Nanoco Technologies Ltd. (Nanoco) is a UK-based nanotechnology company that spun out from the University of Manchester in 2001. The company's development has been driven by Dr Nigel Pickett, Nanoco's Chief Technology Officer, whose pioneering work on the patented "molecular seeding" process has formed the basis of Nanoco's unique technology. Since 2004, Nanoco has focussed its research efforts into the development and scale-up of quantum dots and other nanoparticles, including cadmium-free quantum dots. Nanoco's technology has been licensed to Dow, Wah Hong, and Merck, amongst others. The company has a production facility in Runcorn, UK. Nanoco is unique in the nanomaterials market as a company that manufactures large quantities of high grade quantum dots (QDs), in particular cadmium-free quantum dots and other electronic grade nanomaterials.
Market Diffusion Growing industrial adoption of quantum dot technology by R&D and blue-chip organisations has led to a greater demand for the bulk manufacture of the product. The bulk manufacture of high grade quantum dots provides companies with the platform to develop a wide variety of next-generation products, particularly in application areas such as displays (Quantum dot display), sensors, LED lighting, backlighting, flexible low-cost solar cells and biological Imaging. The ability to scale up the synthesis makes these materials affordable and commercially accessible. In January 2013, Nanoco announced a licensing deal with the Dow Chemical Company. Following commissioning of Dow's plant in Cheonan, South Korea, Nanoco received its first royalty payment in 2016. Nanoco signed further licensing agreements with Wah Hong and Merck. At the Consumer Electronics Show 2015, improved backlighting using QDs in LCD television sets was a major topic. South Korean (Samsung, LG), Chinese (TCL, Hisense, Changhong) and Japanese (Sony) TV manufacturers had such TVs on display. In February 2018, the company announced a Material Development and Supply Agreement with an undisclosed US corporation, to scale up and mass-produce novel nanoparticles for advanced electronic devices. Nanoco has since announced agreements with a number of partners relating to development of nanomaterials for use in applications including sensing. From May 2009 the company has been listed on AIM at the London Stock Exchange [1], then in May 2015 it moved to the main London Stock Exchange market. Nanoco Group PLC filed a patent infringement lawsuit against Samsung in February 2020, following a multi-year collaboration at the end of which Samsung launched a TV with quantum dot technology but without entering a license or supply agreement with Nanoco or its partners.
Cadmium-Free Quantum Dots There is a move towards legislation that restricts or prohibits the use of heavy metals in products such electrical and electronic equipment. In Europe, the restricted metals include cadmium, mercury, lead and hexavalent chromium. Cadmium is restricted 10-fold more than the other heavy metals, to 0.01% or 100 ppm by weight of homogeneous material. There are similar regulations in place, or soon to be implemented, worldwide including in Norway, Switzerland, China, Japan, South Korea and California. Cadmium and other restricted heavy metals used in conventional quantum dots are of a major concern in commercial applications. For QDs to be commercially viable in many applications they must not contain cadmium or other restricted elements. In response to a push from customers not to include cadmium in household electronics products, Nanoco has developed a range of CFQD® quantum dots, free of any regulated heavy metals. These materials show bright emission in the visible and near-infra-red region of the spectrum. Nanoco has developed a patented "molecular seeding" method of QD synthesis. Unlike "high temperature dual injection" methods of QD synthesis, the molecular seeding method circumvents the need for a high temperature injection step by utilising molecules of a molecular cluster compound to act as nucleation sites for nanoparticle growth. To maintain particle growth, further precursor additions are made at moderate temperatures until the desired QD size is reached. The process can easily be scaled to large volumes, and is used to produce Nanoco's CFQD® heavy metal-free quantum dots. While the molecular seeding process lends itself to III-V quantum dots, it can be used to produce a wide range of nanoparticle materials.
Sensing Quantum dots can be used in the sensor industry to extend the range of current CMOS image sensors out into the near-infrared (NIR) and short-wavelength infrared (SWIR) range of wavelengths. Quantum dots can be tuned for specific absorption bands by adjusting the size of the particle and simply applying a layer onto the surface of a CMOS image sensor extends its sensitivity range out to this region. Extending this range allows the sensors to maintain the small pixel size of CMOS image sensors compared to other expensive technology in the NIR region, allowing for higher resolution camera devices at a much cheaper cost. Applications for NIR and SWIR CMOS image sensors are wide-ranging and include biometric facial recognition, optical diagnostics, LiDAR and night vision.
Lighting Quantum dots can be used as LED down-conversion phosphors because they exhibit a broad excitation spectrum and high quantum efficiencies. Furthermore, the wavelength of the emission can be tuned completely across the visible region simply by varying the size of the dot or the type of semiconductor material. As such, they have the potential to be used to generate virtually any colour. Quantum dots are of particular interest for niche lighting applications, including horticultural lighting.
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