Advanced Nanomanufacturing for Energy Efficiency

Future nanomanufacturing approaches and applications will consider their impact on energy efficiency in a research directive established by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). The Nanomanufacturing Program is part of the DOE’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy’s Industrial Technology Program, and is managed by the National Energy Technology Laboratory.

Based on the findings of the DOE-sponsored Nanomanufacturing for Energy Efficiency Workshop held June 5-6, 2007, a Nanomanufacturing Roadmap for Energy Efficiency was established in order to prioritize the research and development activities of DOE National Laboratories towards revolutionary advancements in a range of manufacturing technologies. With a focus on products and applications related to energy generation, storage, and consumption, the goal of the Nanomanufacturing Program is to investigate advanced techniques that will substantially reduce energy and carbon footprints in a range of industrial processes. Additionally, the program aims to transition the technologies out of research labs and onto a realistic path to commercialization in a 3-5 year time frame.

In the initial phase of this program, 20 project proposals were selected totaling over $17 M in DOE funds. The proposals were required to consider both technical and economic feasibility evaluations, along with complete analysis of product lifecycle. The research focus of selected proposals includes both concept definition studies and nanomanufacturing process development projects.  Concept definition studies will examine specific, promising nanotechnologies including catalysts, coatings, thin films nanocomposites, separation media, and a range of other nanotechnologies.

Nanomanufacturing process development projects, which require participation and cost sharing by industrial partners, focus on enabling processes for nanomaterials production as well as the use of nanomaterials in industrial processes. In the latter topical area, industry partners will team with DOE National Laboratories to design systems for the generation of uniform nanoscale materials at production-level quantities and develop methodologies to process and handle materials at a scale one order of magnitude smaller than that used by industry today.

The DOE’s Nanomanufacturing Program is a critical catalyst for industry to effectively mine the high-value capabilities established at government research laboratories. Providing a formal, collaborative platform through which researchers can work together and share ideas will foster the advancement of nanomanufacturing research and jumpstart the transition of novel manufacturing approaches and technologies. Furthermore, by establishing best practices as the range of new ideas and concepts are redirected towards industrial directives and needs, programs like this will enable improvements that both benefit the U.S. from an economic standpoint and meet the missions of the DOE programs.