ApNano
Materials, Inc., a provider of nanotechnology-based products,
today announced a new line of nanotechnology-based non-reflective,
optically black coatings. The new coatings will be used, in the first
phase, in solar energy systems and optical application such as high
performance optics and lenses. In the second phase, the
nanotechnology-based coatings will be used in avionics systems and
medical diagnostic applications.
Heat and light absorbing coatings are commonly used in solar
power and heating systems, heat pipes, lens barrels, various optical
systems, satellites, and cameras, to name a few applications.
"ApNano Materials' nanoparticles are excellent optical
absorbing materials and among the best substances absorbing light in
the visible and near infra-red wavelengths," said Dr. Menachem Genut,
President and CEO of ApNano Materials. "Laboratory experiments have
shown that our nanoparticles absorb at least 98% of the light in
visible wavelengths."
The solar applications will include both solar thermal and
photovoltaic absorbers. The solar coatings that will be produced by
ApNano Materials will offer more efficient conversion of solar energy.
"The rapid international growth in the demand for solar energy
requires innovative technologies to improve the efficiency of solar
systems, and black coatings based on ApNano's nanoparticles provide an
ideal answer for this need," said Aharon Feuerstein, ApNano Materials'
Chairman and CFO.
ApNano's revolutionary nanoparticles of tungsten disulfide,
(WS2), termed inorganic fullerene-like nanostructures, or IF for short,
are soccer ball-like clusters of molecules, named after R. Buckminster
Fuller, architect of the geodesic dome that he designed for the 1967
Montreal World Exhibition. The inorganic fullerenes were first
discovered in a breakthrough research conducted at the Weizmann
Institute of Science, Israel, by a group headed by Professor Reshef
Tenne, who currently holds the Drake Family Chair in Nanotechnology and
serves as the Director of Helen and Martin Kimmel Center for Nanoscale
Science at the Weizmann Institute. Dr. Menachem Genut, ApNano
Materials' President and CEO was a research fellow in the original
research team which discovered the IF nanoparticles at the Weizmann
Institute and first to synthesize the new material.
"The new line is ApNano's second energy-related product and
follows NanoLub, the world's first commercial nanotechnology-based
solid lubricant," said Dr. Niles Fleischer, Vice President of Business
Development and Vice President of Product Development of ApNano
Materials. "In addition to energy-related applications, ApNano's
nanomaterial has been proved, so far, as an ideal material for shock
absorbing applications, such as personal armor products."
Recently ApNano Materials opened a new 1,000 square meter
manufacturing facility in Israel. The facility houses a semi-industrial
reactor with a production capacity of tons of the company's
nanomaterial. The new state-of-the-art manufacturing facility meets
international guidelines for health, safety and manufacturing of
nanomaterials.