NANOSCALE PHYSICS
COMMERCIAL APPLICATIONS

Some examples of companies active in nanoscience research include:

Baker Hughes continuously investigating the application of nanotechnology research to improve and optimize their directional drilling tools.

Schlumberger  is a global technology services company headquartered in Paris, New York and The Hague.  Founded in 1927, Schlumberger employs 80,000 people of some 100 nationalities working in more than 100 countries and has built a strong foundation on three key values: people, technology and profit.  Technology and quality are the basis of the Schlumberger competitive advantage; and profit forms the cornerstone of its future independence of action and growth. Schlumberger's Advance Materials department seeks new nano-materials to increase the life of their drilling applications.

Quantum Logic Devices uses nanotechnolgy to bring together "wet" biology and "dry" semiconductor electronics to create radically new products to improve healthcare.

The NASA Johnson Space Center (JSC) Carbon Nanotube Project is focused on developing bulk nanotube production, purification and application of SWNT's.  Production techniques at JSC involve pulsed laser vaporization (PLV), arc discharge and a gas phase process in collaboration with Rice University.

Shell    Shell has a list of priority areas for future partnerships, including: nanotechnology, novel engineering solutions, biodomain technologies, subsurface (extreme conditions) chemistry and physics, molecule detection and identification, and advanced computing.

Proportional Technologies, Inc pursues radiation-based technolgies for medical applications, such as radiation detector development, radiopharmaceuticals, clinical devices, and small animal imaging.

ExxonMobil is studying the use of nanotubes with pore sizes of less than one nanometer as catalysts in the cracking of hydrocarbon streams to manufacture gasoline.  In this manner, the nanotubes would mimic the catalytic effect of zeolites, naturally occurring minerals with nanometer-type pore sizes.

IBM has started manufacturing disk drives with nanoscale layering (which exploits the giant magnetoresisitive effect) to attain high density data storage.

 nGimat Co. is a leading nanoengineered materials provider of customized and affordable solutions to critical business needs. By working closely with customers to define their needs, nGimat can create never before attained product enhancements through the unique performance of its nanomaterials. As an intellectual property company, nGimat manufactures engineered nanomaterials in the following areas: nanopowders, thin film coatings, and devices. nGimat's  technology enables synthesis of thin films and nanoparticles. These processes are easily scalable and amenable to mass manufacturing, thereby enabling low-cost production of engineering materials with controlled composition, size, and morphology.     

Gilead Sciences uses liposomes (liquid spheres which measure about 100 nanometers in diameter) to encase an anticancer drug that is used to treat AIDS-related Kaposi's sarcoma.

Nanophase Technologies manufactures nanocrystalline particles and incorporates them into other materials to produce tougher ceramics, transparent sunblocks for IR and UV radiation, and catalysts for environmental use. 

Carbolex is a new member of the Advanced Science and Technology Commercialization Center at the University of Kentucky in Lexington.  It's specialized production technique has brought high-quality, single-walled carbon nanotubes to the market at prices suited to realistic research budgets, thereby seeding the growth of related nanotechnology applications

RTP Company produces hollow carbon nanotubes that are thousands of times smaller in diameter than carbon fibers. This "nano-scale" size means an extremely high aspect ratio (length:diameter), thus giving conductive properties at very low loadings.   C's are ideally suited for wafer processing, disk-drive components, and cleanroom applications. .

Agilent Technologies is on the leading edge of nearly every major trend in communications and life sciences. From optical and wireless communications to disease and discovery research, Agilent delivers product and technology innovations that benefit millions of people around the world.

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Last updated 3/04/2009 by Dagmar Beck