Nanoparticle News articles from November 2000

Nanoparticle News archives from November 2000

Fine, Ultrafine and Nano Powders 2000.
November 1, 2000... Commercialization and related business issues were discussed alongside new technological developments and emerging applications at the third annual Business Communications Co. (BCC) conference, Fine, Ultrafine and Nano Powders 2000, held...

Nano Industry and Markets Growing.
November 1, 2000... There are over 75 companies worldwide involved in the development and production of nanoparticulate materials, according to Program Chairwoman Mindy N. Rittner, a senior analyst at BCC who led off the conference with an overview presentation....

Commercial Developments.
November 1, 2000... Westaim Biomedical Teams Up with Japanese Distributor. The Westaim Corp.'s subsidiary, Westaim Biomedical Corp, (Exeter, NH), has signed an exclusive agreement for the supply and distribution in Japan of Acticoat antimicrobial burn dressings...

Magnetic Microparticles Enable Site-Specific Drug Delivery.
November 1, 2000... FeRx, Inc. (Arvada, CO) has developed magnetic microparticles -- magnetic targeted carriers (MTCs) -- for the site-specific delivery of pharmaceutical agents. With site-specific delivery to targeted organs or tissues, as opposed to...

Silver-Polymer Nanocomposites Kill Bacteria, Microorganisms.
November 1, 2000... Polymer-metal nanocomposites with antimicrobial properties may be fabricated by vacuum evaporation on running liquids (VERL), a method to prepare metal suspensions in nonaqueous, low-vapor-pressure fluids, followed by polymerization, curing, or...

Phosphor Particles Provide Alternative for Biodetection.
November 1, 2000... OraSure Technologies, formerly STC Technologies (Bethlehem, PA), has developed up-converting phosphor technology (UPT) as an alternative to traditional colloidal gold and latex particle-based in vitro assays. Up-converting phosphors are...

Optical Fiber Overcladding Tubes Net-Shape Formed by Sol-Gel.
November 1, 2000... A new sol-gel based method that utilizes a highly pure dispersion of silica nanoparticles to fabricate the large overcladding tubes of optical fibers was discussed by Michael P. Bohrer, technical manager at Lucent Technologies (Murray Hill,...

Nano Phosphors Show Higher Efficiencies at Lower Voltages.
November 1, 2000... Nanocrystalline phosphor particles are over 50% more efficient than coarse particles at excitation voltages of less than 1 kV, said Gareth Wakefield, technical director of Nanox, Ltd. (Oxford, U.K.). Wakefield attributed the increased...

Self-Ordering Process Yields 3-D Optical Photonic Crystals.
November 1, 2000... A rapid and reproducible ceramic processing method that begins with monodispersed polystyrene spheres and nanocrystalline titania in suspension can be used to fabricate self-ordered optical photonic crystals, reports Kristen P. Constant,...

Aligned Nanotubes Under Development for FEDs.
November 1, 2000... In its efforts to commercialize a 5.1-in. prototype field-emission display (FED), Electrovac GmbH (Klosterneuburg, Austria) is developing carbon nanotube field emitters with the objective of obtaining threshold electric field strengths of less...

Composite Pt/C Electrocatalysts Fabricated by Spray Pyrolysis.
November 1, 2000... Superior MicroPowders (Albuquerque, NM) is applying its spray pyrolysis synthesis technology to the production of platinum/carbon electrocatalyst particles for the membrane electrode assemblies (MEAs) of proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel...

Nanocomposites Absorb Hydrogen at Room Temp.
November 1, 2000... Robert Schulz, head of advanced materials and hydrogen technologies at Hydro-Quebec Research Institute (Varennes, Quebec, Canada) described the development of low-cost and high-performance magnesium-based nanocomposites for hydrogen storage....

Acquisitions and Spin-Offs.
November 1, 2000... Ferro Signs Agreement to Acquire Laboratories. Ferro Corp. (Cleveland, OH) has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Pfanstiehl Laboratories, Inc. (Waukegan, IL). Terms of the agreement were not disclosed. The transaction is expected to be...

Nanocomposite Cores Outperform Ferrite.
November 1, 2000... By replacing the ferrite cores used in high-frequency magnetic applications with magnetic nanocomposites, the inductive components could be made lighter, smaller, more economical, and highly durable for high-power and telecommunications...

Nanotubes May Store Hydrogen for Fuel Cells.
November 1, 2000... Research at the Max Planck Institute in Germany indicates that the hollow cylinders of single wall carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) and the interstitial Sites between tubes in a self-assembled SWNT sheet provide ideal locations for hydrogen storage,...

Financier Outlines Keys to Attracting Investment.
November 1, 2000... Traditionally, materials science has been an insignificant investment niche for venture capitalists. However, according to R. Douglas Moffat of Robinson-Humphrey Co., LLC (Atlanta, GA), the volume of capital in search of investment...

FDA Approval Requires Evidence of Safety, Effectiveness.
November 1, 2000... The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) requires companies to establish both the safety and efficacy of medical devices based on new materials, said Gary Fischman, formerly of the FDA and currently director of the Division of Biomaterials and...

Focus Critical to Successful Business.
November 1, 2000... "You can't build a business unless you know where you want to go," said D. J. Freed, vice president of business development at Nanophase Technologies Corp. (Romeoville, IL). He emphasizes the importance of targeting applications of low to...

Investment News.
November 1, 2000... NanoPierce Closes $15M Financing Effort. NanoPierce Technologies, Inc. (Denver, CO) has closed a $15 million equity financing. The financing includes common stock and incentive warrants. The financing is divided into two installments, which...

Templated Nanofabrication -- An Alternative Route to Nanodevices.
November 1, 2000... Precision engineering of dimensions and chemistry of materials at the nanometer scale is a prerequisite to the realization of the potential of nanotechnology. Different techniques have been developed for controlling the size of nanoparticles:...

Communication Needed to Address Technical Challenges.
November 1, 2000... Clare Allocca, program manager of the Advanced Technology Program of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), provided an overview of the powder-related projects being conducted within or, in partnership with, U.S. government...

Carbon Black and SiC Particles Deagglomerated and Coated.
November 1, 2000... Aggregates of carbon black and silicon carbide particles can be reduced using a sonic horn simultaneously with an argon purge, said Richard Partch, senior university professor at the Center for Advanced Materials Processing (CAMP) at Clarkson...

Engineered Dispersions Self-Assemble into Order.
November 1, 2000... Chemical synthesis techniques can be applied to produce monodisperse magnetic cobalt and iron-platinum nanocrystals that self-assemble into two-dimensional and three-dimensional superlattices, reported Shouheng Sun, materials chemist at IBM T....

Reactive Nanoparticles Destroy Toxic Compounds.
November 1, 2000... Reactive nanoparticulate metal oxides such as calcium oxide and magnesium oxide are effective destructive adsorbents for a number of environmental pollutants as well as real chemical warfare agents, reported Shawn Decker, project scientist and...

Methods Evaluated for Making Nanoceramic Parts.
November 1, 2000... In reviewing recent progress in the fabrication of ceramic components from nanocrystalline powders, Merrilea J. Mayo, professor of materials science and engineering at The Pennsylvania State University (University Park, PA), explained the...

Market Watch.
November 1, 2000... Ametek Achieves Double-Digit Growth in Third Quarter. Ametek, Inc. (Paoli, PA) announced third-quarter results that reflect double-digit growth in sales, operating income, net income, and diluted earnings per share. Quarterly records were...

Technologies Needed to Commercialize Sol-Gel Process.
November 1, 2000... The key to the commercialization of sol-gel technology is the development of turnkey technologies for particular applications, said Yuhong Huang, R&D manager at Chemat Technology (Northridge, CA). Chemat is working to develop such a turnkey...

More Polymer Nanocomposites in Automotive, Packaging Markets.
November 1, 2000... Although the consumption of commercial polymer nanocomposites is very small at the present time, estimated at around 3 million pounds in 1999, two orders of magnitude growth in production has been forecast to occur by 2004, said Jon Collister,...

Functionality Imparted to Coatings via Chemical Nanotechnology.
November 1, 2000... Chemical nanotechnology, in particular the sol-gel process, makes it possible to engineer coatings with a variety of functionalities -- such as antistick properties, corrosion resistance, fire retardancy, or wear resistance -- for innumerable...

BASF Provides Loan for Scale-Up of Coating Process.
November 1, 2000... Nanophase Technologies Corp. and BASF Corp. have entered into an agreement that calls for BASF to loan Nanophase approximately $1.3 million to purchase and install capital equipment to scale up a proprietary coating process for nanocrystalline...

Fraunhofer Center Constructs Large Reactor.
November 1, 2000... Recently, the Fraunhofer Center for Manufacturing and Advanced Materials, Delaware, constructed one of the largest reactors in the country for the production of nanoparticle suspensions in organic liquids. The machine, based on a design by...

Rice University Licenses Nanotube Technology.
November 1, 2000... Carbon Nanotechnologies, Inc. (CNI) has signed a letter of intent with Rice University granting CNI an exclusive license for a broad array of technology related to the production of single-wall carbon nanotubes (Buckytubes). This...