ANF Technology Ltd., the manufacturer of NAFEN™, the first ever superior-grade aluminum oxide nano fiber to be manufactured at commercially viable, industrial volumes, is delighted to be presenting at the 37th International Conference and Exposition on Advanced Ceramics and Composites (ICACC 13) at Daytona Beach, Florida, USA (27th Jan - 1st Feb 2013), attended by over 750 leading materials science research and industrial exhibitors.
Developed and produced by ANF Technology Ltd, the breakthrough NAFEN™ aluminum oxide nano fiber will showcase how it can help industrial manufacturing companies stay ahead of the competition in the field of advanced ceramics.
ICACC 13 is the leading industry event for ceramic materials scientists, engineers and manufacturers to share latest knowledge, best practices and cutting-edge developments in advanced ceramics.
Tim Ferland, ANF Technology's Business Development Manager for North America, commented: "NAFEN™ could help resolve some of the main areas of concern in the advanced ceramics industry. The issues being targeted include brittleness, high-temperature instability, susceptibility to abrasion and susceptibility to chemicals, (bio-compatibility). After creating a wave of interest in NAFEN’s possible uses in ceramics at CERAMITEC 2012 in Munich and other events, we are at varying stages of collaboration with 5 major global accounts which are testing, or planning to test, NAFEN™. We are looking forward to meeting with more industrial players and research institutions at ICACC 13 in Daytona Beach".
NAFEN™ fibers are a perfect reinforcing element for ceramic composites due to their inherent physical and mechanical properties:
- High tensile strength of 40+ Gpa (10x higher than steel)
- Hardness of 9+ Mohs
- Thermal stability (gamma phase) up to 1200 C
- Particle diameters from 5 nm to 50 nm
- Extremely large surface area
- Transformation to alpha phase over 1200 C
- No agglomeration
- Chemical resistant
- Radiation resistant
- Heat conductivity of 0.025 W/m*K
- Available in blocks of co-aligned fibers or milled powders
Michael Kutuzov, the inventor of NAFEN™, will share his vision on how this unique industrial-scale nanotechnology can boost critical performance factors in ceramic composite materials producing benefits that can be passed through the entire enterprise value-chain to end user customers. The current market for ceramic matrix composites is estimated at over US$0.9 bln with annual growth of approximately 8%. NAFEN™ samples are currently being tested at a number of leading advanced ceramics manufacturers.
“NAFEN™ is a breakthrough development in materials science”, states Mr Kutuzov. “As a composite component it is capable of improving critical performance factors in existing materials and solutions, as well as opening the door to further innovation. In NAFEN™-inside ceramic matrix composites (CMC) we have seen significant increases in thermal stability, chemical resistance, flexibility and lower temperature conductivity. NAFEN™ fibers improve ductility of ceramic matrices, keeping Young’s modulus high while increasing creep resistance and decreasing brittleness. This leads to better performance under thermocycling and higher fatigue strength, opening new areas of mass applications for structural ceramic materials."
Mr Kutuzov added, “This also offers tremendous potential for use in applications in the field of thermal insulation, for example in industrial ceramics kilns where increases in thermal efficiency offer energy saving costs and increased productivity. Until now companies have not been able to produce this type of material in sufficient quantities at commercial prices with consistent quality. NAFEN™ provides the solution to that challenge.”
At present powdered silicon carbide is the most widely used ceramic matrix composite (CMC) reinforcing nanomaterial but production volumes are fundamentally limited by the technology of the production process and prices that are significantly higher than NAFEN™. This is why there are still no CMCs reinforced with nanoparticles. Low nanomaterial volumes and high prices have, until now, held back CMC developments.
The high-performance, cost and production volume benefits of NAFEN™ give industry the key to unlocking innovation across a wide range of applications in a number of sectors. These include: Composite Ceramics, Metal-matrix composites, Paints and Coatings, Polymer composites, Catalysts, Electronics, Filtration, Biomedicine, Advanced Abrasives and Aerospace.
Through its technical expertise in nanotechnology materials development and production, ANF Technology Ltd seeks to build strong partnerships with industrial players, universities and national laboratories in order to accelerate materials innovation and open up new NAFEN™ markets.
ANF Technology Ltd currently has key research and development partnerships with scientific and research institutions including Cambridge University (UK), Oxford University (UK), University of Grenoble (France), University of Twente (Netherlands), Boreskov Institute of Catalysts SB RAS (Russia), VILS (Russia), MISIS (Russia), Tallinn Technical University (Estonia) and University of Tartu (Estonia).