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First we survey the scope and level of research activities in nanoparticle technology (NPT) in ASEAN by looking at relevant international journal publications (2006–2012) in terms of absolute numbers (AN), numbers of publications per million population (PMP) and per billion USD GDP (PBG). Obviously, the statistics show that, within ASEAN, the strength of Singapore covers a wide range of nanotechnology fields and applications, including carbon materials, biosensors, bioelectronics, and pharmaceutics. Malaysia places emphasis on alloys & compounds, carbon materials, and separation technology. Thailand’s emphasis is on molecular modeling, carbon materials, and biosensors. When classification is made on the morphology of nanoparticles mentioned in the titles, the topmost are nanotubes (including CNT, SWCNT, MWCNT) at 392 out of 612 (64.1%), followed by generic nanoparticle/nanopowder and nanofiber (including nanowire, nanorods). Next we look closer at 2 nanoparticle R&D organizations in Thailand, namely, CEPT (CU) and NANOTEC together with their alliances. The interest in nanotechnology of SCG (Siam Cement Group), a leading Thai industrial conglomerate, will also be briefly introduced. .

Hydrogel based oil encapsulation was attempted with a ternary system of colloidal chitosan, κ-carrageenan, and carboxymethylcellulose sodium salt (NaCMC). Favourable formulations of this ternary system that caused irreversible sol–gel transition by freezing (cryogelation) were found in this study, and the oil phase that contained a selected model food ingredient (curcumin) was successfully encapsulated in this prepared cryogel matrix. The encapsulation yields were found to vary from ca 89–99%, and the values were influenced by the cooling protocol used during freezing, thereby indicating that the gel formation kinetics was intimately related to the degree of encapsulation. The release behaviours of the ingredient were investigated in aqueous systems. The release curves showed that both a burst release and a first order release were achieved simply by changing the freezing condition. Freezing could modify the gel formation of the present cryogel, and the resulting structural modification evidently controlled the oil encapsulation manner. Prepared cryogels were found to be sensitive to the ambient pH. It was suggested that the ternary system of chitosan, κ-carrageenan, and NaCMC is an interesting matrix for designing controlled release system.

Nylon 6/clay nanocomposite films were prepared by melt mixing nylon 6 with organoclay using a twin screw extruder attached to a blown film die. The type of surfactant used in the pretreatment of organoclay was expected to affect the degree of clay dispersion, which would in turn affect the degree of crystallinity, crystalline phase and bulk properties of the polymer composite. Two different surfactants used to treat the surface of montmorillonite clay were trimethyl tallow quaternary ammonium chloride (M3T, a single-chain surfactant) and dimethyl bis (hydrogenated-tallow) ammonium chloride (M2(HT)2, a double-chain surfactant). The addition of the resulting organoclay into nylon 6 was found to enhance the formation of γ-phase and increase the degree of crystallinity and crystallization temperature of the nylon 6. In fact nanocomposite films containing the single-chain surfactant showed a higher degree of clay dispersion in nylon 6 matrix, up to 148% higher stiffness and up to 100% lower oxygen permeability than those films containing the corresponding double-chain surfactant at the same inorganic loadings investigated. As expected, the nanocomposite films exhibited 58% higher stiffness in the machine direction than the transverse direction.

A novel electric hydrocyclone is developed and tested. Aqueous suspensions of silica with a median diameter of 754 nm and 0.2% volumetric concentration are tested using a 20-mm-diameter hydrocyclone. The ratios of tested underflow rate to throughput are: 0, 0.1, 0.2 and 0.3. The tested volumetric flow rates are 0.083×10−3, 0.117×10−3 and 0.167×10−3 m3/s (5, 7 and 10 l/min). The conical part of the electric hydrocyclone is connected to a cylindrical dust box having 42 mm diameter. This dust box has a central metal rod cone and a cylindrical metal wall between which the desired 50-volt DC electric potential or no potential is applied. The investigated lengths of the dust box are 53 and 106 mm. The three different conditions investigated are: (a) no applied electric potential, (b) positive potential applied at the central rod side and negative potential at the side wall, and (c) positive potential applied at the side wall and negative potential at the central rod side. In both the absence and presence of the underflow, the hydrocyclone with a long dust box is found to give better classification efficiency than that with a short dust box. Interestingly, the effect of electric potential is reversed with respect to the presence and absence of the underflow. The presence of the underflow unexpectedly increase the 50% particle cut size when electric potential is applied. However, the effect of electric potential is reversed when there is no underflow. The electric potential can reduce the 50% particle cut size by up to 10% compared to the absence of electricity. It is found that condition (c) exhibits a stronger effect than condition (b). As expected, the higher the flow ratio, the smaller the particle cut size becomes. Based on the experimental results, an empirical correlation for the 50% particle cut size has been obtained.

Ice-templating is a simple, practical kind of template synthesis which consists of sol-gel polycondensation, unidirectional freezing of hydrosols or hydrogels, and pore-preserving drying method, such as freeze drying, thereby resulting in desirable porous materials. The unidirectional freezing may be achieved by either immersion freezing or contact freezing. Freeze-dried materials contain porous microstructures that are replicas of the ice crystals formed during the unidirectional freezing process. Two similar but slightly different applications of ice-templating will be investigated here. Fabrication of macroporous foam materials by unidirectional freezing of an aqueous suspension of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) dispersed by chitosan is a concrete example of functionalization of an electroconductive foam, which is a composite material made from a polymer and CNTs. As expected, their electroconductive properties can be controlled by the fabrication method and condition. Additional examples of porous materials synthesized by ice-templating are porous microfibers and microhoneycombs of silica, titania, silica-alumina, titania-silica, and even carbon. In the preparation, the morphology and porous structure can be controlled by the freezing conditions and synthesis conditions of the corresponding hydrogels, respectively.