The NAPOLEÓN Integrated Project has been recently launched under the leadership of Professor José María Asua of the University Institute of Polymeric Materials (POLYMAT) at the University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU).
Over a period of four years, 21 European participants, including large and small business enterprises as well as universities, will work on the development of radically new products through the technological process for the production of controlled nanostructured films without organic solvents or residual monomers, in line with European Directives on solvents' emission. What is really innovative about this project is the development of films based on nanocomposites dispersed in water with a carefully controlled structure. Amongst the new properties of these films is their great capacity for adhesion to porous substrates, their greater hardness, forces and resistance to wear and tear, their greater permeability to liquids and gases, and their greater fire resistance. The new products will help the European film manufacture sector – some 2,500 companies with some 100,000 employees – to be more competitive.