Katja Loos' Chemical Industrial Partnership Program (CHIPP) “Nanostructured self-assembled functional materials” (‘NanoFun’) granted by NWO-CW

In the CHIPP program NWO CW links academic knowledge to industrial ambitions by executing pioneering chemistry research in collaboration with companies. Within this new CHIPP, the University of Groningen, University of Twente, Delft University of Technology, Wageningen University and Eindhoven University of Technology will collaborate with M2i, ASM, Continental, DSM, Tata Steel, Surfix and Philips SCIL Nanoimprint Solutions. NWO CW and the companies involved are jointly contributing to the program budget of 2.25 million euros.

The key objective of this proposal is to develop novel concepts - based on self-assembly - for nanoscale tailoring of structured materials, to provide superior levels of performance and/or additional features and added value compared to existing materials.

Imagine that your car tires would have a lower rolling resistance, that would save a lot of fuel; you would have to bring your boat to the dock less often for a new underwater paint; your computer or smartphone would become even smaller and more powerful and your solar panels would be able to generate all your electricity, even in the Dutch climate. By developing ‘self-assembled’ materials that spontaneously emerge from small building blocks, such applications are coming closer. This project aims at developing self-organizing (nano-) materials with the ability to form larger structures, thereby yielding unique material properties for a variety of new and existing technologies.