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INERIS is developing a nano-secure platform in Picardy to strengthen expertise and research on the risks associated with nanotechnology. This platform is dedicated to metrology and the characterization of the danger potentials of nanomaterials within the framework of industrial safety. It will be made available to the Institute's scientific partners and must also be able to meet the needs of industrialists. It is already planned to use this equipment as part of the SERENADE Laboratory of Excellence, which focuses on the design of innovative, sustainable and safe nanomaterials.
The use of nanotechnology is one of the levers of industrial innovation today. However, the implementation of the
nanoparticles or nanomaterials present risks, which need to be assessed and controlled to allow for the emergence and
deployment of sustainable technologies that would use them. The rapid growth of these technologies requires a significant effort to increase knowledge of the risks involved and to have the means to assess those risks.
With this in mind, INERIS, with the financial support of the Picardy Regional Council, is acquiring an experimental platform
unique in France. Located on the Institute's site in Verneuil-en-Halatte (Oise), this 400 m2 infrastructure consists of four laboratories and premises with controlled nanoparticles that should be
fully operational in the first quarter of 2014.
This nano-secure platform is dedicated to the metrology of nanomaterials and the characterization of the danger potentials of
chemicals, particularly in the context of the safety of industrial processes. It should allow, among other things, to study:
The safety parameters (flammability, explosiveness, etc.) of nanoparticles;
The potential for nanoparticles to be emitted into the ambient air by materials and products throughout their life cycle (manufacturing, use, end of life);
The development of metrology and characterization tools suitable for nanomaterials;
The behaviour of pulverulent nanomaterials in the ambient air (dispersal potential...)
Qualification and certification of the Best Available Techniques (MTD) for the protection of operators involved in
laboratories and industrial environments using nanoparticles.
This platform reinforces the three integration centres identified as part of Nano-INNOV (Grenoble, Saclay, Toulouse) and
will be made available to the scientific partners of INERIS, Compiègne University of Technology (UTC) and The University of Picardy Jules Verne (UPJV) among others. It is designed to meet all the needs of manufacturers by offering "how-to" tests, adapted to the specifics of each demand.
As such, this structuring equipment is one of the components of the SERENADE project, which focuses on the eco-design of nanomaterials in order to preserve the environment at the end of their life or recycling, and to protect the health of professionals and
Users. SERENADE, led by the Paul Cézanne Aix Marseille III University and attended by INERIS, is one of the
The Ministry of Research's "Laboratory of Excellence" call for projects as part of the Future Investment Program.
Find out more: www.ineris.fr
