Global production of all types of nanomaterials is of the order of several million tons per annum, with value  $3.4 billion, and enjoying continuous growth. However, nanomaterials have not received much attention in terms of making their production sustainable and green. Traditional methods for nanomaterials production can produce 1000s of kg waste per kg of product. We invented green routes to functional nanomaterials that are suitable for a range of applications (see patent WO2017037460). This enables the production of monodisperse silica nanoparticles and mesoporous silica, at room temperature, neutral pH in water, and within 5 minutes. Green nanomaterials synthesis is based on learning from biology (biomineralisation), which produces large quantities of sophisticated and hierarchically organised nanostructured biominerals under mild conditions. Our fully synthetic approach uses inexpensive synthetic molecules inspired from biology (called “additives”). In order to make this new method accessible and impactful, we have started designing scale-up strategies. taking a systematic approach in terms of both process scale-up and process intensification. We performed a techno-economic analysis of our method in order to assess the economic feasibility and followed by a number of experimental scalability assessments (up to 40L scales) that work in both batch and continuous mode in tank and tubular reactors. We have also focused on downstream processing, in particular, purification of the products, allowing a complete removal of organic impurities, with an added possibility of composition and porosity control. More than 90% of the water and additive can be recycled. We have demonstrated the potential of green methods by applying them to the synthesis of a range of nanomaterials, as well as testing them in real-life applications. Our focus is on increasing technology readiness level and delivering technologies that are ready for commercialisation.

Green nanomaterials: Journey from lab to manufacturing

2019 Fall National Meeting

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