Nanotechnology is the understanding and control of matter at a dimension of roughly 1 to 100 nanometers, where unique phenomena enable novel applications. Nanto is at the forefront of this technology, by understanding and creating improved materials, devices, and systems that exploit the knowledge of these new properties.
The company is headquartered in Trieste and benefits from a broad network of scientific partners both in academia and industry. To quote an example, research on an innovative prototype of a micro polymeric Heat Pipe is being carried out by a team at the Department of Industrial Engineering of the University of Bergamo. Other partners in research projects include the Polytechnic of Milan, the National Research Council/CNR, the Cranfield University and the Imperial College

The company is obtaining fruitful results from the exploitation of nanomaterials such as silver, gold, cadmium, titanium and teflon nanoparticles, carbon nanotubes  and fullerene C60.

One area of Nanto’s R&D in nanotechnology is medicine, including strategies for antibody immobilization on gold nanoparticles, an approach that might be useful for the development of antitumor therapies.
Nanto is also involved in the development of an innovative antifouling coating containing nanoparticles and hydrolytic enzymes immobilized on polymeric material. These antifouling agents are used in marine paints (for pleasure boats and for shipbuilding industry).

The company started in 2006 a leading project branded Silvernanto, which is focused on niche market application of silver nanoparticles. Metallic silver, either in bulk form or finely dispersed, is an increasingly important element for a variety of applications. It displays unique properties normally associated with the noble metals (chemical stability, excellent electrical conductivity, catalytic activity), along with other more specific ones (antibacteriostatic effects, nonlinear optical behaviour, etc.). Silver nanoparticles, either highly dispersed or coated onto metallic, polymeric or oxide materials, may thus be used as catalysts, as staining pigments for glasses and ceramics, as antimicrobial agents, as transparent conductive coatings and in electronics. Many of these applications have already reached a mature stage.

Public Project
Nanto partecipates and manages in public and government funded project, also linking several partners in the nanotechnology field.