Development of a Database for the Management and Use of Available Resources in the Field of Sustainable Nanomanufacturing

The rapid development of nanotechnology-based products and applications over the last three decades has influenced numerous scientific fields and industry sectors ranging from medical applications, food and consumer care up to the semiconductor and the energy sector. The complexity and multidisciplinary needed to approach the topic of sustainability in nanomanufacturing requires a wide range of expertise from materials’ toxicology, risk assessment, life cycle assessment, circular economy and ethics in nanotechnology. Moreover, professionals working in sustainable nanofabrication require adequate infrastructures, skills, equipment, characterization and metrology that permit them to perform their activities to develop their technologies or products at best. Scattered information, lack of connection across the different communities or the difficulty of getting the right information about a related specific theme are just some of the issues that often prevent products from reaching the market. The EU H2020 project NanoFabNet is addressing these issues by setting up a self-sustaining one-stop-shop for all matters and concerns pertaining to sustainable nanofabrication. In this paper, the authors describe the development of the NanoFabNet database as part of the digital platform designed to collect, store, expert-curate and provide access to all matters pertaining to sustainable nanofabrication.