(Nanowerk News) At Nanofibers for the Third Millennium, held from August 30 – September 1 in Raleigh, NC, world leaders in nanofibers will gather to discuss the state of fiber formation as a science and as a corner stone for new nonwovens and technical-textile enabled products.
"The Nonwovens Institute has always had a commitment to bringing together fundamental science, new product concepts and leaders in industry. We're very excited to be hosting this conference with Elmarco and we appreciate that Mr. Mares and his team are hosting it here in the US," said Dr.Behnam Pourdeyhimi, the Institute's Executive Director. Now in its third year, the past two events for the Nanofiber conference had been held in Prague, Czech Republic, near the headquarters of Elmarco sro.
Moving the conference from Prague to Raleigh may seem like a big shift in venue, but it is a regular trip for the conference's corporate partner, Elmarco sro. Elmarco is the first producer of industrial scale elecotrspinning equipment; the process most commonly used to make nanofibers ("NF"). Elmarco opened its US offices on North Carolina State's Centennial campus in early 2008 and now has a facility in Morrisville, near RDU Airport.
The program committee members reflected the blending of academia and industry – including top electrospinning institutions like the University of Akron and the University of Illinois at Chicago with large industrial players such as Flanders Corporation, Freudenberg Nonwovens, and Hollingsworth and Vose. "We're very grateful to the selection committee and to all of those who will be presenting – it should be a great event," Said Kenneth Donahue, CEO of Elmarco, Inc., Elmarco's US subsidiary.
Over two and half days the presenters will cover areas of fine fiber formation, measurement and testing. They'll also talk through all of the application areas that are using nanofibers for their next generation products; from wound care to fuel filtration, nanofibers are used in many applications.
Where many areas of nanotechnology are considered cutting edge, nanofibers have a long history dating back to the late 1800s. Nanofibers were first referenced in patents in the early 1900s. The nonwoven, filtration, membrane, life science, battery separator, hygiene, performance apparel, food packaging and advanced materials industries all work with various forms of nanofibers and new fields show up every day. Inorganic nanofibers have shown significant promise in battery components, fuel cells, catalysis, photocatalysis and composite materials.
"It is true that the diversity of industries that use nanofibers is impressive, but the most interesting components develop as customers deploy NF into application. With some of our filtration customers, the NF layer costs mere pennies per square foot, but when billions of square meters per year are being consumed, the benefit adds up. Customers are able to make new materials that were not previously possible or replicate existing materials with significant cost savings," said Donahue.
To learn more about the conference and the roster of presenters, visit www.nano3millennium.com.
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