To those of you not familiar with the term nanocomposite it means a matrix to which nanoparticles have been added to improve a particular property of the material (according to Understanding Nano.com). The applications of nanocomposites are endless from batteries to medical to sensors. At a recent NANO Talk session at NANOTEC in Thailand, Prof. Alois Schlarb of Composite Engineering, University of Kaiserslautern, Germany informed participants that research on nanocomposites have been on-going for the past 10 to 15 years. However, there are increasing questions regarding the payback of research on nanocomposites.

“From the materials science and engineering point of view there are a lot of promising results in the lab scale” said Prof. Alois.  “The biggest challenge is to transfer these finding to products in series and full production”.  In his talk entitled “10 Years of nanocomposite Research, what is next?”, Prof. Alois said that the challenges in processing nanocomposites are in the dispersion and homogeneous distribution of the nanofillers inside the host polymer. However, given the fact that there is still on-going research on bringing “Nano” into reliable full production, “Nano” related topics is still considered hot topic in today’s research focus.

NANO Talk is a monthly public forum organized by NANOTEC for researchers and visiting professors to exchange knowledge and be updated on technology trends. Visiting professors to Thailand are encouraged to participate. To review past NANO Talk sessions, please log on: https://www.nanotec.or.th/en/?cat=11