AIST:Nanotechnology, Materials and Manufacturing

		To prevent serious deterioration of the global environment, materials and manufacturing technologies that enable saving resources and energy have become increasingly important to attain a sustainable society. Meanwhile, high expectations are placed on nanotechnology, which can break through the limitations of conventional technologies and realize dramatic improvements in manufacturing efficiency and product performance through understanding and utilizing nanometer-scale phenomena. 　AIST is engaged in discovery and development of nanometer-scale phenomena and materials, evaluation and nano-fabrication techniques, and techniques leading to industrial products.
Research Coordinator Toshimi Shimizu

Innovative environmentally-benign manufacturing technologies

Maintenance cost and energy consumption can be drastically reduced if manufacturing machinery can be miniaturized, because facilities like clean rooms and temperature control systems can also be made compact. AIST has developed a low temperature ceramic coating technique (aerosol deposition process) and a direct fine patterning technique (super inkjet process). These are also on-demand technologies, which produce only the necessary amount of products at the necessary time, and are element technologies for energy saving, low environmental load-type compact manufacturing systems.

Prototype of on-demand manufacturing device which can flexibly combine processing modules such as the aerosol deposition process

Creation of technologies for high performance devices based on nanometer-scale phenomena

Devices with unprecedented performance and functions can be created using nanomaterials. AIST is working to develop innovative devices by improving performance through refined control of the materials and investigating the principles and phenomena of the material functions. We are also focusing on practical application of nanotube materials such as carbon nanotubes as promising high-strength materials and electronic materials, and organic nanotubes for drug inclusion.

Representative nanotube materials: carbon nanotube and organic nanotube
Top: Origami crane made of carbon nanotube sheet
Bottom: Model of nanotube structure made by assembling organic molecules

Reduction of CO₂ emissions from transport machinery and habitation by the development of functional materials

AIST is grappling with the development of magnesium alloys and their processing technologies, which will enable weight reduction in automobile parts and structural components, and thereby result in improving fuel efficiency. Materials for solar-heat reflective glass windows are also being developed to control solar heat energy intake of buildings.

Solar-heat reflective glass window that can drastically change reflectivity with minimal implant of gas (left: mirror state, right: transparent state)

Providing common infrastructures of nanotechnology and materials for supporting manufacturing

AIST is developing processing and measurement techniques for nanotechnology as a technical infrastructure, and operates facilities that are also available to researchers from companies, including training and trial manufacturing services, as a means to spread fundamental technologies.

AIST nano-processing facilities that can be used by researchers of various fields

Interdisciplinary research to expand the application field of nanotechnology

Nanotechnology is expected to be integrated with various technological fields. At AIST, field integration enables R&D of chemical synthesis and drug production using precise control of the flow of liquids, and drug delivery systems (DDS) which deliver drugs only to the targeted part of the body. Moreover, to accelerate these researches, large-scale computational methods using large-scale computers are being developed, and they are being used effectively in drug design.

By using the up-to-date computational method (fragment molecular orbital method), the enzyme structure was computed, and the catalytic reaction mechanism of biomolecule and enzyme was elucidated.

Laboratories

Research Topics