Energy and the Environment, Nanotechnology Solutions Professor Peter Dobson Oxford University Strategic Advisor on Nanotechnology (RCUK)

Outline Survey of some Nanotechnology Solutions Mainly in transport Buildings Water Facility for Environmental Nanoparticle Analysis and Characterisation (FENAC), Birmingham.

The scope of nanotechnology for energy and the environment Exhaust clean-up by “in-combustion” or “post- combustion” catalysis Improvements to vehicles Fuel Cells, Batteries and Capacitors Ground-water clean-up by many catalytic processes Water collection and purification? Industrial waste-to-energy processes? CO 2 conversion to fuel or “other” Catalysts for gas-to-liquid etc.....

Engineering moves on: electric vehicles 1901 Toyota Prius 2003 Nissan Leaf Mitsubishi iMiEV 2009

Nanotechnology in the new generation of cars Concept by Fiat

The basic Lithium battery Nanotechnology will engineer the electrodes to have lattice vacancies such that ions can move in and out faster, and have higher storage capacity There will also be scope for engineering new ionic conductors at the “nano” level

Energy Storage and Time Note that it takes time to charge and discharge batteries. Nanotechnology may help to speed this up and increase storage capacity

Biomass to Fuel Lynd et al (2005) Nanotechnology will help to “design” enzymes and perhaps increase their stability Remember the dilemma: Food versus Fuel

Cellulose to Alcohol Stephanopoulos. Science 315, 801 (2007) Can Enzymes be enhanced or even replaced by using nano-catalysts?

Summary There will be a gradual replacement of IC engines, and they will be hard to displace. Hybrids will be used as a proving ground All electric vehicles will probably be the preferred solution Lack of hydrogen infrastructure will limit the use of fuel cells

NanoCoat for large area energy efficient windows Energy saving in production and use Composite materials –Nanoparticles incorporated into dielectric matrix (controllable properties for enhanced functionalities – conductivity, catalysis) Design of optical properties with plasmons –Coloration of glass –Control transmission and reflection in the infrared Tuning plasmon resonance frequency with matrix of different refractive index Spray deposition of gold nanoparticles incorporated into TiO 2 matrix before (left) and after (right) annealing at 400 °C Proposed launch in 2012/3?

Environmental clean-up with nanoparticles Zhang (2003) J Nanoparticle Research vol 5, p 323 Is it safe? Can it be scaled-up sufficiently?

Fog Collection for pure water Already performed in Nepal, Chile, South Africa New Materials with controlled “wetting” may be developed to make this more viable and applicable

Facility for Environmental Nanoparticle Analysis and Characterisation (FENAC)  Facility at the University of Birmingham, funded by the UK Natural Environment Research Council (NERC)  Users = environmental/ecotoxicological researchers in the UK  Provides relevant data on nanoparticle characteristics as a background for environment and toxicology studies 

Outline – FENAC projects  Toxicity of Ag and TiO 2 -nanoparticles to marine microorganisms  ZnO nanoparticle dissolution and toxicity to marine invertebrates  Lung surfactant protein interactions with SiO 2, TiO 2 and polystyrene-nanoparticles  Iron-rich and organic nanoparticles in anoxic groundwater  Nanoparticles in marine geothermal fumarolic fluids  Biogenic nano-hydroxyapatite; relation between metal uptake and particle size/surface area

Natural nanoparticles in sub-oxic groundwater - characterisation by field-flow fractionation Dan Lapworth, Debbie Allen, James Sorensen; British Geological Survey

Summary There are huge opportunities for nanotechnology to contribute to improvement of energy utilization and the environment The UK needs to focus on the translation and applications FENAC offers excellent characterization facilities to check for fate of particles in the environment