Driving the development of innovative advanced materials is essential for Europe - economically, technologically and environmentally. Novel materials and material surfaces are stronger, lighter and more sustainable, and can have added high-performance functionalities, such as flameproofing, anti-fouling, anti-bacterial, self-cleaning, better friction, lubrication and wear in moving parts, to name a few. These advanced materials are in demand across the medical, pharmaceutical, energy, transport and construction industries, and beyond – leading to efficiencies in tackling global challenges – including durability, sustainability, health & energy efficiencies.

Companies that can innovate faster and more efficiently than their competitors can gain a significant edge in the market. Often with the increasing speed and complexity of innovation, start-ups and small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) cannot afford to invest in their own testing and validation infrastructures to refine and bring products and services swiftly to market. For these reasons, the EU has invested heavily in Open Innovation Test Beds, to provide access to necessary upscaling and testing facilities and services – driving down costs and accelerating innovation in a wide range of European technology and manufacturing sectors!

NewSkin is one of these EU-funded OITBs (for a list of OITBs see here). NewSkin is an EU-funded Open Innovation Test Bed (OITB), which aims to support the development and market acceleration of new surface & membrane functionalisation by nanotechnologies, generating a wide range of enhanced surface properties for commercial and personal products in different sectors.

The NewSkin test bed offers users open access to state-of-the-art facilities for adding, upscaling, characterising and/or accelerated rigorous testing of advanced high-performance surface functionality (such as hydrophobicity, anti-fouling, anti-reflecting, auto-cleaning, anti-corrosive, anti-icing, anti-microbial, anti-friction, hard-wearing, and lubrication) through nanotechnologies.

The NewSkin range of upscaling, testing, validation, and route-to-market services for nano-enhanced liquid and powder coatings, nano-enabled water membranes, industrial components, functional ceramics, nano-enabled foils, envelops, films and packaging will accelerate the use of nanotechnology in Europe, bringing new functionalities, better performances and higher efficiencies to a range of commercial and personal products. Route-to-market services include Life Cycle Analysis, nano safety assessment, business planning and networking. 

 

Resulting solutions will provide materials protection, water-treatment, advanced functionalities, tribological applications, fuel savings in transport, energy savings in pumps, engines, actuators etc., impacting society and key industrial sectors and aiding the EU green transition.

A list of OITBs are included here on NewSkin OITB platform. To read more about other OITBs in the CORDIS EU research results – download the CORDIS OITB flyer and brochure.