An international workshop among experts from Europe, Russia and USA, organized by the EU FP7 SUN and ECONANOSORB projects

22 January 2016

University Ca’ Foscari Venice (Italy)

 

Organizers

ECONANOSORB

NEW!!! Workshop Proceedings

The Workshop Proceedings containing extended abstracts of the studies presented during the meeting are now available.

Background

Nanotechnology materials and products are increasingly being produced for their potential to provide benefits to society. Therefore, although still emerging, nanotechnology has been identified as a Key Enabling Technology by the European Union. One of its important areas of application are metal-based biocides used to protect wood against microbial and fungal decomposition. One prominent example is Copper (Cu), different forms of which (e.g micronized Cu, Copper Oxide) are used in particulate timber preserving impregnations. The use of nanoscale Cu instead of bulk Cu improves the durability of wood against microbial and fungal activity due to: (i) increased effective surface area of Cu, enhancing dispersion stability, (ii) ability to penetrate bordered pits; and (iii) decreased viscosity of formulations. The above properties contribute to easier impregnation and deeper and more homogeneous uptake of reactive biocide into the wood, which allows effective and continuous protection over time.

In contrast to the significant benefits from using Cu nanomaterials in timber preserving impregnations, there are considerable societal concerns regarding their environmental impacts and human health risks. The robust estimation of these impacts and risks requires understanding of what quantities and which forms of Cu are released and what are their environmental and health effects, which is information difficult to obtain due to the lack of methods to measure and characterize the release. In order to address these challenges the European FP7 projects SUN, NanoDEN and ECONANOSORB as well as the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency have investigated the environmental impacts and health risks of Cu nanomaterials used in timber preserving impregnations.

Objectives

The objective of the workshop is to meet experts from Europe, Russia and USA to discuss the results of the above projects on the topics of release, fate, exposure, effects, lifecycle impacts and health risks of the Cu nanomaterials, covering both experimental and modeling approaches.

Target audience

The workshop is designed for experts on the above topics from research and academic institutions as well as from industry and governmental agencies.

Workshop agenda

Here you can download the final agenda.

How to reach and leave Venice & the meeting venue

Please download the Travel information.

Registration 

The Workshop is free of registration fees. To register, please fill in the registration form. Due to capacity limitations, the maximum number of attendees to be accepted is limited to 20. Registration will be on a first-come, first-served basis.

Accommodation

You can download a list of recommended hotels near the meeting venue. You can also benefit from preferential rates for accommodation in Mestre, in QUALITY HOTEL AMBASCIATORI & DELFINO ****. In order to book a room at the preferential rate of 35 € per room per night including breakfast please use the following link: www.hotelambasciatori-mestre.com and www.hoteldelfino-mestre.com and insert “NANOTECH” in the Client/Guest code field.

For the moment both the hotels are fully booked on 21st January 2016!

!!! Important information: Kindly note that the Carnival of Venice will start on Saturday 23/01/2016 and it is possible that most of the hotels in Venice would offer their “high season” rates. Therefore we highly recommend you to book your accommodation as soon as possible.

Contacts:

For questions regarding the scientific programme please contact:

Danail Hristozov

Ca’ Foscari University of Venice, Italy

e-mail: danail.hristozov@unive.it

For registrations and more information please contact:

Sara Alba

Ca’ Foscari University of Venice, Italy

e-mail: sara.alba@unive.it

tel.: +39 041 234 8951