TEHRAN (Iran News) –Some 160 nano products required by the industry will be domestically produced by the end of the current [Iranian calendar] year (March 2022), the director of the industry group of the Nanotechnology Development Council has announced.
“It is planned to enter nano-products into 200 industries by the next 4 years,” Mehr quoted Ali Asghar Najimi as saying on Friday.
Stating that currently 750 approved nano products are sold in the market, he said that by the end of this year about 250 more products will be added to the commercialized nano products.
“We have given priority to five industries of energy (oil, gas, electricity), health (including medicine, medical equipment, cosmetics), agriculture and food, water and environment, construction,” he further noted.
There are two main programs for the commercialization of nano products; The first one is the “Technology Supply” program, which supports start-ups and technologists to develop new products; and the second program is related to the demand, which is accompanied by helping to meet the needs of industries and challenges of the country by using nanotechnology.
Last year (March 2020- March 2021), some 60 projects in nanotechnology were successful, which saved about $30 million in foreign currency, he highlighted.
Pointing out that so far about 80 large industrial companies have used nano products, he added that by 2025, more than 200 large industrial companies will use nanotechnology to improve efficiency and productivity.
Nanotech increasing pace of development
Nanotechnology’s trend of development is growing in Iran, as the number of nanoproducts and equipment developed in the previous [Iranian calendar] year (March 20) increased to 750, compared with 647 a year before.
Some 223 product manufacturing companies and 59 equipment manufacturing companies are active in the field of nanotechnology and by the end of last year, which developed a total of 750 products and equipment.
Of the 750 products and equipment registered in the nanotechnology product database, 535 were related to nano-products and 215 were related to nano-equipment, both of which have experienced a growing trend over the past few years, although nano-products have grown more significantly.
The field of “civil engineering and construction” with 20 percent had the largest share among nano products and equipment, followed by “medicine, health” and “industrial services and supplies” each with 13 percent.
Iran among five pioneers of nanotechnology
Iran has been introduced as the 4th leading country in the world in the field of nanotechnology, publishing 11,546 scientific articles in 2020.
The country held a 6 percent share of the world’s total nanotechnology articles, according to StatNano’s monthly evaluation accomplished in WoS databases.
Iran ranked 43rd among the 100 most vibrant clusters of science and technology (S&T) worldwide for the third consecutive year, according to the Global Innovation Index (GII) 2020 report.
The country experienced a three-level improvement compared to 2019.
Sourena Sattari, vice president for science and technology, has said that Iran is playing the leading role in the region in the fields of fintech, ICT, stem cell, aerospace, and is unrivaled in artificial intelligence.
Iranian nanotechnology companies have increased sales by 100 percent over the Iranian calendar year 1398 (March 2019-March 2020), and it is predicted that their revenue will reach up to 80 trillion rials (nearly $1.9 billion at the official rate of 42,000 rials), Sattari announced.
