Nanotough is a European framework project that focuses on developing tough plastic materials using nanotechnology. A total of 11 partners from Germany

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

, France

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

, Italy

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

, Spain

Spain

Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...

, Romania

Romania

Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...

 and Denmark

Denmark

Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...

 are participating in the project.

Nanotough Basic objectives

The objective of Nanotough is to obtain a deeper understanding of the interfacial structure of nanocomposites within a polyolefin

Polyolefin

A polyolefin is a polymer produced from a simple olefin as a monomer. For example, polyethylene is the polyolefin produced by polymerizing the olefin ethylene. An equivalent term is polyalkene; this is a more modern term, although polyolefin is still used in the petrochemical industry...

 matrix and thus use nanoparticles like nanoclay to turn upside down the construction of a number of well-known products, where today metals or plastics are used in for example cars or aircrafts. The project will enable realization of the great performance potential of these materials through development of novel multiphase and hybrid nanocomposites.

The project aims to improve the stiffness of polyolefin nanocomposites while not only maintaining but also improving the toughness of the matrix considerably. The technical objective is to optimize and, through novel interface design

Interface design

Interface design deals with the process of developing a method for two modules in a system to connect and communicate. These modules can apply to hardware, software or the interface between a user and a machine...

, to develop new cost effective hybrid (nanofiller-fibre) nanocomposites as an alternative to heavily filled polymers and expensive engineering polymers and fulfill industry requirements for high performance materials in high tech applications.
Nanocomposites are emerging new materials that promise improved properties, but in practice, it has been difficult to translate existing knowledge on nanotechnology into tangible products. Nanotough’s objective is, in addition to basic research, to remove the technical barriers so that nano-composite-materials can be used commercially and lead to development of new products.

Partners

Aalborg University, Denmark (coordinator)

Chemical Research Institute, Romania

University of Hamburg

University of Hamburg

The University of Hamburg is a university in Hamburg, Germany. It was founded on 28 March 1919 by Wilhelm Stern and others. It grew out of the previous Allgemeines Vorlesungswesen and the Kolonialinstitut as well as the Akademisches Gymnasium. There are around 38,000 students as of the start of...

, Germany

Technical University of Denmark

Technical University of Denmark

The Technical University of Denmark , often simply referred to as DTU, is a university just north of Copenhagen, Denmark. It was founded in 1829 at the initiative of Hans Christian Ørsted as Denmark's first polytechnic, and is today ranked among Europe's leading engineering institutions, and the...

, Denmark

University of Genova, Italy

ARMINES-CEMEF, France

Centro Ricerche Fiat, Italy

The Danish Technological Institute, Denmark

Laviosa Chimica Mineraria, Italy

FPK S.A, Spain

Aviospace, Italy