MemPro Looks to New Uses for Ceramic Nanofiber Materials
(Nanowerk News) MemPro Ceramics Corporation, a nanotechnology manufacturing company, will measure unique characteristics of ceramic nanofibers for its customers. MemPro, whose development phase was funded by The National Science Foundation, today announced this benefit from the federal government. For the next 18 months the company will have access to testing equipment and personnel at the Center for Integrated Nanotechnology (CINT) in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
The center will provide important information about the company's ceramic nanofibers, which are about 1/1000 the thickness of hair. MemPro markets these fibers as advanced materials under the brand names nCeramic™ and nCATfiber™. Providing measurement information to customers is expected to open doors to new applications. Current applications under development include low cost catalytic converters for automobiles, trucks and motorcycles; lowering production costs of pharmaceuticals, chemicals and energy; and enhancing polymer films like computer displays. The company also makes bio-soluble ceramic materials, potentially useful in the medical and biotech industries.
CINT is a joint venture of two world-renowned Department of Energy research centers, Sandia National Laboratory and Los Alamos National Laboratory. MemPro will have access to technicians and equipment in the 130,000 square foot CINT facility. The company will use these resources to measure its nearly invisible nanofibers. CINT has the ability to characterize individual fibers in terms of density, length, tensile strength and other physical characteristics.
John Finley, CEO of MemPro, commented, "We are very happy to have the support of the Department of Energy to better characterize our ceramic nanofibers. This will allow us to get a glimpse into the unknown - and further classify our truly unique materials."
The company recently opened a production facility in Akron, Ohio. A video of the facility can be viewed at http://www.mempro.com. Between 2006 and 2010 MemPro received $847,000 in grants from The National Science Foundation to help develop applications for nanofiber materials. Scale up of production to meet growing demand is being planned for 2011 and 2012.
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