Manchester Uni launches new nano-materials business with Nanoco Group

The University of Manchester has teamed up with manufacturer Nanoco Group PLC to launch a new nano-materials business.

The company, Nanoco 2D Materials Ltd, will operate as a wholly owned subsidiary of Nanoco Group.

It will focus on developing and commercialising two-dimensional nano-particles – a platform technology, one or two atoms thick and just a few nanometres wide (a nanometre is one-billionth of a metre).

According to the university, it represents a burgeoning field of material science but there are currently no cost-effective ways of producing 2D materials on a commercial scale.

There is also no reliable method for ensuring consistent properties suitable for the wide range of potential electronics, industrial and other applications.

Nanoco develops and manufactures cadmium-free quantum dots and other nanomaterials for LCD displays, lighting, solar cells and bio-imaging.

The firm has collaborated for the last year with Manchester University’s Prof. Novoselov, who won the Nobel Prize for Physics in 2010 for his work on graphene – the ‘wonder material’ comprising a single layer of carbon atoms.

Nanoco’s work with the university has looked to establish feasibility for the production of two-dimensional nano-particles. 2D Materials was created to formalise the partnership and ensure funding is in place to continue developing the technology.

Nanoco’s founder and CTO, Dr Nigel Pickett, said: “By combining Nanoco’s expertise with the knowledge base from Prof. Novoselov’s lab we have been able to push the boundaries of material science to come up with a new generation of versatile 2D nano-particles and are now utilising Nanoco’s 15 years of scale-up expertise on methods to produce them at commercial scale.

“Potential commercial applications for these materials span across a wide range of sectors including novel catalysts, photo-detectors, photovoltaics, inverters and light emitting devices.”

Sir Kostya Novoselov commented: “It is exciting to see how quickly 2D materials, beyond graphene, has accelerated from the early research stage to the technology we now have.

“Working with a very knowledgeable and dedicated Nanoco team continues to be a very refreshing experience. The ability of our combined teams to focus on particular technological and performance parameters is allowing the rapid development of these 2D Materials.”

Clive Rowland, chief exec of the university’s innovation company, UMI3, said: “Part of the University’s strategy for commercialising graphene and its sister 2D materials is to work with existing companies and entrepreneurs to help them set up R&D centres and new companies close to the campus to create a technology innovation ecosystem here – Graphene City.

“I’m delighted that we are working with Nanoco, which itself is a spin-out from the University. Its experience in the handling and scaling up of nanomaterials and access to its relevant facilities were key factors in us deciding to support this initiative.”

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