Art of the butterflies [nanostructures]

Unusually, for a relatively new scientific discipline, Britain is in the forefront of efforts to create commercial products from nanotechnology research. There are now half a dozen British firms active in this nanomaterials sector, the attraction being its potential to impact so many areas of industry. One especially strong candidate for early commercialisation is nanopowder but other contenders are coming up fast. NanoCo Technologies, spun out of Manchester University's Materials Science Centre in December 2001, is aiming to exploit a novel method of producing quantum dots. Two aspects of nanotechnology are of overriding importance. First, research is wholly multidisciplinary in nature, and second, research breakthroughs by small teams could be applied very quickly to real-world products. With these thoughts in mind, the British government is funding a series of university-based research initiatives around the UK. Interdisciplinary Research Centres (IRCs) have been established at Cambridge and Oxford, and nanoscience research hubs. are springing up in London, Birmingham and Swansea. Some of the topics being researched include: membrane proteins; carbon nanotubes; bio-nanotechnology.