On the 23rd October, Czech Nanotechnology Day took place at the Embassy of the Czech Republic in London. The day began with opening remarks by His Excellency, the Czech Ambassador to the UK, Libor Sečka. He told the audience that the aim of the “Czech Week” taking place in London, was not only to remind us of the 100th anniversary of the establishment of Czechoslovakia, and the current Czech Nation, but also to introduce the best and most innovative products from the Czech Republic. Czech Week was opened the previous day, Monday, 22nd October, with an exhibition of Czech Glass, lighting and design, followed by a gala concert of the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra and on Thursday 25^th October, a Czech-British Cardiology conference and a business presentation by Czech medical device companies.

The guest of honour on Czech Nanotechnology Day was the Rt Hon Greg Clark, a member of Her Majesty’s Government and the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy. In his address, Mr Clark reminded the audience that the new British industrial strategy puts emphasis on innovation and excellence in creating solutions for key issues of the future such as the aging population, mobility, and artificial intelligence. Mr Clark further mentioned that nanotechnologies are one great example of the collaboration between Czech and British scientists within the European framework and called for its further development, as the complexity of current issues in science demands concentrated international cooperation.

Jiří Kůs, the Chairman of the Czech Nanotechnology Industries Association spoke of the opportunity that Nano Day in London has presented to show case the newest Nano-technological inventions and products of Czech companies. He went on to explain the meaning of the slogan ‘Czech is Nano’. The Czech Republic is a small country, literally nano, but at the same time it is at the global forefront of the application of Nanotechnologies.

The introductions were followed by three panel discussions where the 12 Czech companies introduced themselves to the British audience comprising of companies ranging across various sectors, including medical, technological, construction as well as research institutions and, leading universities. There were representatives from the media who were attracted to the event because of the participants accomplishments in terms of research, development and innovation.

The first panel entitled “Industry with a High amount of Added Value” introduced the cluster organisation, Nanoprogress, which represents 48 companies, excellent “Key Enabling Technologies” centers, universities as well as other actors from the nanotechnology, space and, other related industries. Moreover, Nanoprogress introduced the in-organic nano-fibre materials PARDAM and a groundbreaking energy storage called “Manga Energy Storage” based on the revolutionising nano-batteries HE3DA. Lastly, it also introduced the continuously improving electron microscopes from the company, TESCAN.

The next panel titled “Healthcare and Healthy Lifestyle” introduced innovative healing anti-bacterial products, which use nano-layers of “ionts” of silver (from the company ING Medical), innovative nanofiber biomaterials for use in surgery, oncological products and cosmetics (from the company Contipro), anti-allergic nano-beddings (from the company Nanospace) and, modern outerwear based on functional, self-washing nano-materials NanoAg (from the company Lada Vyvialova).

The last panel called “Clear Air and Water”, introduced Nano water filtration systems from ACO Marine, photocatalytic self-washing “coatings” from ADVANCED MATERIALS JTJ, the Nano air filtration systems RETAP and filters for wine, beer, pharmaceuticals and biotechnology, as well as vegetable oil, from the company Filtrex.

Following the company presentations a live demonstration was given by a team of experts from NANOPROGRESS. They demonstrated the manufacturing of nanofibers on a globally unique patented device, which was developed by the Technical University of Liberec with long-term support from the cluster group NANOPROGRESS. The company ACO Marine offered the visitors a toast with crystal clear water, which it had produced using multi-degree filtrated water from the Thames, to demonstrate potential of the closed end filtration cycle using membrane systems. This system is designated for boats, oil drilling platforms and, space stations. The biggest exhibit was presented by ADVANCED MATERIALS JTJ, the company used its photocatalytic coating to cover a long wall surrounding the embassy. The wall will now keep its bright white colour for several years. In the polluted air of London, the newly treated wall can compensate the negative effects of carbon monoxide emissions of ten diesel automobiles using UV radiation (according to the calculation of ADVANCED MATERIALS JTJ for a car operating 25,000km/year within EURO VI norms).

The event was organised by the Embassy of the Czech Republic in London, with co-operation from the London office of Czech Invest, the Czech Nanotechnology Industries Association and, the cluster organisation, Nanoprogress.

Czech Nano Day has shown that Czech expertise in the field of nanotechnology is already well known. For example, many UK universities use electron microscopes and nanofibers manufactured in the Czech Republic. Currently, the size of the UK economy and the advancement of research is an opportunity for Czech companies to increase their market share and for universities to increase their collaboration in research and development.

Aleš Opatrný, Head of the Economic and Commercial Section, the Embassy of Czech Republic in London