the nano materials innovation center 130125
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The NanoMaterials Innovation Center
Leading edge business creation in New York State
130125
How We Operate
Alfred Technology Resources, Inc. (ATRI)
501(C)3 not-for-profit
Nanomaterials Innovation Center, LLC (NMIC)
(Wholly-Owned Subsidiary) Technical Services for industry, academia
and government
Other for-profit subsidiaries
Ceramics Corridor Innovation Centers
(CCIC) (incubation program) facilities for hi-tech
business start-up & R&D projects
How Did NMIC Evolve? Alfred Technology Resources
Economic development stimulation founded 1987
Ceramic Corridor Innovation Centers Incubators in Corning NY and Alfred NY built in 1992
Economic impact – 2697 jobs, payback of $236,188 per job on an investment of $3,708
NanoMaterials Innovation Center Nanomaterial R&D, tech transfer, commercialization
founded 2009
Close cooperation with Alfred U Analytical
Consulting
Research partnerships
NMIC Products and Capabilities
Client services
Industrial microwave processing – batch / continuous / controlled atmosphere
Powder and dispersion preparation
Powder forming into solid shapes
Nanotube research
Consulting
Business development, energy materials
Materials
Phosphors for lighting and taggants
Scale-Up
“From Beakers to Buckets”
Scale up to small pilot level; ~kg per hour
Critical for small companies and large companies establishing proof of concept
Participate in research projects:
Cornell U – graphene based microwave absorbers (DoE)
Alfred U / UCSD – energy storage materials (NSF)
How Are Advanced Materials Made?
Processes we operate at NMIC
Vapor phase
Plasma synthesis
Liquid phase
Sonochemical
Solid phase
Combustion synthesis
Microwave synthesis
Attrition milling
Vapor Phase - Plasma
Allows production of particulate material from vapor precursors or liquid intermediates with stoichiometry control
High temperature
Fast heating and cooling
Used in semiconductors, displays, coatings and high volume powder synthesis TiO2 (TiCl4 + O2) in thousands of tons daily
Applications Applicable to many high temperature materials
Solar, fuel cell, battery
TiO2, perovskites, graphene, CNT…
Microwave Plasma Torch
Syntheses of nano powders via microwave spray pyrolysis.
High pressure atomized solutions sprayed through a controlled atmosphere microwave generated plasma can create stoichiometric phase pure nano-powders from gas or liquid feeds
Liquid Phase - Sonochemical
Sonochemical action allows localized high energy cavitation to precipitate nano-sized and stoichiometry-controlled materials
Up to 50000C, 2000 atmospheres when a bubble becomes unstable and collapses (The Sonochemistry Center at Coventry University)
Applicable usually to aqueous solutions
Applications
Solar, fuel cell, battery…
Metals, oxides, graphene…
Ultrasonic Mixer
• Precipitation, mixing and dispersion of nano materials
• Batch or continuous cooled / heated operation
Solid State - Combustion Synthesis
Use a fuel together with the reagents for local heating
Applicable to a wide range of materials from phosphors to capacitor materials to…cement!
Rapid heating and cooling
Applications Can make shapes as well as
powders
Lighting, energy storage, energy usage and many other materials
(TPF Enterprises LLC)
Microwave Heating
Active and passive coupling Active – high dielectric constant materials
Passive – use an active insert to convert microwaves to IR
Many materials do not suscept until several hundred degrees
Advantages Heat the product, not the oven
Energy balance depends on oven load
Rapid heat and cool – crystallite control
Applications Can be used for digestion, composite systems
Lighting, fuel cells, battery, solar
Perovskites and related materials, coatings, shapes (not just powder)
(Wikipedia commons)
Microwave Laboratory Batch Kilns
3000 W microwave bench top periodic kilns.
Max. Operating Temperature ~1650°C.
Flexible set-up with various active and passive configurations
Vacuum / Controlled Atmosphere Microwaves – single and multi-mode
(shared facility)
Continuous Microwave Tunnel Kiln
Continuous microwave pusher tunnel kiln 30 kW / 12 kW
Maximum operating temperatures ~1450°C
Multi-atmosphere control
This continuous microwave is the only one of its kind in North America.
Carbon Nanotube Synthesis
Synthesis of carbon nanotubes on substrates Single and multi-wall
Upgraded mass flow controller and vacuum capability
Novel Phosphor Powders
Series (14) of rare earth doped yttrium aluminum garnets Series (14) of rare earth doped yttrium silicates Advantages
Low cost, highly controlled process Grain size management
Optical efficiency v transparency v processability v cost Broad spectral response to give high quality white light with only 2 phosphors
Applications Lighting
Fluorescent and LED
Taggants – military, electronics, pharmaceuticals
Materials Forming
Tape casting, screen printing, laminating, dicing
Spray drying
Freeze drying
Pellet pressing
Attrition milling
Access to other fabrication equipment at Alfred U and local companies
Thermal processing in conventional and microwave ovens
Explosion – Proof Spray Dryer
Drying and incorporation of processing binders
Tape Casting Suite
Class 10,000 clean room with entrance vestibule.
Ceramic tape caster(185 mm casting width on a 350mm wide Mylar carrier film; 250 mm ceramic tape width).
Dryer
Cutter
Screen printer
Isostatic press and dicer (located exterior to clean room)
Recent Projects Include:
Microwave synthesis of security taggant and phosphor materials
Synthesis and thermal treatment of fuel cell materials
Forming of shape memory alloys
Thermal treatment of oil and gas industry proppants
Processing three allotropes of carbon
Spray drying ceramic and metal compositions for fuel cell manufacture
In Summary
There are many new materials opportunities
There are many process choices
At NMIC we are exploring matching the two for most efficient production!
For more information
Alan Rae [email protected] (607) 247-5097
John Matteson [email protected] (607) 247-5102
Concept – ReNew is a related new venture to extract rare earths from e-waste and industrial wastes and process these rare earths to supply the same industries with a domestic source of rare earths
This is a much simpler chemistry than extracting from ores, with a patent pending process developed by our partner (incubator tenant of Alfred Technology Resources Inc.)
The concentrated rare earths produced can be processed using NanoMaterials Innovation Center microwave and related combustion synthesis to phosphors, magnet precursors etc.