-dynamics and properties of safe nanostructured polymeric materials.
WP6 - Harmonisation work for standards in characterisation of safe polymeric nanostructured materials: WP6 aims to harmonise the work for preparation of new standards for polymeric nanomaterials characterisation and to provide up-to-date information on the potential toxicological effects and safety evaluation of polymer nanostructured materials on human health and their risk assessments for a wide audience.
WP7: Dissemination of project activities and results: WP7 aims to disseminate, transfer knowledge and report with the aim of giving the project a significant impact beyond the consortium participants. It will contribute to overcome barriers to the industrial application of polymer nanostructured materials especially in SMEs due to lack of useful information about advanced characterisation methods and to new standards and norms that meet market requirements.
The project has fully achieved its objectives and technical goals for this third period as well as for the previous periods. NANOPOLYNET has constituted a successful pilot initiative aiming to contribute to the identification of the key factors that govern formation of ordered nanopatterns in polymer-based hybrid systems and is an example that it is not always necessary to have big-scale organisations of departments, universities and companies to reach competitive and innovative results. NANOPOLYNET demonstrated that the fundamental point is the synergistic combination of multidisciplinary teams and complimentary high level skill sets.
The very valuable results of NANOPOLYNET are the following:
- The creation and the setting of the EOL with unique equipment and expertise in the field of characterisation of safe polymer nanostructure for advanced applications. EOL is driven by a synergistic combination of multidisciplinary teams and complimentary high level skill sets: EOL will continue to be active thanks to the high level of networking among partners reached through NANOPOLYNET and will certainly contribute to the today and future innovation in the field of polymer nanomaterials.
- The database of European characterisation procedure and experts for polymer nanomaterials operational is available on the web page (www.NANOPOLYNET.eu).
- The experimental and theoretical strategies, routines and instruction in developing stage at the EOL location available on the web page that can allow average trained users of equipment for thermal, structural, morphological, mechanical characterisation to produce reliable data on nanostructured materials and correctly interpret them. Such as comparative studies of structure formation in nanostructured materials through homogeneous and heterogeneous nucleation routes by advanced calorimetry; instruction for determining basic structural, morphological and textural parameters from diffraction analysis, data on critical cooling rate for homogeneous nucleation for different polymers.
- The development of the DIN SPEC 91127: Temperature calibration of differential scanning calorimeters for sample mass and scan rate that describes protocol of temperature calibration procedures for fast scanning calorimeters for high to very high scan rates and low to very low sample masses respectively, thus complementing ISO 11357. This procedure was urgently needed as thermal history of polymers, and sample / product treatment can change their behaviour drastically, leading to deviating end properties.
- The contribution to the development of a coordinated, coherent and cost-effective deployment of resources in the field of polymer nanostructures within the EU values of sustainability, life cycle approach, precautionary principle and integrated European competitiveness and innovation.
- The high number of joint publications on high rank journal and joint projects submitted to national and international calls (some of them already financed), demonstrate that significant and valuable scientific achievements were obtained and will continue to be obtained by the partners due the links created during the project life and that will last beyond NANOPOLYNET closure.
- The involvement of numerous young researchers (through the SDVs and the project training activity coming also from outside the partners institution and the interest showed by several the SMEs on the project activity are a proof of the added value and positive impact of NANOPOLYNET to have contributed to reach the EU objectives.
- The selection of NANOPOLYNET results for further dissemination from national and international scientific magazines, the invitation to coordinator and partners to present the project objectives and activities during the entire life NANOPOLYNET at international meetings show the interest of the scientific European Communities in the field of activity of NANOPOLYNET (characterisation of polymer nanostructure) and fully justify the investment of the EU done to NANOPOLYNET and that NANOPOLYNET consortium will strongly try to multiply.
- The networking with other nanotechnology network and projects related to nanomaterials characterisation: Very interesting the links with COST action FA0904 with Clara Silvestre (P1) as Chair, Rumiana Kotsilkova (P2) vice chair and several NANOPOLYNET partners as members of MC of the COST action with organisation of 2 joint events (London 2010, Pozzuoli (Napoli) 2011.
- The networking created by NANOPOLYNET among partners and with other activities has stimulated partners to prepare joint projects in the field of polymer nanostructures. Several projects were submitted by the partner. Some were already evaluated and got financial support.
- The main scientific / technological activities organised by NANOPOLYNET: The international workshop international workshop 'Safe nanostructure polymer nanomaterials' 3-4 March 2011, Pozzuoli, where numerous industrial representatives participate and pointed out the their view on the importance of exploiting nanotechnology for innovative applications. The two technological seminars held in Berlin (2009) and London (2010) covering complimentary aspects related to the use of polymer nanoparticles for innovative application (mainly food packaging) including toxicity and environmental aspects, proper handling and environmental concerns of nanoparticles and regulation and standardisation issues.
- The very high interest and the participation in all the events organised and / or co-organised with the active participation of total of about 220 scientists / technologists. The success of the NANOPOLYNET activities underlined the needs of networking (possible only through an instrument like a coordination action) amongst several different disciplines - chemistry, physics, life sciences, engineering, various application oriented fields - in order to achieve innovative results.
Potential impact:
NANOPOLYNET reached important and significant achievements. The results that had and will continue to have a great potential impact are:
1. The setting of the EOL with the unique equipment and expertise that will continue to be active thanks to the high level of network amongst partners reached through NANOPOLYNET and that will last beyond NANOPOLYNET closure. The impact of the EOL is demonstrated by the very high number of joint publications on high rank Journal and joint projects submitted to national and international calls (some of them already financed), were obtained and will continue to be obtained by the partners due the links created during the project life.
2. The development of specific measurement strategies and methodologies for determination of the effect of nanofillers on structure formation and morphology in polymers using microscopy and calorimetric methods, including fast and ultrafast scanning that are available for free downloading at www.NANOPOLYNET.eu.
3. The training activities that introduced numerous young researchers (through the SDVs and the project training activity coming also from outside the partners' institution) to the field of great potentiality such as polymer nanomaterials.
4. The interest showed by several SMEs in on the project activities are a proof of the added value and positive impact of NANOPOLYNET to have contributed to reach the EU objectives.
5. The development of the DIN SPEC 91127: Temperature calibration of differential scanning calorimeters for sample mass and scan rate. This is specification describing a protocol of temperature calibration procedures for fast scanning calorimeters for high to very high scan rates and low to very low sample masses respectively, thus complementing ISO 11357. In the specification procedures are given for both an extensive temperature calibration as well as a rather quick temperature calibration of FSCs in the heating and the cooling modes for various scan rates and concomitant adjusted sample masses. This procedure was urgently needed as thermal history of polymers, specifically cooling and heating rates, and sample / product treatment can change their behaviour drastically, leading to deviating end properties due to phenomena related to metastability of nanostructured crystallites and superstructures (if present) are well known to polymer scientists; daily they encounter supercooling, amorphisation, 'hot' crystallisation, cold crystallisation, recrystallisation (after melting), annealing, reorganisation etc. The specification will have a consistent economic impact as it will facilitate making the right choices to minimise the thermal lag arising at increasing scan rates before performing a measurement.
6. The contribution, through the organisation of dedicated seminar to the development of a coordinated, coherent and cost-effective deployment of resources in the field of polymer nanostructures within the EU values of sustainability, life cycle approach, precautionary principle and integrated European competitiveness and innovation.
Main dissemination activities
One of the main activities of NANOPOLYNET was dedicated to disseminating, knowledge-transfer and reporting with the aim of giving the project a significant impact beyond the consortium participants. In order to contribute to overcome barriers to the industrial application of polymer nanostructured materials especially in SMEs due to lack of useful information about advanced characterisation methods and to new standards and norms that meet market requirements.
Several and very successful activities were performed concerns the dissemination of the activities involving all the consortium members and aims to introduce NANOPOLYNET to the public.
1. Project website www.NANOPOLYNET.eu ; setting, maintenance and updating The impressive number of visits to the web site (more than 240 / day) demonstrated the interest of the industrial and scientific community in NANOPOLYNET activities and its impact.
2.Publication of NANOPOLYNET activities in the partners' website:
http://www.ictp.cnr.it ;
http://www.icmpp.ro ;
http://www.clphchm.bas.bg/en/international-projects.html ;
http://www.kmf.troja.mff.cuni ;
http://www.itm.cnr.it/Progetti.htm ;
http://www.rdg.ac.uk/cfam/research/NANOPOLYNET.htm ;
http://www.scite.nl/index.htm ;
http://www.din.de/ ;
http://www.smuc.ac.uk/research/cbet/scope.htm ;
http://www.nanotechnologie.cs/ ;
http://www.edeil.ntua.gr/ .
3. Highlights in term of socioeconomic impact and further dissemination were the activities organised by NANOPOLYNET:
The international workshop 'Safe nanostructure polymer nanomaterials' 3-4 March 2011, Pozzuoli, where numerous industrial representatives participate and pointed out their view on the importance of exploiting nanotechnology for food packaging applications.
The two technological seminars held in Berlin (2009) and London (2010) covering complimentary aspects related to the use of polymer nanoparticles for innovative application (mainly food packaging) including toxicity and environmental aspects, proper handling and environmental concerns of nanoparticles and regulation and standardisation issues.
The interest and the participation in all the events organised and / or co-organised was very high with the active participation of a total of about 220 scientists / technologists. These successful activities underlined the needs of networking (possible only through an instrument like a coordination action) amongst several different disciplines - chemistry, physics, life sciences, engineering, various application oriented fields - in order to achieve innovative results.
Further dissemination of the NANOPOLYNET objectives and results and the EOL establishment was performed was also accomplished:
a) By numerous papers, already published / submitted for publications or in preparations were possible through the availability of facilities and competences in EOL, as or example: This study is supported by the project in the framework of FP7 entitled 'Setting up research-intensive clusters across the EU on characterisation of polymer nanostructures' acronym NANOPOLYNET, no. 218331. The list of the papers is reported in WP2.
b) Presentation of NANOPOLYNET at scientific and technological meetings and workshops: Another way of dissemination of our experience and knowledge was active participation on conferences and meetings with focus on structure and morphology of nanostructured polymeric materials as well as methodology for morphology and structure analysis. On these meetings we advertised the ideas of the project and got many other scientists interested in the EOL concept. A list of active conference attendances of partner group within Europe with relevant focus and contribution to NANOPOLYNET dissemination is given.
The success of the dissemination activities, together with the relevance of the project achievements activities is demonstrated by the following examples:
1. NANOPOLYNET results were selected for special promotion by Community Research and Development Information Service (CORDIS) on the technology marketplace https://cordis.europa.eu/article/id/85886-joint-initiative-for-polymer-nanostrucure-design with the interesting title Title: Giving Europe the edge on polymer nanomaterials on the 'Materials blog' webpage http://ec.europa.eu/research/industrial_technologies/materials-blog_en.html where interesting novelties arising from the most promising research projects under FP7 are selected and published.
2. NANOPOLYNET activities was selected for presentation in the Almanacco del CNR / Italy and CBET Bullettin Newletter for the Centre for Bioethics & Emerging Technologies StMary's University College Twickenham London.
3. Morphological results obtained by SDV NANOPOLYNET grantees were selected as images of the year by CfAM News.
4. Publication of NANOPOLYNET in The Scientific journal Solid State Phenomena vol 151 (2009) pp 101 -107 on line at http:// www. scientific net coordination action: NMP3 - CA - 2008 -218331 - NANOPOLYNET Setting up research-intensive clusters across the EU on characterisation of polymer nanostructures Clara Silvestre author. (att. N. 2).
5. Information Bulletin of Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Issue 8 (126), XIII, Sofia, BAS, ISSN 1312-5311.
6. Detailed report on NANOPOLYNET project activities is published in Nanoscience&Nanotechnology, (Eds. E. Balabanova, I. Dragieva) Acad. Publishing House 'Prof. M. Drinov', Sofia, Issue 9, 2009, ISBN 978-954-322-286-5; (in print); author R. Kotsilkova (P2).
7. Publication of NANOPOLYNET activities in the bulletin ITM News - June 08 Published on line at http://www.itm.cnr.it and on Membrane News - The newsletter of the European Membrane Society (EMS), www.emso.eu No. 78, February 2009, pag. 22
8. NANOPOLYNET has been put in the News section of the website of: The evitherm Society: www.evitherm.org partner 11.
Exploitation of results
The exploitation of results obtained by NANOPOLYNET is reflected in the following activities: EOL with the unique equipment and expertise will continue to be active thanks to the high level of network among partners reached through NANOPOLYNET. The exploitation of the EOL is already demonstrated by the very high number of joint publications on high rank Journal and joint projects submitted to national and international calls (some of them already financed), and will continue to be obtained by the partners due the links created during the project life. The EOL facilities / expertise were already exploited also by ESRs that performed scientific stages hosted by NANOPOLYNET partners at the EOL location.
The networking among participants created by NANOPOLYNET has stimulated participants to submit joint projects. At least 11 projects were submitted with the several already approved and financed. It is expected that due to the strong link among participants this stimulus will increase its strength in the next periods and will generated a conspicuous number of grants application of innovative proposal / projects. The submission of proposal generated has therefore already secured some research funding already showing the high capacity of the partners to raise research funds in the field of polymer nanostructure that it is expected will be confirmed also in the next future.
NANOPOLYNET promoted cooperation with several other existing platforms on polymer nanotechnology and standardisation bodies mainly the ones where the partners are involved or already in contact. Synergies with other European networks were established with exchange of the best practice and combination of events and courses. To be mentioned the synergy with cost action FA0904 an initiative started s thanks to links created among partners by NANOPOLYNET. Chair and vice chair of cost action FA0904 are respectively Clara Silvestre (P1) and as Chair, Rumiana Kotsilkova P2) .Moreover several other partners are MC member of the Action. This synergy was realised through the organisation of joint events that made possible to attract scientists from different disciplines, e.g. biotechnology, food technology, composites, nanotechnology, toxicology and enabling participants to meet scientists they do not meet in their regular network, stimulating new contacts.
The high involvement of ESRs in the project activities as demonstrated by the: The grants to ESRs for SDV at the EOL location and for participation in the events organised by the project; The organisation of a successful Round Table dedicated to young researchers 'Making the science of future in PNFP' held in conjunction with the international workshop 3-4 March 2011, Pozzuoli: The invitation to all the SDV grantees to present the result of their stage at the international workshop. The involvement of almost 105 young researchers (through the SDV, training school, project activities ) coming also from outside the participants institutions are a proof of the added value and positive impact of the project action to have contributed to reach the EU objectives.
The interest of the scientific / industrial international European Communities in the field of polymer nanomaterials. This is reflected in the active participation of scientists/technologists from outside the consortium networking participants coming from research, academic and industrial institutions, whose number has increased constantly during the project life. The selection of the aim and results of the project results for further dissemination from national and international scientific magazines. The invitation to coordinator and partners to present the project action objectives and activities at international meetings.
List of websites: www.NANOPOLYNET.eu
NANOPOLYNET is a coordination action initiated by the European Commission (EC) within the Seventh Framework Programme (FP7) theme 4 - Nanosciences, nanotechnologies, materials and new production technologies (NMP). It has started in April 2008 for 36 months and is performed by 17 partners from 10 countries. NANOPOLYNET addresses the area of characterisation of polymer nanostructures in the field of packaging, textiles and membranes aiming to contribute to the identification of the key factors that govern formation of ordered nanopatterns in polymer nanosystems. The project is coordinated by the Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche - Instituto di Chimica e Tecnologia dei Polimeri with Dr Clara Silvestre as coordinator: silvestre@ictp.cnr.it; A main information pool of NANOPOLYNET is the website: http://www.NANOPOLYNET.eu/ that provides information about project partners, results, European open laboratory (EOL) equipment and expertise, events, database of characterisation procedure/experts and that will continue to be active after the project end. NANOPOLYNET has fully achieved its objectives and technical goals. The very valuable results are the following:
1.The creation and the setting of the EOL with unique equipment and expertise in the field of characterisation of polymer nanostructure for advanced applications. (EOL) will continue to last beyond NANOPOLYNET closure, thanks to the high level of network among partners reached through NANOPOLYNET; The impact of the EOL is already demonstrated by the high number of joint publications on high rank Journal and joint projects submitted to national and international calls. The EOL facilities / expertise were exploit also by ESRs, that performed scientific stages hosted by NANOPOLYNET partners at the EOL location.
2.The development of measurement strategies and methodologies for determination of the effect of nanofillers on structure formation in polymers, available at www.NANOPOLYNET.eu .
3. The preparation of a database of European characterisation procedures / experts for polymer nanomaterials operational and available on the web page.
4. The involvement of numerous young researchers (through the SDVs and the training activities coming also from outside the partners institution) and the interest showed by several the Small and medium-sized enterprise (SME)s on the project activity.
5. The development of the DIN SPEC 91127: Temperature calibration of differential scanning calorimeters for sample mass and scan rate that describes protocol of temperature calibration procedures for fast scanning calorimeters for high to very high scan rates and low to very low sample masses respectively, thus complementing ISO 11357. This procedure was urgently needed as thermal history of polymers, and sample/product treatment can change their behaviour drastically, leading to deviating end properties.
6. The contribution to the development of a coordinated, coherent and cost-effective deployment of resources in the field of nanomaterials within the European Union (EU) values of sustainability, life cycle approach, precautionary principle and integrated European competitiveness and innovation.
In conclusion NANOPOLYNET has constituted a successful pilot initiative aiming at contributing to the identification of the key factors that govern formation of ordered nanopatterns in polymer-based hybrid systems and is an example that it is not always necessary to have big-scale organisations of departments, universities and companies to reach competitive and innovative results, NANOPOLYNET demonstrated that the fundamental point is the synergistic combination of multidisciplinary teams and complimentary high level skill sets: networks of top-experts sharing EOL of instrumentation / expertise and working together, (almost) irrespective of the institute / company / country they are located. So it is suggested that the EU duplicates NANOPOLYNET schema, bringing together top-experts and their EOLs and combining their complimentary 'excellence' in small and dedicated networks in order to stimulate fruitful cooperation.
Project context and objectives:
NANOPOLYNET is a coordination action initiated by EC within FP7 for Research under 'Cooperation' theme 4 - NMP. NANOPOLYNET addresses the area of characterisation of polymer nanostructures in the field of packaging, textiles, filtration and separation and membranes with the main goal to network at European level with experts on characterisation of polymer nanostructured materials, facilitating transnational access to unique equipment and to bridge the gap between scientific and engineering approaches towards improved understanding of the structure-performance correlation in polymer nanodevices.
NANOPOLYNET started in April 2008 for a 36-month period and was performed by 17 partners from 10 European countries.
NANOPOLYNET represents a pilot initiative aiming at contributing to the identification of the key factors that govern formation of ordered nanopatterns in polymer-based hybrid systems, addressing the area of characterisation of polymer nanostructures in the field of packaging, textiles, filtration and separation and membranes with the main goal of enabling communication between experts in different disciplines, and to increase knowledge in the fields of regulations, patenting, ethics, health and safety, sustainability and precaution.
The project work plan has the following specific objectives:
1. To network at European level with partners / labs experts on characterisation of polymer nanostructured materials, facilitating transnational access to important and unique equipment for academic researchers and SMEs technologists. The researchers belonging to the consortium have large and well-recognised skills at international level in all field of analysis and characterisation of structural, morphological physical, thermal, mechanical and processing properties of polymer nanomaterials. With these competencies the nanopolymeric materials can be studied at all hierarchical scales of organisation, mastering the phenomena involved in phase transitions and structural development as well as the interfacial interactions including orientation effects of the nanodomains according to preferred patterns due to the processing conditions imposed.
2. To bridge the gap between scientific and engineering approaches towards improved understanding of the structure-performance correlation in polymer devices.
It is generally accepted that a better understanding of the structure-property relationships, i.e. of the relationships between composition, processing, structure / morphology, dynamics and properties, is a necessary condition for optimising the design of polymer nanostructured materials with predicted properties. Moreover many new characterisation techniques are not well known or are not affordable for SMEs. There is a lack of knowledge transfer from the scientific community to the SMEs and a need of tailored interfaces to translate quickly the research results on characterisation methods into usable tools adequate to be used by industries and especially by SMEs.
3. To make available the latest experimental and theoretical strategies and routines to produce reliable data on nanostructured materials and to correctly interpret them. Access to several traditional characterisation methods is commonly possible for academic and industrial researchers. Nevertheless the intensive research in the field of polymer nanostructured materials of the last years has open new questions and new tasks; in particular there is a lack of information to allow researchers to become aware of the newest development of characterisation tool. With the presence of nanoparticles the already complex behaviour of polymer materials becomes even more complex and not only the composition and the kind of nanoparticles must be taken into account, but also the spatial arrangement of the nanofillers and the induced orientation of the crystals and nanofillers as function also of processing condition and finally the influence of these nanoparticles on the polymer matrix. These characteristics determine the final properties of the material.
4. To provide practical demonstrations of the new methodologies for scientists, technologists and SMEs producers. Characterisation of polymer nanostructure requires a high degree of interdisciplinary and trans-disciplinary co-operation and communication. This is due to the fact that at nanoscale level the expertise of researchers in physics, chemistry, biology and engineering is complementary. Its multidisciplinary nature makes a challenging field for recruiting and training the technical force that is needed and for educating the public as to its significance for the increase of attractiveness of research careers for young scientists offering also better job opportunities. The multidisciplinarity of the project and the training ambitions clearly necessitate the broad inter-disciplinarity network of the project by gathering specialists from different domains.
5. To harmonise work for new standards in the field of characterisation of polymer nanostructures and to manage the health and safety implications of polymer nanostructures.
Standardisation of nanotechnology is of significant importance for policy makers developing regulatory frameworks in government departments as well as for nanotechnology industries / enterprises. Unique and especially valuable is the multidisciplinary methodology for testing all materials on the nanoscale to evaluate the potential for human exposure. It is the latest objective of the project to stimulate research that is essential for gaining leadership in the competitive global nanotechnology market.
Project results:
NANOPOLYNET addresses the area of characterisation of polymer nanostructures in the field of packaging, textiles, filtration and separation and membranes with the following main objectives:
- to network at European level with experts on characterisation of polymer nanostructured materials, facilitating transnational access to unique equipment and to bridge the gap between scientific and engineering approaches towards improved understanding of the structure-performance correlation in polymer nanodevices;
- to make available the latest experimental and theoretical strategies and routines allowing average trained users to produce reliable data on nanostructured materials, to correctly interpret them and to provide practical demonstration of the new methodologies;
- to harmonise work for new standards in the field of characterisation of polymer nanostructures and to manage the health and safety, and environmental implications of polymer nanostructures.
The activities of NANOPOLYNET are grouped in seven Work package (WP)s listed below:
WP1 - Project management and assessment of progress and results: WP1 aims to:
- guarantee the administrative and financial management of the project;
- assessing the progress and results of the project;
- monitoring the knowledge dissemination; and
- to support the transfer of information between partners.
WP2 - Mapping and setting up an EOL for characterisation of polymer nanomaterials: WP2 aims to:
- offer an overview of the state of the art in nanomaterials characterisation;
map the advanced equipment for nanomaterials characterisation;
set up an EOL where all the expertise and equipment are available for transnational access.
WP3 - Demonstration course, round table and short demo visits for young academic and SMEs researchers: WP3 aims to contribute to train young scientists and SMEs active in nanomaterial production in latest methodologies and advanced tools for characterisation of polymer nanostructure and properties. This will help to link senior scientists with younger colleagues for advice and support and to keep SMEs with a leader position.
WP4 - Making available the latest characterisation tools including molecular modelling tools: WP4 aims to make available experimental and theoretical strategies and routines in developing stage at the EOL location. This will allow average trained users of equipment for thermal, structural, morphological, mechanical characterisation to produce reliable data on nanostructured materials and correctly interpret them.
WP5 - International workshops 'Characterisation of safe nanostructured polymeric materials'. WP5 aims to support nanomaterial development, in particular, the design of intrinsically safe nanomaterials and to contributing to the dissemination of project findings and results through the organisation of an international workshop planned on processing-structure-dynamics and properties of safe nanostructured polymeric materials.
WP6 - Harmonisation work for standards in characterisation of safe polymeric nanostructured materials: WP6 aims to harmonise the work for preparation of new standards for polymeric nanomaterials characterisation and to provide up-to-date information on the potential toxicological effects and safety evaluation of polymer nanostructured materials on human health and their risk assessments for a wide audience.
WP7: Dissemination of project activities and results: WP7 aims to disseminate, transfer knowledge and report with the aim of giving the project a significant impact beyond the consortium participants. It will contribute to overcome barriers to the industrial application of polymer nanostructured materials especially in SMEs due to lack of useful information about advanced characterisation methods and to new standards and norms that meet market requirements.
The project has fully achieved its objectives and technical goals for this third period as well as for the previous periods. NANOPOLYNET has constituted a successful pilot initiative aiming to contribute to the identification of the key factors that govern formation of ordered nanopatterns in polymer-based hybrid systems and is an example that it is not always necessary to have big-scale organisations of departments, universities and companies to reach competitive and innovative results. NANOPOLYNET demonstrated that the fundamental point is the synergistic combination of multidisciplinary teams and complimentary high level skill sets.
The very valuable results of NANOPOLYNET are the following:
- The creation and the setting of the EOL with unique equipment and expertise in the field of characterisation of safe polymer nanostructure for advanced applications. EOL is driven by a synergistic combination of multidisciplinary teams and complimentary high level skill sets: EOL will continue to be active thanks to the high level of networking among partners reached through NANOPOLYNET and will certainly contribute to the today and future innovation in the field of polymer nanomaterials.
- The database of European characterisation procedure and experts for polymer nanomaterials operational is available on the web page (www.NANOPOLYNET.eu).
- The experimental and theoretical strategies, routines and instruction in developing stage at the EOL location available on the web page that can allow average trained users of equipment for thermal, structural, morphological, mechanical characterisation to produce reliable data on nanostructured materials and correctly interpret them. Such as comparative studies of structure formation in nanostructured materials through homogeneous and heterogeneous nucleation routes by advanced calorimetry; instruction for determining basic structural, morphological and textural parameters from diffraction analysis, data on critical cooling rate for homogeneous nucleation for different polymers.
- The development of the DIN SPEC 91127: Temperature calibration of differential scanning calorimeters for sample mass and scan rate that describes protocol of temperature calibration procedures for fast scanning calorimeters for high to very high scan rates and low to very low sample masses respectively, thus complementing ISO 11357. This procedure was urgently needed as thermal history of polymers, and sample / product treatment can change their behaviour drastically, leading to deviating end properties.
- The contribution to the development of a coordinated, coherent and cost-effective deployment of resources in the field of polymer nanostructures within the EU values of sustainability, life cycle approach, precautionary principle and integrated European competitiveness and innovation.
- The high number of joint publications on high rank journal and joint projects submitted to national and international calls (some of them already financed), demonstrate that significant and valuable scientific achievements were obtained and will continue to be obtained by the partners due the links created during the project life and that will last beyond NANOPOLYNET closure.
- The involvement of numerous young researchers (through the SDVs and the project training activity coming also from outside the partners institution and the interest showed by several the SMEs on the project activity are a proof of the added value and positive impact of NANOPOLYNET to have contributed to reach the EU objectives.
- The selection of NANOPOLYNET results for further dissemination from national and international scientific magazines, the invitation to coordinator and partners to present the project objectives and activities during the entire life NANOPOLYNET at international meetings show the interest of the scientific European Communities in the field of activity of NANOPOLYNET (characterisation of polymer nanostructure) and fully justify the investment of the EU done to NANOPOLYNET and that NANOPOLYNET consortium will strongly try to multiply.
- The networking with other nanotechnology network and projects related to nanomaterials characterisation: Very interesting the links with COST action FA0904 with Clara Silvestre (P1) as Chair, Rumiana Kotsilkova (P2) vice chair and several NANOPOLYNET partners as members of MC of the COST action with organisation of 2 joint events (London 2010, Pozzuoli (Napoli) 2011.
- The networking created by NANOPOLYNET among partners and with other activities has stimulated partners to prepare joint projects in the field of polymer nanostructures. Several projects were submitted by the partner. Some were already evaluated and got financial support.
- The main scientific / technological activities organised by NANOPOLYNET: The international workshop international workshop 'Safe nanostructure polymer nanomaterials' 3-4 March 2011, Pozzuoli, where numerous industrial representatives participate and pointed out the their view on the importance of exploiting nanotechnology for innovative applications. The two technological seminars held in Berlin (2009) and London (2010) covering complimentary aspects related to the use of polymer nanoparticles for innovative application (mainly food packaging) including toxicity and environmental aspects, proper handling and environmental concerns of nanoparticles and regulation and standardisation issues.
- The very high interest and the participation in all the events organised and / or co-organised with the active participation of total of about 220 scientists / technologists. The success of the NANOPOLYNET activities underlined the needs of networking (possible only through an instrument like a coordination action) amongst several different disciplines - chemistry, physics, life sciences, engineering, various application oriented fields - in order to achieve innovative results.
Potential impact:
NANOPOLYNET reached important and significant achievements. The results that had and will continue to have a great potential impact are:
1. The setting of the EOL with the unique equipment and expertise that will continue to be active thanks to the high level of network amongst partners reached through NANOPOLYNET and that will last beyond NANOPOLYNET closure. The impact of the EOL is demonstrated by the very high number of joint publications on high rank Journal and joint projects submitted to national and international calls (some of them already financed), were obtained and will continue to be obtained by the partners due the links created during the project life.
2. The development of specific measurement strategies and methodologies for determination of the effect of nanofillers on structure formation and morphology in polymers using microscopy and calorimetric methods, including fast and ultrafast scanning that are available for free downloading at www.NANOPOLYNET.eu.
3. The training activities that introduced numerous young researchers (through the SDVs and the project training activity coming also from outside the partners' institution) to the field of great potentiality such as polymer nanomaterials.
4. The interest showed by several SMEs in on the project activities are a proof of the added value and positive impact of NANOPOLYNET to have contributed to reach the EU objectives.
5. The development of the DIN SPEC 91127: Temperature calibration of differential scanning calorimeters for sample mass and scan rate. This is specification describing a protocol of temperature calibration procedures for fast scanning calorimeters for high to very high scan rates and low to very low sample masses respectively, thus complementing ISO 11357. In the specification procedures are given for both an extensive temperature calibration as well as a rather quick temperature calibration of FSCs in the heating and the cooling modes for various scan rates and concomitant adjusted sample masses. This procedure was urgently needed as thermal history of polymers, specifically cooling and heating rates, and sample / product treatment can change their behaviour drastically, leading to deviating end properties due to phenomena related to metastability of nanostructured crystallites and superstructures (if present) are well known to polymer scientists; daily they encounter supercooling, amorphisation, 'hot' crystallisation, cold crystallisation, recrystallisation (after melting), annealing, reorganisation etc. The specification will have a consistent economic impact as it will facilitate making the right choices to minimise the thermal lag arising at increasing scan rates before performing a measurement.
6. The contribution, through the organisation of dedicated seminar to the development of a coordinated, coherent and cost-effective deployment of resources in the field of polymer nanostructures within the EU values of sustainability, life cycle approach, precautionary principle and integrated European competitiveness and innovation.
Main dissemination activities
One of the main activities of NANOPOLYNET was dedicated to disseminating, knowledge-transfer and reporting with the aim of giving the project a significant impact beyond the consortium participants. In order to contribute to overcome barriers to the industrial application of polymer nanostructured materials especially in SMEs due to lack of useful information about advanced characterisation methods and to new standards and norms that meet market requirements.
Several and very successful activities were performed concerns the dissemination of the activities involving all the consortium members and aims to introduce NANOPOLYNET to the public.
1. Project website www.NANOPOLYNET.eu ; setting, maintenance and updating The impressive number of visits to the web site (more than 240 / day) demonstrated the interest of the industrial and scientific community in NANOPOLYNET activities and its impact.
2.Publication of NANOPOLYNET activities in the partners' website:
http://www.ictp.cnr.it ;
http://www.icmpp.ro ;
http://www.clphchm.bas.bg/en/international-projects.html ;
http://www.kmf.troja.mff.cuni ;
http://www.itm.cnr.it/Progetti.htm ;
http://www.rdg.ac.uk/cfam/research/NANOPOLYNET.htm ;
http://www.scite.nl/index.htm ;
http://www.din.de/ ;
http://www.smuc.ac.uk/research/cbet/scope.htm ;
http://www.nanotechnologie.cs/ ;
http://www.edeil.ntua.gr/ .
3. Highlights in term of socioeconomic impact and further dissemination were the activities organised by NANOPOLYNET:
The international workshop 'Safe nanostructure polymer nanomaterials' 3-4 March 2011, Pozzuoli, where numerous industrial representatives participate and pointed out their view on the importance of exploiting nanotechnology for food packaging applications.
The two technological seminars held in Berlin (2009) and London (2010) covering complimentary aspects related to the use of polymer nanoparticles for innovative application (mainly food packaging) including toxicity and environmental aspects, proper handling and environmental concerns of nanoparticles and regulation and standardisation issues.
The interest and the participation in all the events organised and / or co-organised was very high with the active participation of a total of about 220 scientists / technologists. These successful activities underlined the needs of networking (possible only through an instrument like a coordination action) amongst several different disciplines - chemistry, physics, life sciences, engineering, various application oriented fields - in order to achieve innovative results.
Further dissemination of the NANOPOLYNET objectives and results and the EOL establishment was performed was also accomplished:
a) By numerous papers, already published / submitted for publications or in preparations were possible through the availability of facilities and competences in EOL, as or example: This study is supported by the project in the framework of FP7 entitled 'Setting up research-intensive clusters across the EU on characterisation of polymer nanostructures' acronym NANOPOLYNET, no. 218331. The list of the papers is reported in WP2.
b) Presentation of NANOPOLYNET at scientific and technological meetings and workshops: Another way of dissemination of our experience and knowledge was active participation on conferences and meetings with focus on structure and morphology of nanostructured polymeric materials as well as methodology for morphology and structure analysis. On these meetings we advertised the ideas of the project and got many other scientists interested in the EOL concept. A list of active conference attendances of partner group within Europe with relevant focus and contribution to NANOPOLYNET dissemination is given.
The success of the dissemination activities, together with the relevance of the project achievements activities is demonstrated by the following examples:
1. NANOPOLYNET results were selected for special promotion by Community Research and Development Information Service (CORDIS) on the technology marketplace https://cordis.europa.eu/article/id/85886-joint-initiative-for-polymer-nanostrucure-design with the interesting title Title: Giving Europe the edge on polymer nanomaterials on the 'Materials blog' webpage http://ec.europa.eu/research/industrial_technologies/materials-blog_en.html where interesting novelties arising from the most promising research projects under FP7 are selected and published.
2. NANOPOLYNET activities was selected for presentation in the Almanacco del CNR / Italy and CBET Bullettin Newletter for the Centre for Bioethics & Emerging Technologies StMary's University College Twickenham London.
3. Morphological results obtained by SDV NANOPOLYNET grantees were selected as images of the year by CfAM News.
4. Publication of NANOPOLYNET in The Scientific journal Solid State Phenomena vol 151 (2009) pp 101 -107 on line at http:// www. scientific net coordination action: NMP3 - CA - 2008 -218331 - NANOPOLYNET Setting up research-intensive clusters across the EU on characterisation of polymer nanostructures Clara Silvestre author. (att. N. 2).
5. Information Bulletin of Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Issue 8 (126), XIII, Sofia, BAS, ISSN 1312-5311.
6. Detailed report on NANOPOLYNET project activities is published in Nanoscience&Nanotechnology, (Eds. E. Balabanova, I. Dragieva) Acad. Publishing House 'Prof. M. Drinov', Sofia, Issue 9, 2009, ISBN 978-954-322-286-5; (in print); author R. Kotsilkova (P2).
7. Publication of NANOPOLYNET activities in the bulletin ITM News - June 08 Published on line at http://www.itm.cnr.it and on Membrane News - The newsletter of the European Membrane Society (EMS), www.emso.eu No. 78, February 2009, pag. 22
8. NANOPOLYNET has been put in the News section of the website of: The evitherm Society: www.evitherm.org partner 11.
Exploitation of results
The exploitation of results obtained by NANOPOLYNET is reflected in the following activities: EOL with the unique equipment and expertise will continue to be active thanks to the high level of network among partners reached through NANOPOLYNET. The exploitation of the EOL is already demonstrated by the very high number of joint publications on high rank Journal and joint projects submitted to national and international calls (some of them already financed), and will continue to be obtained by the partners due the links created during the project life. The EOL facilities / expertise were already exploited also by ESRs that performed scientific stages hosted by NANOPOLYNET partners at the EOL location.
The networking among participants created by NANOPOLYNET has stimulated participants to submit joint projects. At least 11 projects were submitted with the several already approved and financed. It is expected that due to the strong link among participants this stimulus will increase its strength in the next periods and will generated a conspicuous number of grants application of innovative proposal / projects. The submission of proposal generated has therefore already secured some research funding already showing the high capacity of the partners to raise research funds in the field of polymer nanostructure that it is expected will be confirmed also in the next future.
NANOPOLYNET promoted cooperation with several other existing platforms on polymer nanotechnology and standardisation bodies mainly the ones where the partners are involved or already in contact. Synergies with other European networks were established with exchange of the best practice and combination of events and courses. To be mentioned the synergy with cost action FA0904 an initiative started s thanks to links created among partners by NANOPOLYNET. Chair and vice chair of cost action FA0904 are respectively Clara Silvestre (P1) and as Chair, Rumiana Kotsilkova P2) .Moreover several other partners are MC member of the Action. This synergy was realised through the organisation of joint events that made possible to attract scientists from different disciplines, e.g. biotechnology, food technology, composites, nanotechnology, toxicology and enabling participants to meet scientists they do not meet in their regular network, stimulating new contacts.
The high involvement of ESRs in the project activities as demonstrated by the: The grants to ESRs for SDV at the EOL location and for participation in the events organised by the project; The organisation of a successful Round Table dedicated to young researchers 'Making the science of future in PNFP' held in conjunction with the international workshop 3-4 March 2011, Pozzuoli: The invitation to all the SDV grantees to present the result of their stage at the international workshop. The involvement of almost 105 young researchers (through the SDV, training school, project activities ) coming also from outside the participants institutions are a proof of the added value and positive impact of the project action to have contributed to reach the EU objectives.
The interest of the scientific / industrial international European Communities in the field of polymer nanomaterials. This is reflected in the active participation of scientists/technologists from outside the consortium networking participants coming from research, academic and industrial institutions, whose number has increased constantly during the project life. The selection of the aim and results of the project results for further dissemination from national and international scientific magazines. The invitation to coordinator and partners to present the project action objectives and activities at international meetings.
List of websites: www.NANOPOLYNET.eu
