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ACS GCI white paper offers "road map" for development of green nanotechnology
Created by assoceditor on 16/08/2011 16:10:51

Green chemistry experts have issued a white paper addressing the critical challenges to advancing greener nanotechnology.


The American Chemical Society’s Green Chemistry Institute (ACS GCI) and the Oregon Nanoscience and Microtechologies Institute have issued a white paper addressing the critical challenges to advancing greener nanotechnology.

The report "Green Nanotechnology Challenges and Opportunities" [pdf] outlines the promise of "green" nanotechnology, which promotes the design of nanoparticles in a way that reduces or eliminates waste or the production of hazardous substances. When successfully implemented, green nanotechnology could lead to a revitalised and sustainable U.S. chemical and materials manufacturing base, the white paper says. 

The report identifies six key barriers to the development and commercialisation of green nanotechnology as follows:
  1. There are no clear design guidelines for researchers in initial discovery phases of green nanoscience;
  2. Many green nanomaterials require new commercial production techniques, which  increases the need for basic research, engineering research, and coordination of the two between the industrial and research communities;
  3. The lack of a "deep bench" of scientists and engineers with experience developing green nanotechnology;
  4. Toxicology and analysis protocols need to be developed and constantly updated to reflect advances in the science;
  5. Regulatory uncertainty persists, and green nanotechnologies often face higher regulatory barriers than existing or conventional chemicals;
  6. The end-market demand is unclear, especially since there are only a limited number of commercial grade products
In order to address these challenges, the report proposes an action agenda where involvement by the scientific research community, industry and government could bring about changes that would be crucial to supporting a more rapid and effective commercialisation of green nanotechnology.  Specifically, action is proposed in the following areas:
  1. Discover, uncover and provide key analysis and characterisation tools;
  2. Investigate and understand reaction mechanisms for support of better synthesis and production techniques;
  3. Develop design guidelines for commercially producible green nanomaterials;
  4. Definition of Green Criteria for new nanomaterials for fast-track approval by the US EPA;
  5. Education and outreach to regulators to ensure regulatory structures for green nanotechnology reflect accurate knowledge of their intended uses and potential impacts.
The white paper stresses that more interdisciplinary cooperation could lead to better understanding of the potential risks of nanotechnology and the development of appropriate policies to address those concerns. These efforts, the authors say, will promote acceptance and use of "green" nanotechnology throughout the world.

The ACS GCI works to catalyse and enable the implementation of green chemistry and engineering across the global chemical enterprise. ACS GCI organises industrial roundtables, conducts conferences, seminars and training, maintains an international network of 26 green chemistry chapters and is leading efforts to establish the first consensus standard for greener chemicals and processes information in the United States with its partner, NSF International. 

Source: ACS GCI

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