This year's edition of the Federal Government's NanoDialogue on the opportunities and risks of nanomaterials took place at the BMUV in Berlin on 21 and 22 June
Despite the enormous economic and technical opportunities, nanomaterials are viewed with scepticism by the population in Germany. In order to reconcile economic prospects and health risks, a Nano Commission was therefore founded in 2006 on the initiative of the Federal Ministry for the Environment, which has since organised the so-called NanoDialogue every year. Participants from various stakeholder groups, ministries and authorities are regularly invited to this expert dialogue on the opportunities and risks of active nanoscale materials. In addition to nanomaterials that fulfil the definition proposed by the EU Commission, the focus is also on substances and materials that are larger than 100 nm but still nanoscale. The objectives of the nanodialogue are to achieve a common understanding of nanomaterials and to learn about the functionalities and fields of application of these materials. The dialogue also aims to facilitate an exchange between stakeholders on the opportunities and potential of active, nanoscale materials and to hold discussions on the appropriateness of existing regulations and associated assessment methods for this type of material.
This year's edition of the NanoDialogue took place on 21 and 22 June at the BMUV in Berlin. Prof Robert Böhm from the Faculty of Engineering at HTWK Leipzig also gave a presentation. In his presentation "Nano sensors in lightweight construction: smart high-performance materials", he reported on the activities of the European research network EsSENce, in which carbon-based nanomaterials are being developed for sensor applications. Prof Böhm explained that composite materials are particularly suitable for integrating additional functions into the material itself. Of particular interest to the network is the use of sensors and sensor networks to create "intelligent" materials. This could enable progress to be made in safety aspects, among other things. As an example of integrated sensors, Prof Böhm presented aircraft turbines that can recognise and report damage to the rotor blades using integrated sensors. Similar applications exist for wind turbine rotor blades. The renovation of concrete bridges was presented as a further example of the use of active nanoscale materials. As an alternative to demolition and new construction, which would require large quantities of cement, bridges could be at least partially refurbished with carbon concrete, so that no new construction would be necessary and cement and thus considerableCO2 emissions could be saved. Nanoscale sensors integrated into the concrete can also measure the condition of the bridges and report any damage. Sensors based on carbon nanotubes, graphene, carbon black or carbon fibres could be considered for this "self-diagnostics of bridges".