AIXTRON AG today announced a previous order for one Black Magic CNT system from Porifera Inc. Successfully installed by the local AIXTRON support team at Porifera's state-of-the-art facility in Hayward, CA, USA, the system enabled the first CNT material to be grown within less than a week.
The Black Magic tool will be used for the development of water filter membranes based on nanotubes. Dr. Olgica Bakajin, Chief Technology Officer and founder of Porifera, comments: “Having evaluated various equipment options for the production of aligned CNT films, we quickly reached the conclusion that the AIXTRON Black Magic system offered the most flexibility, best uniformity and process control. These were the key requirements for Porifera's production of next-generation separation membranes.”
California based start-up company Porifera Inc., has enjoyed considerable success in just a few years. For example, it was the runner up for the Air Water and Waste Prize at the 2008 Cleantech Open. Porifera is developing carbon nanotube membranes with vastly superior permeability, durability, and selectivity for critical applications including water purification and carbon sequestration. Porifera is the exclusive licensee of this technology which was developed at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. Porifera's vision is to harness the unique properties of carbon nanotubes to improve membrane performance, enabling affordable and plentiful fresh drinking water worldwide. Porifera's scientists and engineers are leading experts in advanced materials and membrane technologies.