z_From nano-structures to household cleaners
Our first international conference on multi-scale structures and dynamics of complex systems took place in Beijing in August 2007. It focussed on designing structured materials for functionality and sensory experience.
We know ice cream as a cold, tasty treat
So it's not often you hear ice cream referred to as a 'complex multi-phase structure consisting of ice crystals, air bubbles and fat particles dispersed in a continuous phase consisting of unfrozen sugar solution known as the matrix.'
But that was the talk at Unilever's recent international conference on multi-scale structures and dynamics of complex systems.
From science to consumer products
The conference, held in Beijing at the end of August provided a forum for the scientific community to discuss ways to make innovative ice creams, foods, homecare and personal care products. Developments in these areas need to come from understanding multi-scale structures and how they can be harnessed to create high-quality new products.
For instance, by studying the way mosquitoes use nano-structured 'lotus eyes' to prevent the surface of the eye from fogging up, it is possible to design and create bio-inspired surfaces with switch-able super-wet-ability and anti-wetability.
In other words, nano-technology in mosquito's eyes means they can see even though they have no eyelids to keep the surface of the eye clean. This discovery provides a scientific basis for creating products that can keep surfaces clean without constant wiping.
Novel ideas
These ideas and others that arose at the conference seed many novel ideas for creation of products that could improve the quality of life of people. The 3 day conference (29th – 31st August) was attended by some 80 delegates and helped us to identify emerging inter-disciplinary hot spots of science that are of significant interest to Unilever.
Face-to-face discussions with world-leading scientists seeded many new ideas on how to 'design' nano- and micro- structures of foods, homecare and personal care products from first principles.
The conference was organised with the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the Indian National Science Academy, the Institute of Chemical Engineering, and the Royal Academy of Engineering.
