PFI-BIC: A Small-Company-Centric Knowledge Enhancement Partnership to Accelerate Nanomaterials Innovation

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This Partnership for Innovation project from the University of Oregon (Eugene) proposes to develop the capacity to accelerate the commercialization of inorganic nano-particle technologies. Inorganic nano-particles consist of an inorganic (metal or metal oxide) core 1 to 100 nm in diameter surrounded by a shell of molecular or polymeric coatings. The wide variety of the physical properties of the core materials and the selective binding capabilities of the ligands and coatings comprise a versatile tool kit with commercial applications across nearly every industrial sector. However, commercialization of these nanomaterials has been limited by difficulties in translating the synthesis methods used during discovery research to reliable commercial scale production. This project aims to address research problems at the frontiers of nano-science by developing improved materials measurement and characterization techniques that will enable nanoparticles to be produced and their properties optimized, advancing the state of the art in nanoscience, and thus accelerating the commercialization process itself.The broader impacts of this project are related to economics, education, and diversity. The small companies that participate in the knowledge enhancement partners (KEP) group will develop production techniques that are reproducible, reliable, scalable, fast, efficient, robust, precise, and inexpensive. These improvements will enable large-scale economic opportunities in photovoltaics, solid-state lighting and display technologies. The project will enable the acceleration of the commercialization of nanoparticles in other sectors, including: energy storage, catalysis, information technology, cancer treatment, and environmental remediation. Students and faculty members who participate in this project will learn to conduct basic research in an explicitly technological and industrial context. The KEP will encourage the participation of under-represented groups by offering summer research experiences to community college students.Partners at the inception of this project include lead academic institution,University of Oregon,(Department of Chemistry, Materials Science Institute, Center for Advanced Materials Characterization in Oregon (CAMCOR), and Lundquist College of Business); Small businesses: QD Vision, Lexington, Massachusetts; Voxtel, Beaverton, Oregon; Dune Sciences, Eugene, Oregon; and Hummingbird Scientific, Lacey, Washington; and a Federal agency: The National Institute for Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, Maryland. Other partner organizations include: Academic (UO Lundquist Center for Entrepreneurship and Office of Technology Transfer); Private (Life Technologies); Public (NanoBusiness Commercialization Association, National Nanomanufacturing Network, Oregon Nanoscience and Microtechnology Institute; Safer Nanomaterials and Nanomanufacturing Initiative; and the University-Industry Demonstration Partnership).