CARBONNASA

Carbon-based Nanomaterials and Nanostructures for Advanced Sensing Applications

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 Obiettivo del progetto (Objective)

'We are proposing a 4-year program of knowledge transfer and networking between Aston University, UK (Aston), the University of Aveiro, Portugal (UAvr), University of Rochester, USA (URoc), Old Dominion University, USA (ODU), National Institute for Materials Science, Japan (NIMS), Chinese Academy of Science, China (CAS), and Changshu Institute of Technology, China (CIT). The objective of the proposed joint exchange programme is to establish long-term stable research cooperation between the partners with complimentary expertise and knowledge. The project objectives and challenges present a balanced mix between industrial application focused knowledge transfer and development and more far-looking studies for potentially ground-breaking applications of using carbon-based nanomaterials and nanostructures for advanced sensing applications (CarbonNASA).'

Introduzione (Teaser)

Carbon nanomaterials have a combination of important properties in a single tiny package. Harnessing their thermal and electrical conductivity, mechanical strength and optical properties is creating devices not available in Europe until now.

Descrizione progetto (Article)

The EU is funding the Marie Curie International Research Staff Exchange Scheme (IRSES) project 'Carbon-based nanomaterials and nanostructures for advanced sensing applications' (http://www.aston.ac.uk/eas/research/groups/nrg/research-staff-exchange-scheme/ (CARBONNASA)). The project will bring important skills and expertise from China, Japan and the United States to European labs equipped with the infrastructure to exploit them.

It is designed to support knowledge transfer regarding nanomaterials that will facilitate development of potentially groundbreaking technologies and devices currently not available in Europe. Applications abound in fields from energy to biomedicine to microelectronics.

During the first half of the four-year project, researchers focused much effort on fabrication of high-quality diamond thin films, both homoepitaxial (diamond on diamond substrate) and heteroepitaxial (diamond on another substrate). Using femtosecond laser irradiation, the team demonstrated for the first time the feasibility of creating microfluidic channels on a biocompatible single-crystalline diamond substrate. The pioneering work was published in Applied Physics Letters. The team has also synthesised novel carbon nanofibres that they are planning to use to facilitate bone growth in the next phase.

In addition to biomedical applications, novel components and devices for strain sensing and microelectronics are envisaged. Researchers have already published two more papers on two novel ceramics with thermoelectric behaviours for potential applications in energy harvest. Preliminary results regarding development of improved diamond-based MOS structures have been published in Applied Physics Letter.

Another area of development is the application of nanomaterials to lithium battery technology. Scientists have already demonstrated significant improvements in performance and storage properties using a variety of newly fabricated materials. The plethora of advances has led to four more publications.

CARBONNASA is a unique multidisciplinary, multi-continent research staff exchange project leading to amazing new developments in the field of next-generation carbon-based nanomaterials and devices. Results are pouring forth and expected to have important impact on fields including biomedicine, nanotechnology, optoelectronics, sensors and energy. With its broad technology training and application spectrum, the project will support the EU's transition to a knowledge-based economy.