>
Spotlight May 2021: Towards safe and sustainable innovation in nanotechnology: State-of-play for smart nanomaterials
The European Commission’s new Action Plan for a Circular Economy Green Deal, the new European Industrial Strategy as well as the Chemicals Strategy for Sustainability presented in October 2020 are ambitious plans to achieve a sustainable, fair and inclusive economy in the European Union. These strategies require that any new material or product must not only be functional and cost-efficient, but also safe and sustainable.
Nanotechnology is one of the technologies that could enable such green growth. This paper focuses on nanomaterials that actively respond to external stimuli, so-called “smart nanomaterials”. They are part of the broader category of “advanced materials”. It shows that smart nanomaterials and related products may pose new challenges for safety and sustainability assessment due to their complexity and dynamic behaviour. Innovators, scientists and authorities are called upon to further develop and promote the concept of “Safe and Sustainable-by-Design” in nanotechnology.
Original publication:
Gottardo, S., et al., Towards safe and sustainable innovation in nanotechnology: State-of-play for smart nanomaterials. NanoImpact, 2021. 21: p. 100297.
Weitere Spotlights
Spotlight November 2023: Early Awareness and Action System for Advanced Materials (Early4AdMa)
Advanced materials hold immense potential to address global challenges such as environmental degradation, transformation of the energy sector, and development towards circularity. To harness their benefits while ensuring safety and sustainability, regulatory bodies, scientific communities, and industries have recognized the need for proactive approaches. The “Early4AdMa” system is a pre-regulatory risk governance tool for advanced […]
Read moreSpotlight October 2023: Improved hydrogen production through novel catalyst made of three metals
Hydrogen is one of the important energy carriers of the future when it comes to climate-relevant energy supply. For example, surplus electricity from wind turbines or solar plants can be converted into hydrogen, allowing the otherwise unused energy to be stored for longer periods. This hydrogen can be used to power trucks and buses for […]
Read moreSpotlight March 2023: How can photovoltaics be made safe and sustainable?
Conventional photovoltaic systems often have only low efficiency, i.e. only a fraction of the solar energy is converted into electrical energy and made usable. For this reason, research is being conducted into innovative materials that can significantly increase the energy yield and thus also enable more electrical energy to be generated from renewable sources. However, […]
Read moreSpotlight November 2022: Photonics in nature and bioinspired designs
Science has always taken nature as a model and imitated it. If you look at the field of photonics, i.e. the use of optical technologies for information processing, transmission or storage, the colorful examples in the animal and plant world are perfect basic drawers for technical applications. While colors in nature are used either for […]
Read more