Zyvex expands nano-materials activities

12 April 2007 - US nanotechnology company Zyvex Corporation is setting up a new performance materials business unit to develop its NanoSolve carbon nanotube-based polymer compound activities. Zyvex Performance Materials will, subject to approval of regional investment assistance, be located in Columbus in Ohio, in the US. The company plans to have a team of 25 people working in the new business within 12 months. Zyvex’s NanoSolve product line is based on its proprietary carbon nanotube surface functionalisation technology, which it claims enables it to achieve better control of placement of functional additives on the nanotube surface. The company says its technology works with any nanotube diameters and allows it to tailor performance and processibility with the host polymer matrix. “There is increasing interest from aerospace, consumer goods and industrial product markets to use our nanomaterials to impart enhanced thermal, mechanical and electrical properties in composite systems,” says Zyvex Performance Materials’ general manager Thomas W Hughes. Zyvex says its NanoSolve materials are being used in a range of aerospace, healthcare, electronics and sporting goods applications, including golf shafts, baseball bats, cycles and hockey sticks.