A NEW project to develop instruments to detect and classify nanoparticles in the environment has been launched under FP7, the European Union’s 7th Framework Programme. The Smart-Nano project is coordinated by the Swiss Electronic and Microtechnology Centre (Centre Suisse d’Electronique et de Microtechnique – CSEM) and the Joint Research Centre of the European Commission (JRC) in Italy, and includes UK company Avid Nano.
Avid Nano is one of a number of ‘small and medium-sized enterprises’ (SMEs) involved in the consortium, and will use its dynamic light scattering (DLS) technology to develop detectors for engineered nanoparticles (ENPs) in the environment.
The programme seeks to assess potential risks from the ENPs being released into the environment from common products including medicines, paints, sunscreens, and deodorants. It aims to develop technology to detect, identify, and measure ENPs in plants and animals and other complex matrices.
Avid Nano’s contribution is to develop a hyper-sensitive dynamic light scattering detector to identify and characterise ENPs in tiny quantities. The company will work in close collaboration with Professor Robert GW Brown of Rockwell Collins and the University of California, an expert in the field of opto-electronics and optics.