Capacity development is a key area in any field. It is even more so within the science, engineering, technology and innovation (SETI) environment. The legacy of apartheid has meant that the proportion of demographically representational groupings of science researchers and practitioners still has a long way to go.
Dr Elma van der Lingen, Manager of the Advanced Materials Division of Mintek, a science council, is working towards the solution. She has distinguished herself in initiation, expansion and capacity building within the field of gold and platinum group metals industrial research and development (R&D).
Van der Lingen was instrumental as founder and Head of Project AuTEK, a joint collaboration between Mintek, AngloGold Ashanti, Goldfields and Harmony. It involves R&D into new industrial uses for gold. She notes that when the programme began, the gold price was under $300 per ounce and its main application was in jewellery with few industrial uses. The project is a world first and holds a close association with the World Gold Council.
In 2001, under the auspices of Project AuTEK and the World Gold Council, the first international industrial gold conference was held in Cape Town. This has since continued every three years, with the next conference in 2012 in Tokyo, Japan. The result of investigations into industrial gold use has meant that gold is now perceived as useful outside of ornamentation, particularly within medicine.
“It is bio-compatible and can be used in drugs, plus it is corrosion-resistant and can be used in small devices in the body,” says van der Lingen. A major industrial application for gold is catalysis and it was a breakthrough to discover that gold converts carbon monoxide at room temperature.
Van der Lingen says that this makes it ideal for use in gas masks as it extends the mask’s life and is lighter. The team is currently working with an SMME to bring the product to market. “At the moment we are applying gold nanoparticles for the diagnosis of diseases, in particular malaria and TB. We are at prototype phase,” says van der Lingen.
Gold has shown to be useful in nanotechnology because of its stability. In laymen’s terms, it means that gold can be used in very small particles without igniting. An expertise base for gold in catalysis, nanotechnology and biomedical applications has been established at 10 local higher education institutions with various international collaborators.
More than 60 post-graduate students have been involved in gold R&D and graduates have found employment in fields related to their studies. Department of Science and Technology (DST) programmes fund a number of post-graduate students with much of the R&D based at Mintek, enabling students’ access to advanced equipment.
“It’s important to involve the universities to assist with training. This was novel research 10 years ago and we needed to create a knowledge base,” says van der Lingen. “Some students are offered exchange programmes and fellowships abroad with international universities. There are also opportunities to do special training with experts in the field and to present at conferences.”
Dr van der Lingen acts as the liaison person for several of the full time-and part-time post-graduate students. The solid foundation laid by Project AuTEK has operated as a catalyst for other programmes. Mintek hosts a number of large initiatives which fall under the DST. One of these is the Nanotechnology Innovation Centre, a collaboration between three universities and Mintek, where research is focused on health and water.
Van Der Lingen says it’s a sustainable mix with the research done at the universities and product development at Mintek. Another initiative is the Hydrogen Catalysis Centre of Competence based at both Mintek and UCT. Research is around the development of fuel cell catalysts. Van der Lingen explains that it’s part of the DST’s long-term strategy which will see South Africa supply 25% of the world’s fuel cell catalysts by 2020.
The Advanced Metals Initiative has four networks. Mintek hosts two of these — Precious Metals Development and Ferrous Metals Development. The aim is to add value to South Africa’s minerals through product development, including setting up local industries for production.
Van der Lingen ultimately wants to see beneficiation take place: “South Africa should change from a resource to a knowledge base industry. It is essential to develop local expertise to create sustainable value-added product industries.”
This article originally appeared in the Mail & Guardian newspaper as an advertorial supplement