Transfer of Nanotechnologies from R&D Institutions to Smes in India

Transfer of nanotechnologies from r&d institutions to smes in India Opportunities and Challenges

of concept, building a prototype, testing H. Purushotham its feasibility, product development and Head, Center for Knowledge Management of design, and finally manufacturing and Nanoscience and Technology marketing. Though it appears simple, Advanced Centre for Powder Metallurgy and the technology transfer of an emerging New Materials (ARCI) technology like nanotechnology is a very Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh, India. complex process as there are many play- Tel: +40-27007032; Fax: +40-27007031 ers in the process with different objectives E-mail: [email protected] Web: http://www.ckmnt.com and goals. There are many exogenous and endogenous factors which influence the successful transfer of technology. Abstract The typical technology transfer success To nullify their size disadvantage and overcome diseconomies of scale, SMEs often rate in developing countries is between utilize the process of technology transfer from public funded R&D institutions. The 3–5% compared to 10–15% in developed interface between the public funded R&D institutions and SMEs however needs to be countries (Chandran, 2010). The ability to strengthened to leverage the mutual strengths. There is a huge gap or a valley of death move a technology to market, quickly and that exists between the public funded R&D institutions and industry with regard to efficiently, is crucial in transferring tech- technology development and transfer. The present article describes opportunities and nologies from publicly funded R&D labo- challenges involved particularly in transferring nanotechnologies from public funded ratories. Governments around the world R&D institutions to industry and the efforts of Government of India to promote nanotechnology, with the help of few case studies. are therefore increasingly recognizing that promoting technology transfer and Introduction of impacting almost all sectors of the commercialization are keys to knowledge- industry and will be an engine for growth in based economy, leading to wealth genera- Research has shown that small and me- the 21st century. Nanotechnology prom- tion and job creation of their nations and dium sized enterprises (SMEs) play an ises significant social benefits, including are emphasizing that technology transfer important role in the economic develop- enhancements in medical diagnosis and and commercialization remain an impor- ment of countries worldwide. However, treatment, more efficient energy sources, tant part of the mission of their public in order to survive for more than a few novel sensors for agriculture, security and funded laboratories. years in markets where there are large other areas, lighter, stronger and cheaper The present article describes opportu- competitors, SMEs must nullify their size materials, smarter electronic products and nities and challenges involved in transfer- disadvantages either by forming alli- cleaner cheaper potable water (Palmberg, ring nanotechnologies particularly from ances with similar firms to increase the 2008). Therefore, not surprisingly, all gov- public funded R&D institutions to industry rate of market penetration and reduce ernments and industries the world over and the efforts of Government of India to financial risk, or by utilizing technology are investing heavily in the development, promote nanotechnology, with the help to overcome diseconomies of scale and and transfer of nanotechnology-based of few case studies. to produce innovations which differenti- processes, products and systems. To real- Opportunities ate themselves significantly from larger ize the large investments already made competitors. Because of SMEs limited re- in research, R&D outcomes or know-how Emerging applications of nano science sources and relative inability to absorb the generated need to be put in to use by the and technology (NS&T) costs and risks associated with in-house industry to produce and market the prod- The applications of nano science & tech- technology development, they must often uct or service in a competitive manner. The nology (NS&T) have been rapidly growing utilize the process of technology transfer process of taking R&D outcomes or know- worldwide in many areas during the last from public funded R&D laboratories to how from the laboratory to the market decade. Future developments and innova- take advantage of the benefits gained by place successfully is known as technology tions in the coming decade will show the technology and innovation. transfer or technology commercialization. stronger influence of nanotechnology on Nanotechnology is emerging as an It is often thought that technology trans- most of the materials, we are surrounded important enabling technology, capable fer is an orderly series of steps, i.e., proof with. Undoubtedly, NS&T have potential

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Table 1: Potential applications of nano science and technology (NS&T) Indian scenario The Government of India spends about Area Applications 0.9 per cent of its GDP on R&D through Nano composites Optical, electronic, lightweight structures for automobile its vast network of about 2006 central and aerospace application and state funded R&D institutions and Nano coatings Scratch-resistant, wear-resistant, corrosion resistant universities. The R&D expenditure is ex- hydrophobic, super hydrophilic, self-cleaning and anti- pected to increase to two per cent in the microbial. 12th Plan period (2012–2017). The public Hard cutting tools Surfaces wear and tear resistant tools with better mechanical funded R&D institutes are storehouses properties (e.g., tungsten carbide, titanium carbide, etc.). for development of innovative technologies. The role SMEs in the economic and Nano electronics Computer chips, molecular electronics, field emission social development of the country is well displays, electronic inks, sensors established. The SME sector is a nursery of Energy Catalysts, Li-ion batteries, fuel cells, solar cells, hydrogen entrepreneurship, often driven by individ- storage, fuel additives for efficient combustion ual creativity and innovation. This sector Nano biotechnology Drug delivery systems, molecular imaging medical diagnosis, contributes eight per cent of the country’s medical robotics, tissue engineering, wound dressing, etc. GDP, 45 per cent of the manufactured out- Environment Catalytic converters, photo catalytic treatment of air and put, 40 per cent of its exports and provides water remediation. employment to about 65.9 million persons through 31.1 million enterprises and pro- Others applications Cosmetics, sanitary ware, nano additives in paints, duces wide range of products (over 7500). agriculture, food packaging, nano textiles, nano photonics, nano magnetics. There are large gaps or a valley of death that exists between the public funded applications in areas like electronics, op- and garden appliances, electronics and R&D labs and industry with regard to tics, biotechnology, healthcare, medicine, computers, food and beverages, sports technology development and transfer. energy, food and agriculture, construction, goods, paints, clothing, automotive and There is a strong need to strengthen the aerospace, defense, fast moving consumer aerospace components, etc. According industry-institute/academia interface to goods, etc. Table 1 shows some of the po- to published information (Purushotham, leverage the mutual strengths existing tential applications of NS&T. 2011), the nanotechnology inventory between them. contains 1317 products or product lines Thrust areas Global scenario in 2011. Figure 1 shows the share of dif- The major thrust areas of nano research Around 40 countries, including US, Japan, ferent nano materials used in consumer and technology development for India Germany, Republic of Korea, France, UK, Ire- and industrial applications. It can be seen are, energy (renewable), water manage- land, Singapore, Taiwan province of China from Figure 1 that large number of nano ment, medical and healthcare, food and as well as emerging countries like, Brazil, products in the market are using nano sil- agriculture and industries (such as textiles, Russia, India, China, South Africa (BRICS) ver followed by carbon nano tubes and automobile, construction, telecommuni- and others have shown considerable inter- nano Zn/ZnO. Considering the grow- cations, chemicals, steel, cement), internal est and are currently funding research in ing applications of nanotechnology in security, defense and environment (global nano science and technology. The global various fields, market research agency investments in nano science and technol- Luxresearch (www.luxresearchinc.com) ogy R&D have been increasing over the estimated that the market opportunity Gold years and reached to about USD 20 billion for nanotechnology based products by 7% in 2011 (Purushotham, 2011). It is estimated 2015 would be about USD 2.44 trillion. Ti/TiO2 that more than 2000 organizations around The breakup of this market opportunity 11% the world are active in nanotechnology is that nano materials USD2.9 billion, Si/SiO2 research and commercialization and this nano intermediates USD474 billion and 9% Silver 47% number is expected to increase significantly nano-enabled products USD1960 billion. Zn/ZnO within the next 10 years. In terms of num- In BRICS countries, the market for nanote- 10% bers, USA leads, followed by Japan, China, chnology is expected to be about USD1 Carbon and the EU in this category. billion. Many major companies have 16% A wide range of commercialized started adopting nanotechnologies in products containing nano materials to their products portfolio and services. are already in the market, in areas like Some of the global majors in the nano Figure 1: Nano materials based health care, cosmetics and fitness, home products are shown in Table 2. products in the global market

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Table 2: Major global companies involved in bulk production of nano materials

Name of the Company Country Products

Bayer Germany Baytube carbon nano tubes Various types of nano materials (usage includes food additives and BASF Germany sunscreens) Degussa Germany Range of ultrafine nano materials ICI/Uniquema UK Nano materials (including nano titanium dioxide for sunscreens) Elementis UK Nano materials (including nano ZnO-based sunscreens) QinetiQ Nano materials Ltd. UK Range of nano materials Mitsubshi Chemical Corporation Japan Carbon nano tubes Range of nano materials (usage include sunscreens, catalysts, cosmetics Advanced nano materials Australia and coatings) Nano phase USA Range of nano materials Hyperion catalysis USA Nano tubes for incorporation into plastics Carbon Nanotechnologies Inc USA Carbon nano tubes Zyrex Technologies USA Carbon nano tubes Umicore Belgium Nano materials (including nano titanium dioxide for sunscreens) Nanogist Co., Ltd. Republic of Korea Nano materials (anti- microbial silver nano particles) Zhaong Pion Power-Tech Co. Ltd China Li-ion batteries Suzhou Nanotech Co. Ltd China Nano materials for drug delivery systems UC nanotechnologies Inc China Sensors

warming). As India is already behind the through its Nanoscience and Technology both basic and applied sciences. Although developed countries in both nano re- Initiative (NSTI) of the Department of Sci- there are several other agencies (Ministry search and application development by ence and Technology (DST) in 2001-2006 of Information Technology (USD 22.49 about 5–10 years, it is important that with an initial budget of USD 15–20 million million in 2010–2011), Defence Research India chooses the application areas for (INR 100 crores). The Government of In- Development Organization (DRDO), Indian nano materials wherein either the Indian dia in 2006–2007 approved the launch of Council of Medical Research (ICMR), Uni- market is very large in the world context the Nanoscience and Technology Mission versity Grants Commission (UGC), Board of or which are unique/specific to India. (www.nanmission.gov.in) with a quantum Research in Nuclear Studies (BRNS) under Examples of the former include textiles, jump in its budget allocation to about USD the Department of Atomic Energy, Indian auto components, two and three wheel- 254 million during 2007–2012 (XIth five Space Research Organization (ISRO) and ers while healthcare and drinking water year Plan). However, this amount is smaller Indian Council of Agricultural Research are examples of the latter (Sundararajan, in comparison to the allocations of neigh- (ICAR)), which have been funding research and Rao, 2009). boring countries (e.g., USD 760 million in programs in the nanoscience & technol- China, USD 689 million in Taiwan province ogy area, the efforts of DST have been the Promotion mechanisms of China, etc.). largest in fostering basic research in the Nanotechnology R&D being capital inten- country. sive, the Government of India has taken Several other government funding a lead role in promoting nanotechnology agencies are also supporting the growth Infrastructure and network facilities research and application development of nanoscience research in India. Depart- Large part of the government investment through several mechanisms. Some of ment of Biotechnology (DBT) provides in NS&T went to create infrastructure, the important mechanisms are discussed support for NS&T in the area of life sci- necessary for exploration of nanoscale below. ences. Council of Scientific and Industrial matter. As a result, many Units on Nano- Research (USD 9 million in 2007–2012) and science (UNS) and Centers of Nanoscience Government funding Science and Engineering Research Coun- (CNS) (22 in total) got created across the The Government of India formally started cil (SERC) also support research projects country (www.nanomission.gov.in). Nano- funding Nanoscience & Technology R&D in diverse areas of nanoscience, covering mission has also funded for setting up a

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Table 3: Major institute-industry linked projects Figure 2 summarizes growth of Nano- science & Technology Research in India Project Collaborators (Vivek, 2012) in terms of R&D publications compared to the top ten countries of the Nano functional materials IIT Madras – Carborandum Universal & Orchid Pharma world in the nanotechnology R&D. Interactive and smart textiles IIT Delhi – ARCI – Textile Industry It can be seen from the Figure 2 that Rubber technology M.G Univ. & Apollo Tyres India occupies seventh position and contributes to about 6% of the global pub- Drug delivery CCMB & USV Ltd lications, and nanoscience & technology Solar photovoltaics Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham and BEL research is maintaining a global competitiveness because of substantial govern- few dedicated Institutions/Centers like demic institutions/universities and private ment funding, educational initiatives and Institute of Nanoscience and Technology, sector companies have initiated R&D in the academic collaborations. Mohali (INST-Mohali) with USD 28 million area of nanoscience and technology. The The top 10 Indian institutes based on grant and National Center for Nanoscience R&D outcomes from these institutions and nanotechnology-related publications are and Technology, at Jawaharlal Nehru Cen- companies have been phenomenal in In- IISC Bangalore, IIT Kharagpur, Indian Asso- tre for Advanced Scientific Research (JN- dian context. Number of publications from ciation for the Cultivation of Science (IACS) CASR), Bangalore (NCNST Bangalore) with the Indian nano community has increased Kolkata, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre USD 23 million grant. The Department of from 1412 to 3616 in 2006–2011 in com- (BARC) Mumbai, National Chemical Lab Information Technology has also funded parison to 355 to 971 in the period 2001– oratory (NCL) Pune, IIT Madras, National creation of nano electronics centers under 2005. Over 270 research projects have been Physical Laboratory (NPL) New Delhi, Indian Nanoelectronics Users Programme funded across many industry verticals, 4000 JNCASR Bangalore, IIT Delhi and University (INUP) at Indian Institute of Technology research papers were published, 670 PhDs of Delhi. Figure 3 shows growth of Nano- (IIT) Mumbai and Indian Institute of Sci- were awarded and many technologies science & Technology-based research ence (IISC), Bangalore with substantial were developed at laboratory/bench scale papers and patents publications in India. grants in aid. Some of the on-going ma- during the period 2002–2011 and some of Transfer of nanotechnologies in India jor institute-industry linked projects in the them have been transferred to industry for The national laboratories/departments nanotechnology area are shown in Table 3. commercial exploitation. Besides publica- under the Ministry of Science & Technol- Research outcomes tions, 120 Indian and 38 foreign patents ogy (DST, DBT, CSIR), Ministry of Com- In view of the liberal financial support pro- were also filed in the five year term of Nano munications and Information Technology vided by various government agencies, Mission of which 24 Indian and 11 foreign (DIT), Ministry of Health and Family Wel- almost all national laboratories, major aca- patents were granted over the period. fare (ICMR), Ministry of Defence (DRDO),

Germany Republic of Korea 9% 7%

France Japan 6% 10% India 6%

Peoples R Other England 4% China 18% 120000 Italy 4% 109850 24% 101129 Russia 4% 100000 USA 26% 80000

60000 42408 40000 36636 of publications 30439 26055 22929 No. 20000 18445 16200 15730

0 USA China Japan Germany Republic France India England Italy Russia of Korea

Top 10 countries

Figure 2: India’s position in Nanoscience & Technology Research publications (2001– July 2012)

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4000 Challenges in transferring 3616 Research publications nanotechnologies 3500 Patent publications Many times, the transfer of the technology 2987 3000 developed at the public funded R&D labora- 2623 2517 tory to the market place is more challenging 2500 than the development of the technology 1931 itself. Apart from the scalability and cost 2000 effectiveness of the process/technology to 1412 1500 enable large scale production, it is impor- 971 tant to ensure that sufficient market (new 1000 821 or replacement) is available for the resulting 553 355 394 product. Even if sufficient market exists to 500 266 111 153 7 6 11 17 18 32 53 65 be tapped, marketing skills largely deter- 0 mine the actual market size for the product. 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 Difficulties/challenges of technology Year transfer can be discussed at two levels. Figure 3: Growth of publication of research papers and patents in the area One is at the laboratory or transferor level of NS&T area in India and the other is at the technology receiv- er’s level, usually the industry level. Based Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, 500 companies are working on the nan- on the literature review (Khan 2000, Sun- Ministry of Agriculture (ICAR), Ministry of otechnology in India (about 100 are in darajan and Purushotham, 1999, 2001), Commerce & Industry, Ministry of Water the area of pharma/nano bio-pharma) the key issues and problems encountered Resources, Ministry of Environment & For- while more than 50 companies have while transferring technologies from pub- ests, Ministry of Textiles and others (DAE, commercialized nanotechnology-based lic funded laboratories, are summarized ISRO, etc.) are storehouses for develop- products. Indian companies like Biocon, below: ment of technologies. However, trans- Bharat Biotech, Dabur, Cadila, Lupin,  Most of the technologies developed ferring innovative technologies from Cipla, Sun Pharma, Ranbaxy, Crompton by public funded research institutions the research lab through production, & Greaves, Resil Chemicals, KMML, I-CAN are at laboratory or bench scale, and marketing and sales to the customer in Nano, Tata Group, Mahindra & Mahindra, a timely profitable manner has proven not matured enough for commercial Reliance Industries, Ashok Leyland, Asian to be a difficult challenge even for the exploitation. Due to the lack of ad- Paints etc., have started commercial- best managed US labs and corporates equate financial and infrastructure ca- izing nanotechnology-based products (Sundarajan and Purushotham, 2001) in pabilities, the laboratory/bench scale either developed through in-house R&D the globalized businesses and new pat- technologies are not further up-scaled or acquired under licensing agreements ent regime. to pilot scale or prototyped and are not from public funded Indian research insti- close to commercial scale for field test- Considering the huge market poten- tutions or foreign collaborations. tial for nano materials/products/serv- ing, before they can be transferred for University of Delhi, IITs (Mumbai, ices in India, many companies from commercialization. Commercializing Kharagpur, Delhi, Madras, etc.), DRDE/ USA, Europe, China, Japan, Republic of such technologies is risky. DRDO Gwalior, IISC Bangalore, NCL Pune,  Government R&D labs often lack a mar- Korea, and Islamic Republic of Iran have NML Jamshedpur, NIPER Chandigarh, entered the domestic market through BARC Mumbai, ARCI Hyderabad are some keting orientation in transferring a tech- tie-ups for introducing nano products in of the R&D laboratories, actively involved nology to an end-user. They also often the Indian market. For example, compa- in nanotechnology development and lack the capabilities and/or resources nies like Samsung have already entered transfer. Table 4 provides a list of some of to conduct market research/survey to the Indian market with a wide range of the major nanotechnology based prod- establish the feasibility of technology products such as refrigerator, washing ucts commercialized by Indian SMEs/ in hand, estimate the global demand machine and air conditioner that use Institutions and Table 5 provides a partial supply gap, market size, competition, nanotechnology. Indian industries are list of nano technology-based products customers, evaluation of new tech- now sensing the business opportunity available for transfer/licensing from some nologies, understanding IPRs position, and have started realizing the commer- of the public funded research institutions regulations, and standards etc for the cial viability of nanotechnology based in India. For the complete list of technolo- technology/products, they propose to products and their impact on national gies available for transfer, one can see the commercialize (Purushotham, 2011). economy. It is estimated that around respective institute’s website. Business plans made based on labo-

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Table 4: Some of the nano technology-based products commercialized by Indian SMEs/Institutions

S. no. Name of the product/technology Company Source of technology

1 Nano-silver suspensions for antibacterial textiles Resil Chemicals, Bangalore ARCI, Hyderabad 2 Nano silver loading on ceramic water filter candles for SBP Technologies, ARCI, Hyderabad disinfection of drinking water Hyderabad 3 Nano-bioceramic for dental, orthopedic and bone Eucare Pharmaceuticals, NML, Jamshedpur graft applications Chennai 4 A process for the manufacture of hydrogel wound ABS Medicare Pvt. Ltd., BARC, Mumbai dressing Vadodara 5 A new process for the preparation of carbon nano Omkar Engineers, NPL, New Delhi tube-based thrust pads useful for carbon thrust Rajkot bearings 6 Nano silver-based water filter for the removal of Eureka Forbes Ltd., Mumbai IIT-Madras dissolved pesticides in water 7 Nano sensor-based typhoid detection kit M/s Cadila Pharma, IISc, Bangalore & DRDE, Gwalior Ahmadabad 8 Nano particles of inorganic compounds to form American Bioscience Inc., University of Delhi non-viral carriers used in drug delivery USA 9 CNTs-based liquid flow sensors Trident Metrologies, USA IISc, Bangalore 10 Liposomal-based Amphotericin B formulation Lifecare Innovations Pvt. PGIMER-Chandigarh Ltd., Gurgaon 11 Nano-sized lithium iron phosphate for making United Nanotechnology International Collaboration electrode for Li-ion batteries Products, Kolkata (NEI Corporation. USA) 12 Carbon Nano Tubes (CNTs) Monad Nanotech, Mumbai In-house development 13 Metal nano gels and palladium nano particles Nano cutting Edge Agharkar Research Institute, Technologies, Mumbai Pune 14 Bio-nano chip & DNA-based drugs Velbio nanotech, Bangalore In-house 15 Nano blaster to blast cancer cells in the human brain CARD, Bangalore In-house 16 Nano particle loaded drugs for drug delivery Bharat Biotech, Hyderabad International collaboration (estrogen therapy) (Novvax, USA) 17 MEMS Crane Software, Bangalore In-house 18 Nanocid SSB Technologies, Mumbai International collaboration (Tide Waters, Iran) 19 Smart hydrogel nanoparticles for drug delivery Panacea Biotech, In-house systems (ophthalmic) New Delhi 20 Nanotech-based drug delivery systems Lifecare Innovations Pvt. University of Delhi Ltd., Gurgoan 21 Unstainable textiles Arrow, Mumbai IIT- Delhi 22 Nano silver and nano gold, (powder and suspensions) Auto Fiber Craft, In-house Jamshedpur 23 Nano silicon, nano alumina binders Beechems, Kanpur In-house 24 Metal and oxide nanoparticles, peptides and other Nano biochemicals, In-house bio-chemicals Belgaum 25 Breast cancer nano drug — Abraxane BIOCON, Bangalore International collaboration 26 Drug delivery systems for cancer treatment Dabur Pharma, New Delhi University of Delhi 27 Anti-counterfeiting security technologies for drugs BILCARE Ltd., Pune In-house

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S. no. Name of the product/technology Company Source of technology

28 Nano silver-based water purifier — Tata Swach Tata Chemicals, Mumbai In-house 29 Nano-treated anti-microbial textiles Raymonds & Mohan Resil Chemicals, Bangalore Clothing, Mumbai (Based on ARCI technical know- how) 30 Nanotechnology into hearing aids Starkey India, Noida International collaboration (USA) 31 Nano filtration plant Thermax Ltd., Chennai International collaboration (Germany) 32 Nano silver coated activated carbon Purisys RO Technology, International collaboration New Delhi (Republic of Korea) 33 Metal oxide nano materials BHEL, Bangalore In-house 34 Nano paints ICAN Nano, Kolkata In-house 35 Multi-wall and single wall carbon nano tubes Innovations Unified In-house Technologies, Mumbai 36 Nano positioning systems Qtech Nanosystems, International collaboration Bangalore (Singapore) 37 Multi-layered nano coating for cutting tools Nano CET, Mumbai In-house 38 Nano fluids Tata Steel, Jamshedpur In-house

39 Production of nano-sized stabilized ZrO2 and nano Raj Puruohit Group of In-house ceramics sized white pigments Enterprises, Beawar, Rajasthan 40 Magnetic nano particle for bio-separation IB Scientific, Mumbai In-house 41 Nano fibers and plasma assisted nano finishing El marco India, Mumbai International collaboration 42 Biosynthesis of gold nano triangles Tata Chemicals, Mumbai In-house 43 Pt/CNT electro catalysts Micro materials, Bangalore In-house 44 Synthesis of photoactive nano titania composition KMML, Kerala In-house 45 Nano emulsions Bharat Serums & Vaccines, In-house (Injectables-NDDS) Mumbai 46 Nano particles/carbon nano tubes Nanoshel, Panchkala, In-house Haryana 47 Nanotech-based generic version of breast cancer NATCO Pharma, Hyderabad In-house drug (Abraxane) 48 Carbon nano tubes/Graphene/nano composites Quantum Material Pvt. In-house Ltd., Bangalore 49 Carbon nano tubes/Graphene/ Redex Technologies Pvt. In-house Inorganic nano materials Ltd., Noida 50 Nano powders/CNTs Sisco Research In-house Laboratories, Mumbai 51 Nano glass Saint-Gobain Glass India In-house Ltd., Chennai 52 Nano ferro electric materials for microwave devices Bharat Electronics Ltd., IISC, Bangalore Bangalore

ratory scale processes, and unrealistic quired to set up a manufacturing plant to be addressed while commercializ- assumptions are bound to fail. for nanotechnology-based products. ing nanotechnologies as some of the  Sophisticated and expensive ana-  Safety, health and environment (SHE) nano products are perceived to pos- lytical/quality control/facilities are re- risks to consumers and the public need sess such risks in their life cycle and

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Table 5: Nanotechnologies available for transfer/commercialization

S.no. Technology Public Institute/Lab 1 A process for preparation of Co-Fe-based nano crystalline ferromagnetic ribbons for high National temperature soft magnetic applications Metallurgical Laboratory (NML), Fabrication of tailored hardness nano-composite coating with low coefficient of friction Jamshedpur

TiO2 nano-tubular arrays on Ti and its alloys 2 A process for the preparation of a Zirconia nano powder IIT-Kharagpur A process for the preparation of encapsulated metal nano particles A process for the preparation of nano-sized metal oxide particles 3 A method of making nano-carbon structures from cashew nut shell pyrolysis vapours IIT-Bombay A novel process for production of nano particles using subcritical carbon dioxide Composition and method of generation of hydrogen by thermal decomposition of Ammonia Borane (AB) using silicon nano particles as catalyst A novel process for nano cochleate, nano-sphere complex 4 Nano crystalline doped ZnO Varistors ARCI, Hyderabad Synthesis of aligned carbon nano tubes by CVD route Nano-titanium dioxide-based textile finishes for self-cleaning application 5 Synthesis of nano NTC material and development of chip-in-glass fast response thermal sensors C-MET, Thrissur 6 Silver nano powder C-MET, Pune 7 Oxide films and nano structures for advanced sensors and energy systems NCL, Pune 8 Nanotechnology-based Specific Integrated Circuits (ASIC) C-DAC, Thiruvananthapuram 9 Nano sensors CEERI, Pilani 10 Nano silver coated alumina catalyst for efficient microorganism control in water IICT, Hyderabad

there is no regulatory mechanism ex- formance guarantee on the transferred effectiveness of technology transfer or isting to evaluate the potential risks technology to the industry partner. degree of successful transfer. Different of nano materials (Purushotham and  Lack of adequate and early involve- stakeholders have different criteria for Madhuri, 2011). ment of industry partner in the tech- determining the success of the transferred technology.  Many laboratories do not have in- nology development and transfer house capabilities to prepare the com- project and mutual trust.  As nanotechnology is highly interdisci- plete technology transfer documenta-  Industry lacks technology adoption plinary in nature, availability of skilled tion such as process know-how, basic capabilities and risk taking attitude. manpower in this area is also a major design engineering, techno-economic  Lack of easy access to risk finance/ challenge to face the severe competi- feasibility report and detailed project capital and incentives are not available tion from multinationals. report for a commercial plant, etc. to industry to take up innovative and To achieve successful and effective transfer  Laboratories are bound by many ad- risky technology projects for commer- of technology particularly to the SMEs, the ministrative procedures and too much cialization. There is a huge challenge above barriers need to be removed by the bureaucracy resulting in delays and in attracting venture capital into this government through appropriate incen- cost overruns. space due to the long gestation period. tives, institutional mechanisms, policies  There are little incentives for the staff  Industry is not aware of technologies and legislative Acts, etc. With a view to involved in transfer of technologies available with laboratories and also not promote faster development of nanote- and no regulations or legal frame work having enough funds to promote lab/ chnology, various expensive analytical fa- existing for technology transfer. industry interactions. cilities like Optical tweezer, Nano Indenter,  Inadequacy in pre-and post technol-  There are no universally acceptable TEM, AFM, STM, MALDI-TOF MS, Microarray ogy transfer support services and per- measures, available to determine the spotter scanner, etc., were established by

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Nanomission in some of the premier institutions across the country. Furthermore, programs on creation of National Facility on Ultra High Resolution Aberration-Corrected Transmission Electron Microscope (Titan) at International Centre for Materials Research, JNCASR, Bangalore (at a cost of USD 6 million) and development of state-of-the-art analytical electron microscopy facility, capable of high-resolution imaging and analysis in the nanoscale at Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore were also approved by Nanomission under the network of shared facilities. To meet the quality manpower requirements, postgraduate course in nanoscience and technology at various Uni- versities and Colleges were also initiated. Figure 4: Pilot plant facility to produce nano silver suspension Furthermore, the International Ad vanced Research Center for Powder Case studies on technology Bangalore, a company that supplies chem- Metallurgy & New Materials (ARCI), an transfer ical finishes to the textile industry sensed the business opportunity and collaborat- autonomous R&D Center of Department In order to illustrate the opportunities ed with ARCI to develop a highly stable of Science & Technology, Government and challenges involved in the process nano silver suspension for antibacterial of has established Center for Knowledge of technology transfer, two case studies textile applications. Management of Nanoscience & Technol- based on ARCI transferred technologies ARCI successfully synthesized nano ogy (CKMNT) at Hyderabad with partial (Sundararajan and Rao, 2009, 2010) are silver suspensions having particle size financial assistance of USD 2 million fund- presented below: ing from Nano Mission of Government of of 20–50 nm by adopting a chemical India. CKMNT offers the following serv- Case study 1: Nano silver suspensions route. The suspensions, first made at ices to the nanocommunity stakeholders for anti-bacterial textiles laboratory-scale (100 ml batch), were (www.ckmnt.com): Nanosilver suspensions are being widely tested by Resil for anti-bacterial textile  Disseminating information about tech- used by the textile industry to manufac- application and approved for further nological advancements taking place ture odor-free antibacterial textiles that development, involving large scale syn- in the area of nanoscience and tech- find applications in hospitals, innerwear, thesis. ARCI has subsequently up-scaled nology through a quarterly newsletter, sportswear, socks, active wear, baby care the process to produce nano silver sus- Nanotech Insights; products, etc., and have huge market po- pension of 15 liters per batch. The proc- tential. M/s. Resil Chemicals Pvt. Ltd. (Resil), ess parameters to get a consistent quality  Providing market research information such as the market size, demand, supply, competition, customers, evaluation of new technologies, IPRs analysis, regulations, standards;  Creation of nanoscience and technology databases; and  preparation of customized value added techno-commercial reports on a given technology/product that entrepreneurs/industry propose to commercialize. These unique services offered by CKMNT are being utilized by policy makers and industry. Recently, CKMNT assisted two entrepreneurs in preparing a techno-commercial report on nano ZnO and market research report on nano copper. Figure 5: Anti-bacterial textiles

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and physico-chemical properties of the coated with nano silver, which acted as After satisfactory completion of field nano suspension with respect to stability flow channels for water to be filtered and trials, the technology was successfully after dilution, packaging and transport killed the bacteria present in water, ren- transferred to M/s SBP Aquatech Pvt. Ltd., were optimized. The prepared suspen- dering safe drinking water. Hyderabad. Since the technology was sions demonstrated wash-durable anti- These nano silver coated candle filters developed in-house and has huge poten- bacterial activity up to 100 washes, even were extensively tested for their anti- tial for its application for common people at concentrations as low as 1wt% nano bacterial activity at two accredited labo- in the society, ARCI has chosen a policy silver suspension in the treatment bath. ratories and a hospital. All the test results of transferring the technology on non- The nano suspension produced at the proved the ability of the nano silver coated exclusive license basis to entrepreneurs/ ARCI pilot plant was tested by Resil, which candle filters to reduce bacterial concen- industry. The company has set up a plant demonstrated reproducible results and tration from 105cfu/ml to 0 or nil cfu/ml in Hyderabad with a production capacity met all the industry requirements. Fig- after filtration. ARCI conducted a life cycle of 1000 filters per day and the product ure 4 shows the pilot plant facility to analysis to evaluate silver leaching into the is in the market with the brand name of produce nano silver suspension and filtered water as a function of usage time PURITECH®. Technology Development Figure 5 shows the nano silver treated and long-term anti-bacterial activity of the Board (TDB) or Government of India has anti-bacterial textiles being marketed by candle filters. The amount of silver leach- extended financial assistance to the com- some of the textile companies in India. ing out of freshly prepared candle filters pany for commercializing the technology. ARCI has transferred this technology to was carefully monitored and the values for Figure 6 shows mass production of nano M/s Resil Chemicals, on exclusive license five successive filtrations were noted. The silver coated water filter ceramic candles basis and the company prepared one tone results were found to be well within the and Figure 7 shows the nano silver coated of nano silver suspension using the pilot WHO limits for silver in drinking water and water filter candle, being marketed in the plant facility of ARCI. Resil has successfully US EPA limits for colloidal silver intake by Indian market. commercialized this technology by estab- humans. The WHO limit for silver in ionic Although the technology was suc- lishing an in-house facility to manufacture form in drinking water is 0.1 mg/L. cessfully transferred and the product was about 60,000 kgs/batch nano silver suspen- After the laboratory test demonstrated commercially launched in the market, the sion. The product is sold under the brand high anti-bacterial action of the nano silver company could not sustain its growth in name of “N9 Pure Silver”, which is being mar- incorporated candle filters, field trials were the market due to several financial, man- keted by N9 World Technologies (a market- conducted in 40 villages in collaboration agement and marketing problems. ARCI ing arm of Resil). The company is supplying with a Non-Governmental Organization is looking forward to transfer this technol- these finishes in India and abroad to many (NGO). These field trials yielded extremely ogy to few more entrepreneurs who have textile/garment manufacturers for the last encouraging results. The filtered water was strong financial background and market-

three years. The technology development tested by H2S vial test every day to ascertain ing skills so that the innovative product is and transfer has been completed by ARCI the presence of bacteria after filtration. The made available across the country. data obtained using canal and pond water over a period of two years. The company Conclusion is manufacturing and selling the product from one village over a seven month period profitably for the last three years. revealed the total absence of bacteria in Fortunately, India has great visionaries the filtered water even after its storage for like Dr. Abdul Kalam, former President Case study 2: Nanosilver incorporated 72 hours, throughout its use. Similar data of India and most eminent scientists like ceramic candle filters for water was obtained for tap and tank water. Prof. C N R Rao and others, who spear- disinfection The candle filters used in the field trials headed the formulation of India’s initial Since ancient times, the anti-bacterial prop- were tested for silver leaching by Induc- nanotechnology policy and its effective erties of nano silver are known. ARCI has de- tively Coupled Plasma Optical Emission implementation. As a result, in a short veloped a technology, incorporating nano Spectrometer (ICPOES) analysis which span of time, India has acquired critical silver in to the traditional ceramic water fil- demonstrated that the silver leaching out mass of research infrastructure; human ter candles to provide safe drinking water of the used filter was far less than the WHO capital and handful of companies are in- in rural areas, where the main sources of limits even after one year of usage, thereby volved in the business of nanotechnol- water (ponds and canals) are contaminated indicated the strong adherence of silver to ogy. Nanotechnology research in India is and existing water purification systems are the candle surface. Accelerated tests, car- maintaining global competitiveness by expensive and unaffordable. ried out on fresh candle filters by immers- achieving seventh position among the Considering the social need and huge ing them in boiled water for 30 minutes, top ten countries of the World. Consid- market opportunity, ARCI developed a showed release of less than 0.08 ppm of sil- ering the growing applications of nan- simple and inexpensive method to syn- ver (below the WHO prescribed limit) into otechnology in various fields, the next thesize nano silver coated ceramic candle the water. This indicates strong adherence 10 years will see nanotechnology play- filters. The pores of the candle filters were of nano silver on candle filters. ing the most dominant role in the global

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and policy issues in India”, Int. J, Services Technology and Management, Vol.1, No.4, pp. 375–394.  Palmberg, Christoper (2008), “The Transfer and Commercialization of Nan- otechnology: A Comparative Analysis of University and Company Researchers’’, Journal of Technology Transfer, Vol. 33 pp. 631–652.  Purushotham, H. (2011), “A Framework for Knowledge Management of Nano- science & Technology in India”. Proceed- ings of International Conference on Nanoscience, Technology and Societal Implications (NSTSI) IEEE, pp. 1–5. Figure 6: Production of nano silver coated filter candles  Purushotham. H., and K. Madhuri, (2011), “Knowledge Management and Regulation business environment. As Prof. C. N. R. items.aspx?artid=346054). An advanced Issues: Key for Sustainable Development Rao says, “India can’t afford to miss the technology like nanotechnology offers of Nanoscience and Technology in India”, revolution in nanotechnology. We should huge cost effective benefits to the society Proceedings of International Conference not be at the receiving end when the but there are several market imperfections. on Nanoscience, Engineering and Tech- world is driven by nanotechnology.” What Government need to play a strong promo- nology (INCONSAT 2011), IEEE, pp. 78–83. is required at this juncture is the contin- tion role to facilitate; industry-institute col-  Sundararajan, G., and H. Purushotham ued and strong government policy sup- laborations, public-private partnerships for (1999), “The Transfer of Material Related port to leverage the investments already the development and transfer of technol- Technologies to Indian Industries: ARCI made in creation of R&D infrastructure. ogy and easy access to risk finance, so that Experience”, Proceedings of the R&D Man- Careful and selected further investments the nanotechnology industry reach greater agement Conference, Organized by CSIR in nanotechnology can catalyze country’s and newer heights in the years to come. and RADMA, UK, pp. 316–322. economic development. It is appropriate to recall what Dr. R. A. References  Sundararajan, G., and H. Purushotham Mashelkar, former Director General of the  Chandran, V.G.R. (2010), “R&D Com- (2001). “The Management of Material Re- Council of Scientific and Industrial Research mercialization Challenges for Developing lated Technologies at ARCI-An Overview”, (CSIR) said, “Besides technological innova- Countries—The Case of Malaysia”, Tech Proceedings of the National Seminar on tion, innovations in policy are also needed Monitor, Nov–Dec 2010, pp. 25–30. Technology Management, Organized by to make benefits of science reach the  Khan M.U. (2000), “Problems of technol- Indian National Academy of Engineering”, poor”(http://www.news.outlookindia.com/ ogy transfer from laboratory to industry pp.137–158.  Sundararajan, G. and Tata Narasinga Rao (2009), “Commercial Prospects for Nanomaterials in India”, Journal of the Indian Institute of Science, Vol. 89, No.1, pp. 35–41.  Sundararajan, G., and Tata Narasinga Rao (2010), “Nanomaterials: Application Devel- opment at ARCI” Nano Digest, Vol. 2, Issue.1, pp. 44–47.  Vivek Patel (2012), “The Emergence of India as a Leading Nation in Nanoscience & Nanotechnology” Nanotech Insights, Vol. 3, No. 3, pp. 47–51.  http://www.luxresearchinc.com  http://www.nanmission.gov.in  http://www.news.outlookindia.com/ items.aspx?artid=346054 Figure 7: Nano silver coated filter candles  http://www.ckmnt.com 

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