INTEC inaugurates its first Nanotechnology Laboratory
Santo Domingo. El Instituto Tecnológico de Santo DomingoINTEC inaugurated its first Nanotechnology Laboratory for research, teaching and services to productive sectors, with unique technology to identify what materials and the presence of heavy metals are made of.
With an investment of RD $ 16 million from INTEC and the National Fund for Innovation and Scientific and Technological Development (FONDOCyT) of the Ministry of Higher Education, Science and Technology (MESCyT), the laboratory has an X-ray diffractometer and equipment with softwares of simulation of the properties of the materials.
This technology allows to know what is the identity and structure of the compounds present in the materials analyzed because it takes an X-ray at a scale imperceptible to the human eye (nanometric), which guarantees accuracy in its results.
Nanotechnology is the discovery of nanoscale functional materials, a range of action that can range from a molecule to a virus.
The Minister of Higher Education, Ligia Amada Melo, said that INTEC has always been at the forefront and that this step adds to the advance in laboratory infrastructure that the university has had in the last two years. “Universities that are investing in Basic Sciences are at the forefront of progress; all the sectors that have been developed have a relationship with science, technology and research and this laboratory is part of that line ”.
Rolando M. Guzmán, rector of INTEC, said that with the inauguration of this laboratory INTEC is placed at the forefront of the characterization of materials in the country, with four laboratories that perform complementary tests: Material Testing, Molecular Modeling, Soil Mechanics and of Analytical and Environmental Services ".
"The research lines of the new INTEC Nanotechnology Laboratory are: renewable energy, agriculture, water and the textile sector," said Guzmán. One of the challenges is the interdisciplinarity among researchers to enrich the projects, but it is a platform of service opportunities for the industry.
The laboratory was inaugurated by the minister, the president of the Board of Regents of INTEC, Ana María Ramos, the rector, the vice-rector of Research and Liaison, Julio Sánchez Maríñez, the Academic vice-chancellor, Leandra Tapia, the Administrative and Financial vice-rector, Alfonso Casasnovas, the dean of the Basic Sciences Area, Leticia Mendoza, the former rector of INTEC Miguel Escala, the outgoing dean of Basic Sciences, Felix Lara, Melvin Arias, physicist in charge of the laboratory, Andrea Paz, director of Research, Ailín Lockward, director of Provision of Services, and Patricia Portela, among other INTEC authorities.
INTEC seeks to apply nanotechnology to the creation of materials that allow the manufacture of rechargeable batteries, a device that contributes to solving problems associated with the lack of energy in the country. A team headed by Melvin Arias, PhD, from the Area of Basic and Environmental Sciences, investigates the 1D Nanostructures of LiMxMn2-xO4 (M = Co, Ni, Cr, Fe, Al) for rechargeable lithium-ion batteries using the “electrospinning technique. ”From sol-gel.
Complementary laboratories
The Nanotechnology Laboratory will complement more precisely and efficiently the services of four laboratories:
• Materials Testing Laboratory: it tests the quality of construction materials and wood, with equipment provided by DIGENOR that also relies on a complete material properties database.
• Molecular Modeling Laboratory: performs simulation (through software) of the physical, biological and chemical properties of a substance at the molecular level, which allows the design of drugs and agrochemicals on a computer.
• Construction Materials and Soil Mechanics: performs soil mechanics and aggregate and concrete quality tests.
• Laboratory for Analytical and Environmental Services: analyzes all types of physicochemical tests on water, air and sediment samples to determine their quality.
Advantages of services
The characterization of materials is a service increasingly demanded by productive sectors of high growth in the country, such as mining, construction, environment, pharmaceutical sector, also agriculture and the Scientific Police, which could benefit from the analysis of samples in about two hours , at a lower cost than in laboratories in countries such as Mexico, the United States or Puerto Rico, where they are usually sent.
The laboratory is the first great result of a research project started in 2010 with the support of the MESCyT to design new materials to manufacture rechargeable lithium-ion batteries, whose production is proposed to be more environmentally friendly than traditional batteries because they will generate less waste and they will not have lead, more profitable for the industry, more economical for the consumers. The research is under development and will be supported by the X-ray diffractometer, which is already in operation supporting studies from other universities in a collaborative manner.
Nanotechnology is the discovery of nanoscale functional materials. The range of action that scientists understand as nanotechnology is from a small molecule to a virus. To get an idea: a human hair has approximately 100 micrometers in diameter, which is equivalent to say 100,000 nanometers.
Nanotechnology is revolutionizing the industrial sectors: food, agriculture, medicine, electronics, computers, materials, textiles, cosmetics and manufactures. Food and cosmetics are the ones that use the most nanotechnology, followed by textiles.
Nanomaterials have a greater contact surface area, are faster, need less space, can be cheaper, lighter and have different properties than those of a higher scale.
In the Dominican Republic
In the Dominican Republic, ongoing research and investments in nanotechnology for agriculture and the textile sector can be crucial for development within the next 20 years. Also applications in alternative energy such as solar cells and batteries that use nanotechnology, some of which are available in the market.
Our potential and the one with the greatest social impact would be: nano-food, nano-agriculture, nanofibers and nanomaterials applied to solar cells and rechargeable batteries. An increasing world population demands more food every day, the efficient use of water (since 60% of the planet's water is used in agriculture), as well as the problem of food transportation, in short, state-of-the-art technological advances. generation.