OREANDA-NEWS. Nanoco Group plc (LSE: NANO), a world leader in the development and manufacture of cadmium-free quantum dots and other nanomaterials, announces that it has been selected as the winner of the Materials and Coatings category of the Prism Awards 2016 for its cadmium-free CFQD® quantum dots.

The award was presented at a ceremony held in San Francisco during the SPIE Photonics West Conference, February 13-18.

"It's gratifying to see Nanoco's cadmium-free CFQD® quantum dot technology recognised alongside innovations from other leading companies around the world," said Michael Edelman, Chief Executive Officer of Nanoco.

"This prestigious award validates Nanoco's breakthrough in non-toxic, cadmium-free quantum dots as an enabling technology transforming a broad range of applications including display, lighting, biomedicine and solar. As we continue to push the envelope both through innovative technologies and a visionary business strategy, Nanoco is extremely enthusiastic about the new applications we'll be bringing to market in the months and years ahead."

Unlike most quantum dot technology in the market today, Nanoco's quantum dots are free of toxic heavy metals such as cadmium, a known carcinogen. As global legislation further restricts the use of heavy metals in consumer products, cadmium-free quantum dots are uniquely positioned as a future-proof technology for a number of promising application areas including a new generation of wide color gamut TVs and improved lighting solutions.

The Prism Awards, also referred to as the "Oscars of Photonics", is a leading international competition, presented by SPIE & Photonics Media, celebrating the most innovative photonics solutions in the industry, poised to tackle the biggest challenges of our time. Consisting of nine categories, the Prism Awards applications are judged by a panel of leading industry experts, venture capitalists, luminaries and visionaries, who this year made their selection out of a pool of more than 130 companies.

About Nanoco Group plc

Nanoco is a world leader in the development and production of cadmium-free quantum dots and other nano-materials for use in multiple applications including LCD displays, lighting, solar cells and bio-imaging. In the display market, it has an exclusive manufacturing and marketing licensing agreement with The Dow Chemical Company.

Nanoco was founded in 2001 and is headquartered in Manchester, UK. It has production facilities in Runcorn, UK, and a US subsidiary, Nanoco Inc, based in Concord, MA. Nanoco also has business development executives in Japan, Korea and Taiwan. Its technology is protected worldwide by a large and growing patent estate.

Nanoco is listed on the main market of the London Stock Exchange and trades under the ticker symbol NANO. 

About SPIE

SPIE is the international society for optics and photonics, an educational not-for-profit organization founded in 1955 to advance light-based science, engineering, and technology. The Society serves nearly 264,000 constituents from approximately 166 countries, offering conferences and their published proceedings, continuing education, books, journals, and the SPIE Digital Library. In 2015, SPIE provided more than $5.2 million in support of education and outreach programs.