The Nottingham Micro Nano Technology (MNT) Centre will be an advanced manufacturing facility designed to help companies develop revolutionary new products and services at a scale of thousandths of a millimetre.
Announced today by Lord Sainsbury, UK science and innovation minister, the grant will provide open access for companies to cutting-edge facilities designed to help bring nanotechnology products and services to the market.
Nanotechnology involves the use of materials at an extremely small scale - at sizes of millionths of a millimetre - and exploit the fact that some materials have different properties at this ultra small scale from those at a larger scale. The science has the potential to revolutionise many aspects of food production in the future.
Agriculture and food systems security, new materials for pathogen detection and even new forms of packaging are some of the possible applications of nanotechnology. Production, processing and shipment of food products could be made more secure through the development and implementation of nanosensors for pathogen and contaminant detection, while the development of nanodevices could allow the tracking of individual shipments.
This of course is a vital consideration given the current emphasis on traceability throughout the supply chain. Nanotechnology has the potential to provide a new solution to tracking and tracing goods and also provide revolutionary new monitoring techniques, an growing area of study especially in the US given the emphasis on homeland security and the fight against terrorism.
Indeed because nanotechnology operates at the same scale as a virus of disease-infecting particle, it thus holds great potential for early detection and eradication of diseases. A nanotech treatment delivery system could take the form of a miniature device implanted in an animal that samples saliva. This integrated sensing system could detect the presence of a disease long before a fever develops.
In addition the Foundation for Scientific and Industrial Research at the Norwegian Institute of Technology (SINTEF) is using nanotechnology to create small particles in the film and improve the transportation of some gases through the plastic film to pump out dirty air such as carbon dioxide. It is hoped that the concept could be used to block out harmful gases that shorten the shelf life of food.
SINTEF scientists are looking at whether the film could also provide barrier protection and prevent gases such as oxygen and ethylene from deteriorating food.
The new nanotech centre at Nottingham therefore builds on an impressive body of research that has already been undertaken, and should help identify new possibilities for food production and other industrial sectors.
"The facility aims to act as a focal point for regional, national and global developments in nanotechnology commercialisation working at the interface with the private sector," said Dr Richard Masterman, director of research innovation services at the University of Nottingham.
"The expertise and techniques available through the facility will bring significant benefits to the healthcare sector, including pharmaceuticals and food."
The expertise and facilities of five UK universities will also be available through the centre, which has the provisional title MNT@Biocity.
It will be led by The University of Nottingham and Nottingham Trent University, in partnership with the East Midlands Development Agency and BioCity Nottingham. The initiative is supported by a growing list of innovative companies active in nanotechnology, as well as the universities of Leicester, Lincoln and Loughborough.
"The centre is geared to the needs of industry, and this new initiative will focus on the growth, synthesis and evaluation of nanostructured materials which is set to revolutionise and revitalise areas of traditional industrial strength across many sectors," said professor Barry Hull, director of industrial partnerships at Nottingham Trent University.
It is estimated that the global market for nanotechnology could be worth £1 trillion by 2013. "Nanotechnology offers enormous potential benefit to the UK economy and society," said Lord Sainsbury. "It is important that we remain at the forefront of emerging technologies."