Gallery of nanotechnology from Yorkshire, England

Nanotechnology at your fingertips

Nanotechnology developed in Yorkshire will soon be at the fingertips of mobile phone users around the world, thanks to technical and scientific expertise from the University of Leeds.

Richmond-based Peratech Ltd were no strangers to nanotechnology when they first approached the University of Leeds for help. They’d developed Quantum Tunnelling Composite (QTCs), made of nanoparticles able to transmit electronic signals when pressure was applied.

Although the company initially developed QTCs as a coating which could be applied to materials such as textiles on an industrial scale, they realised that, as an ink, the range of potential applications for the technology was enormous.

“In ink form, we could be much more precise about how the QTCs were applied,” explains Peratech’s Chief Technical Officer, David Lussey. “This opened up the possibility of making new kinds of touch sensitive devices, for mobile phones, touch screens and keyboards. The industrial printing processes already existed for these kind of products, so it was just a case of getting QTCs into the right form.”

The Digital Print Centre for Industrial Collaboration, based at the University of Leeds, was the perfect partner for Peratech. Funded through Yorkshire Forward, the Digital Print CIC was set up specifically to link academic know how with industry and will be part of the areas of expertise open to SMEs under the Nanofactory project.

“When Peratech approached us, we were sure we could help them,” says Digital Print CIC Commercial Manager, Trevor Lambourne. “We’ve got years of experience at formulating inks and were able tap into the nanotechnology expertise at the University as well.”

Now that QTCs are in ink form, companies are knocking on Peratech’s door to find out more about the technology, and David Lussey is very pleased he began the collaboration. “It’s been a hugely important development for our business,” says David Lussey. “We’ve been very impressed with the academics who got involved in the project, as they could talk to us not only about the science, but could also see how it could be applied commercially, which was crucial.”

Peratech are continuing to work with the University and are funding a PhD post, supported by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), looking at the functionality and science of QTC ink – with the aim of finding even more applications for this amazing technology.

Enabling organic electronics

Ossila specialises in design, fabrication and testing of organic photovoltaics (OPVs) and organic/polymer light emitting diodes (OLEDs/PLEDs) and supplies components and starter packs for rapid prototyping of OPV and OLED devices.

Ossila was founded by physicists at the University of Sheffield to provide the equipment, consumables and services to accelerate organic electronics research.

Whether you're after polymers for organic photovoltaics, patterned substrates for OLEDs or shadow masks for OPV/OLED cathodes, Ossila provides a complete package to enable your research. They offer a full design, processing, fabrication and testing service for new OPV/OLED materials, helping you accelerate your materials development program.

Their patterned ITO substrates, shadow masks and encapsulation tools provide a complete platform for your device development. If you have a glovebox, spin coater and evaporator then Ossila becomes a one-stop shop to efficient organic photovoltaics. Their best devices have produced an efficiency of 4.5% (average of 4.3%).

They supply a range of specialist materials including P3HT, PCBM and PEDOT:PSS from world leading manufacturers, providing only the materials used in their own laboratories.

Ossila offers a complete organic photvoltaic and organic LED materials testing service. They can rapidly turn your prototype materials into finished devices, together with a complete test and analysis report. The service includes complementary consultancy offering advice on the performance of your materials.

Serving polymer R&D

Many companies can, potentially, benefit from the creativity, expertise and facilities in polymer science available at the Polymer Centre at the University of Sheffield. FaraPack Polymers Ltd, a wholly-owned spin-out from Sheffield, offers clients the opportunity to access the University's network by means of short- to medium-term projects to solve immediate, trouble-shooting problems and to undertake proof-of-principle investigations to lower the risk profile of a long-term, strategic R&D investment with the University. FaraPack's capabilities encompass:

Research
Synthesis
Analysis

FaraPack's latest offering is in the area of synthesis scale-up using their 10 kg controlled lab reactor, Lara (TM). This facility enables clients to produce prototyping quantities of, for example, speciality coatings or composite matrices.

Antibody production

BioServ UK Ltd is a specialist service company with expertise in the production and processing of bio-molecules. Using state of the art technology, they provide products to a diverse customer base including bioscience companies and leading academic institutions, encompassing key research areas such as immunology, proteomics, cell and molecular biology. Bioserv maintains a superior quality system based on the ISO 9001 2008 standard and they strive to provide the highest level of service to their customers.

Projects undertaken include:

Monoclonal and polyclonal antibody development;
Expression of recombinant proteins in prokaryotic and mammalian culture systems;
Generation of serum and protein free suspension cell lines and subsequent scale up;
Downstream processing with associated protein chemistry analytics and document support.

The Polymer Centre

The Polymer Centre at the University of Sheffield is a network of some 40 research groups active in all branches of polymer science and engineering, the UK’s largest single-university network in the field. The network includes world-leading academic experts in all aspects of polymer synthesis, processing and behaviour, from first-principles scientific understanding through to engineered applications in sectors like aerospace, coatings, electronics, energy, healthcare and home and personal care.

A business-facing Polymer Centre team provides a public face for the network, matching technical enquiries with the most appropriate academic resources, recommending relevant formats for interaction and assisting in project management as necessary. Where the most appropriate format for interaction is a short to medium term contract R&D project, we work with FaraPack Polymers, a spin-out of the University, to deliver programmes to client timescales and budgets. The Polymer Centre also delivers a range of training and conference events on behalf of our network, most significantly the Polymer IRC's short modular course in Polymer Science & Technology accredited by IOM3.

Sublime printing

Sheffield business Octi-Tech Ltd specialises in decorative systems, developing the technology and equipment for printing onto all sorts of products and surfaces. The company had developed a new system to decorate complex 3D surfaces – such as dimpled tiles or sculpted skirting boards – but were struggling to get the quality of image they needed.

Managing Director Paul Hirst explains: “The process prints the image onto a polymer film which then moulds to the surface of the product and transfers the image across. The films we had didn’t work well enough, but we were struggling to find anyone to help us develop a new one, until we came across the Polymer Centre at the University of Sheffield.”

The Polymer Centre directed them to spin-out company, FaraPack Polymers Ltd, which was set up to help companies needing research expertise on short-term projects, such as engineering problems, technology issues or new product development. They also helped the company gain a Yorkshire Forward Innovation Voucher, which covered the costs of the initial research.

FaraPack’s specialism is developing new and bespoke polymers which made them the ideal partner for Octi-Tech, as Operations Manager at FaraPack, Chris Saywell explains: “Transferring the image from the film to the object involved interactions between nano-sized particles in the film coating and the inks. We worked on a new coating for the film to increase the dye transfer to as close to 100 percent as possible.”

The FaraPack team tested options for different coatings in the lab until a prototype was developed. Then FaraPack sourced a company able to produce the film to full scale. The whole process took three months and the result was a film which enables high quality image transfer, allowing Octi-Tech to launch their new system. Paul Hirst doesn’t claim to understand the science, but is very glad to have found the solution.

“We didn’t think of it as a nanotechnology problem – just as polymer film that needed a new coating on it,” he said. “ We’re now working with FaraPack on other projects as well, and the collaboration looks set to continue.”

Natural antibiotics

Nature’s Laboratory, a Whitby-based business, has developed a water soluble form of propolis, a resin collected by bees and used by them as an immune defence mechanism. This has numerous therapeutic effects, including antimicrobial, immunomodulatory and anti cancer and has the potential to greatly improve human health. One of the barriers to the commercial success of this product however was its strong, pungent odour.

In a project funded by the Molecular Engineering Translational Research Centre (METRC), researchers at the University of Bradford's Institute for Pharmaceutical Innovation worked with Nature’s Laboratory scientists to create a process to deodorise the product. Company founder James Fearnley, who set up the state-of-the-art laboratory, said it was a big breakthrough. “We have been involved in this research for 20 years and have just released a paper about how propolis can be used to help fight MRSA,” he said. “This award is very exciting as propolis is very pungent smelling and what we have been doing is removing that smell without reducing its effects. Our product will now be sent to a customer in Korea to be used over there and the implications are massive.”

Nature’s Laboratory and the Institute of Pharmaceutical Innovation at Bradford have been nominated for a “Partners in Innovation” award at the Yorkshire Forward Innovator/10 Awards Ceremony.

Soft nano for roofing repair

Euro Polymers (GB) Ltd is a leading provider of polymer coatings used in waterproofing, primarily for building protection. For the last three years they have been working with scientists at the Sheffield Polymer Centre, looking to improve their existing products with new formulations based on the exploitation of soft nanotechnology. The new Eurotec polymer system developed as a consequence of this collaboration, is able to penetrate the surface of bitumen or asphalt substrates, then self-assemble into interlocking structures like nanometre-scale Velcro. This gives much better adhesion as the products bond at a molecular level.This gives a significant advantage over the market leading systems, which simply sit on top of the structure. Eurotec becomes one with substrate, giving almost 5 fold stronger bond to prevent wind uplift.

A further advantage is that the new material formulation makes extensive use of recycled materials, giving the new product strong green credentials.

Intelligent buildings

Intelligent building

Designing ‘intelligent’ buildings to resist earthquakes could potentially save thousands of lives every year. The University of Leeds has been collaborating on a £9.5m EU funded project with a number of partners, including ‘Instrumentel’ a Yorkshire based SME, to test ways of building safer housing in earthquake zones. With self-healing polymers and wireless, battery-less sensors to provide early warning, incorporated into the walls, the eventual prototype will be built on a Greek mountainside in Amfilochia.

Collaboration gets to the root of nanotechnology

Thousands of people are benefitting from the latest technology in root canal fillings, thanks to a nanotechnology and engineering collaboration between the University of Bradford and dental products company, DRFP.

DRFP wanted to find a modern replacement for the traditional natural rubber fillers, shaped like a tooth pick, which are pressed into place to fill root canal cavities. As the rubber doesn’t always fill the area completely, DRFP came up with the concept of the ‘smartseal’ system: using a bespoke polymer core, to which a coating could be applied that would expand on contact with water until all of the cavity was filled.

Because the polymer had to show up on x-ray, it needed to contain a ceramic powder, but this then made it difficult to produce to the small sizes required by dental practitioners and hard to ensure consistency in the production.

DRFP were struggling to find anyone to help them with this technology, until they contacted the Centre for Micro and Nano Moulding at the University of Bradford.

“Because the ceramic powder turned the polymer from a liquid to a paste, it stopped flowing evenly,” says Technical Manager, Dr Ben Whiteside. “The powder’s particle size needed to be correct for the polymer mixture to flow properly and we had the nanotechnology expertise to get it right.”

The University also worked with DRFP to develop the correct injection tool to ensure the moulding process worked in full scale manufacturing.

“It required very specialised injection moulding techniques,” said DRFP Operations Manager, Dr Paul Holden. “Dr Whiteside’s team were able to develop a technique that could reliably create the right geometry for the core and ensure they had the correct mechanical properties.”

Smartseal began manufacture in Sheffield in 2007 and has been used successfully by dentists all over the country. The relationship between the company and University is still going strong, with R&D staff from DRFP regularly using the equipment in the Centre for Micro and Nano Moulding to further refine their product.

See www.smart-seal.co.uk for further information

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acceleratinginnovation

Gallery of nanotechnology from Yorkshire, England

accelerating
innovation