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Veneto: the birthplace of Italian nanotechnology
Rome - (Ign) - The aim is extremely ambitious: to place Italian industry at the forefront of the nanotechnology sector, the new frontier which, according to many experts, will represent the driving force of future economic and manufacturing development. To realise the aim, a consortium has been set up, Veneto Nanotech (www.venetonanotech.it), which brings together in a joint-stock company three universities (Padova, Venice and Verona), the Regional Council of Veneto, important public research centres and many private companies and business associations from an extremely wide range of production sectors. Nanotechnology, intended as the capacity to manipulate materials of dimensions of less than one 10 millionth of a millimetre, i.e. on a molecular scale, in fact represents a combination of differentiated skills, abilities and experience which cannot be covered by a single area of research. This is a kind of transversal science, which will soon prove indispensable for crucial development in innumerable production sectors, ranging from energy, electronics and chemicals to iron and steel, telecommunications and textiles. The fields of application of nanotechnology are practically limitless, and nearly all the major productive sectors may be significantly influenced. The research in progress, led by the work of Veneto Nanotech, in fact covers an extremely wide-ranging spectrum, ranging from the development and application of new or improved materials (for transport, information technology, telecommunications) and chemical products (for example the new anti-pollution catalysers), to the development of new drugs, treatment systems and devices. There are also many potential applications in the environmental and energy field, as well as in the food and cosmetics sectors. Naturally, many applications are also expected for the defence and aerospace sectors.
Some products deriving from nanotechnology are already available on the market. Such is the case of nanopowders with anti-ultraviolet properties used in some protective sun creams, nanostructured powders designed for optical coatings and paints, and computer hard disks with nanostructured surfaces which allow data to be recorded at extremely high density. Other products are expected in the near future, such as photonic devices for telecommunications, self-cleaning surfaces, diagnostic systems and nanocomposites. Lastly, in the more distant future, but nevertheless within the next 6-7 years, we expect advanced drug administration systems, more resistant medical prostheses with improved biocompatibility, conductive polymers, and better production and energy storage systems. The nanotechnology market is still limited and difficult to evaluate, but medium-term prospects are extremely promising. It is in fact estimated that over the next 10 years the value of new applications in nanotechnology may well assume vast international proportions, worth over $ 600 billion per year. And Italian industry, which has already achieved its first important successes in the sector, also thanks to the support offered by Veneto Nanotech, intends to occupy a leading position in this future.
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