Materials — Stronger/Lighter/Better

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(yet2.com): Microscopically Reinforced Polymers for Durability, Repeated Flexing, Anti-particulation

This micro-reinforcement technology enables new applications where existing thermoplastics, elastomers, thermosets, and reinforcing technologies have not had sufficient toughness or fracture strength, particularly at elevated temperatures, or the ability to endure flexure for perhaps millions of cycles without severe particulation. In providing these desirable benefits, this new reinforcement technology does not compromise the base polymer’s inherent characteristics such as heat and chemical resistance. The technology can be used for elastomers as well as for polymers (both thermosetting and thermoplastic types). The resulting composite is available in sheet precursor form, which can then be converted into different molded shapes. Applications include those requiring low particulation from conventional fillers (such as pharma or other high-purity applications), those than need extended life, improved tear strength, or fracture resistance. In one application for a product that had to endure millions of flex cycles, product life was extended at least 5x by the reinforcement.

The company currently uses this technology in several commercial products, but is looking for new applications in other areas to further leverage this unique technology. Potential product form could be articles molded from reinforced polymer sheet. Alternatively, reinforced polymer sheet can be the product for further processing by end users into finished articles. The reinforced polymer cannot be made available in any other form.

Contact Dr. Eugene Buff (ebuff@yet2.com).

DSM: Unique Linear Chain Extenders for PA/PET/PBT/PLA yarn, fiber, and filament applications

A portfolio of fast-acting linear chain extenders (ALLINCO™) which allows exceptional control over the viscosity of polyamides (PA), Poly Lactic Acid (PLA), PolyButylene Terephthalate (PBT) and PolyEthylene Terephthalate (PET), increasing the molecular weight, creating long linear chains resulting in highly flexible and high performing end-products. ALLINCO™ are the only linear chain extenders available and improve strength by increasing molecular length, their unique properties making them suitable for applications such as high tenacity yarns, monofilaments, strapping, and other applications that require particular strength. (Other extenders are branch extenders, which provide multidirectional strength, but which can clog extruders). ALLINCO™ is faster, more flexible than alternatives and can be dosed in-line. Therefore providing a cheaper and quicker alternative to solid state post condensation (SSPC) by tumble drying for producing linear, long chain polymers. The upfront equipment costs of tumble drying are eliminated and the costs of the raw materials are lowered as ALLINCO™ enables the use of recycled, lower grade raw materials whilst providing a high performing end product. ALLINCO™ compensates for less expensive, lower-grade or recycled materials and compensates for the inevitable process degradation in higher-grade materials. Also included in the portfolio is a product that not only provides linear extension but also increases hydrolytic stability. The ALLINCO™ extenders do not mutually react, and so can be used together to achieve specific results providing flexibility in end product types and properties.

Contact Emma Hughes (ehughes@yet2.com).

EADS: Vacuum-assisted manufacture of composite parts using resin infusion

EADS is a global leader in aerospace, defense and related services. They are presenting VAP (Vacuum-Assisted Process), a process to manufacture composite parts with dry fiber lay up, followed by infusion of the resin using a two-chamber setup separated by a membrane. This process is protected by several world-wide patents. The VAP infusion technologies offer easier and quicker ply lay up, the possibility to lay up thicker material (and thus offer higher productivity), better possibility to drape, no climate control requirement for the shop floor, no time limitation for the dry textile, and much better environmental conditions in the factory. VAP provides better air release during infiltration and breathing possibility after infiltration, which translates into no requirement for an autoclave. Thus integral stringers and spars are possible, and dry joints can be used for string-skin connections. The integrated stringer technology has already been applied to parts such as the Airbus 400M cargo door.

Contact Phil Stern (pstern@yet2.com).

Cool Polymers: Injection-molded metals processed on standard plastic injection-molding equipment

Cool Polymers®, the leading manufacturer of thermally conductive plastics, known as CoolPoly®, has introduced Xyloy™ injection moldable metal. Xyloy injection moldable metals are lightweight alloys processed on standard injection molding equipment to produce 3-dimensional net shape parts in high volume.

Xyloy grades offer an outstanding combination of mechanical, physical and thermal properties that surpass the performance of plastics and die cast metals. These new materials help solve today’s and tomorrow’s engineering challenges with a unique balance of strength, stiffness, conductivity and processability.

Xyloy M950 is a high strength injection moldable metal for injection molding.

Cool Polymers offers molded parts in Xyloy M950 according to customer solid models and specifications. Please contact us to discuss your requirements.

• For use with standard plastic injection molding equipment, additional process steps are not required.
• Stronger than diecast, no porosity, tooling guaranteed for the life of the program.
• Can be used with existing tooling for plastic.
• Faster cycle times than plastic molding.
• Textured finishes available, easily accepts standard coatings, including plating and powder coatings.

Contact Phil Stern (pstern@yet2.com).

Materials — Delivery and Separation Technologies

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AGFA: Membrane technology for wastewater treatment and membrane bio-reactors (MBR)

AGFA is presenting membrane technology for wastewater treatment and sustainable energy markets, more specifically for Membrane BioReactors (MBRs) and Separators for alkaline electrolysers, supported by a patent portfolio consisting of granted and pending patents.

• MBR membrane modules state-of-the-art technology
• Flat Sheet MBR membrane panels
• Labour intensive & Multistep operation – Cost
• Limited backwashability
• Membrane envelopes have limited mechanical strength
• For small or medium scale plants
• Hollow fiber membrane modules
• Clogging tendency & Need for prefiltration
• For large-scale plants
• Agfa MBR membrane technology
• Based on IPC (Integrated Permeate Channel) Concept
• Single robust support layer (spacer fabrics) coated on both sides with a membrane layer in one single step
• Fewer process steps – Cheaper & more efficient production – Smaller footprint
• Backwashable (fouling control!)
• Low clogging tendency – excellent cleaning
• For small–, medium– and large-scale plants
• Membranes for alkaline electrolysers (Separators) state-of-the-art technology
• Based on Asbestos or on PPS (polyphenylene sulfide) cloth
• PPS cloth: too thick & lack of hydrophilicity resulting in high voltage drop at high current densities
• Low efficiency – Not applicable in the new high current density high-pressure technology
• Agfa Separator technology
• High hydrophilicity (wetting with electrolyte) – lower ionic resistance – smaller voltage drop
• Thin – high current density – high efficiency – high thermal stability
• Suitable for pressurized high current density electrolysers

Contact Phil Stern (pstern@yet2.com)

Dupont: Controlling Free Radical Polymers using “Living Polymers” for Inks, Photo-Imaging, Thickeners, Encapsulants, Biomed Elastomers

This technology allows the user to custom tailor polymers for specific end-uses. It is applicable to major methods of free radical polymerization — solution, bulk, emulsion, and suspension. The user can control to a predetermined molecular weight, polydispersity, polymer architecture, and polymerization kinetics, producing “living” polymers containing reactive terminal groups that can undergo known grafting reactions, or further polymerization in the presence of additional monomers and co-catalysts. “Living” polymerization offers a superior way of synthesizing block copolymers since the polymers can be made in stages, with each stage containing a different monomer. This technology can be practiced using conventional polymerization manufacturing equipment.

Called, RAFT, the technology offers:

• Better thickeners, stabilizers, suspending agents, and viscosity modifiers for inks and coatings.
• Reduced solvents in existing products — a greener footprint.
• Improved and modified surfaces for better wetting or water resistance, adhesion and friction resistance.
• Better encapsulants, biomedical elastomers, and polymers for personal care products and cosmetics.
• Better photo-resist polymers for high-definition photo imaging and other electronics.
• Better ink-jet printing on textiles.

Contact Mark Saulich (msaulich@yet2.com).

Vive Nano: Microencapsulated, water dispersible nanomaterials for the catalyst and crop protection industries

Vive Nano’s catalyst technology has several potential applications in clean technology including wastewater treatment, fuel cells, biofuels, fuel additives, solar cells, and water splitting. Vive Nano’s catalyst and crop protection products are currently under development with a group of market leading customers/distribution partners.

Vive Nano specializes in materials design, using our innovative technology to find simple small answers to big issues. Vive Nano has a patented industry-leading platform technology that produces nanomaterial delivery mechanisms and is inherently “green,” both in process and in its end products. Our ultra-small, water dispersible nanomaterials are easily incorporated into existing products and processes. Unlike competing technologies, our proprietary, best-of-breed process is done under simple conditions and results in nanoparticles that are ultra-small (<10 nm), do not agglomerate and have significant cost advantages. While our main focus is on the development of products for the catalyst and crop protection industries, we also work with customers to design nanomaterials for other applications and make our materials available for sale to researchers.

Contact Tracey Dodenhoff (tdodenhoff@yet2.com).

Orbis Biosciences: Micro-encapsulation for controlled release

Orbis provides companies with controlled release technology for differentiated products. The Precision Particle Fabrication (PPF) technology applies to any material in a scalable process, making the technology applicable to many products where other precision-control alternatives are economically infeasible. Controlled release provides continuous delivery of pharmaceuticals, nutrients, or chemicals for prolonged durations following a single administration or application and can lower overall active ingredient needed, taste and odor mask, reduce side effects, and increase safety. The technology has applications in pharmaceutical, agrochemical, food, beverage, nutraceutical, cosmetic, personal care, and defense industries. Differentiation includes: 1) precise control over particle size and morphology; 2) new options for active ingredient release such as delayed, staged, pulsatile, tapered, sustained, or pH-triggered release; and 3) a scalable, flexible, cost-effective process.

There is no currently-available method for precise control of particles that also has high scalability. In contrast to currently available particle fabrication technologies (e.g., physical and chemical methods, microencapsulation, sieving, double nozzle systems), PPF provides high-throughput fabrication of uniform, precisely-sized microparticles with any material. Regarding the status quo, there is increasing pressure to differentiate drug and food products, and PPF is a cost-effective technology to create new products with minimal R&D expense.

Contact Hanna Adeyema (hadeyema@yet2.com).

Electronics

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Mutoh: Self-Contained Spectrometer

Developed originally for color-matching inks on digital printers, Mutoh’s spectrometer modules offer a plug-in module solution that carries its own logic. While there may be other spectrometer modules on the market, there are none as compact, low-cost, and self-contained as Mutoh’s line for volume OEMs. The Mutoh spectrometers employ a different optical system than do other spectrometers on the market: Mutoh’s patent-pending DP1 spectral sensor. It replaces the traditional slit/grating/imager design with a single imaging chip in a 1mm x 9mm footprint, that is just 3mm tall. The spectrometers can deliver 3nm resolution with >4000:1 dynamic ange and very low signal-to-noise. Because the sensor itself is so small and the complete optical system is so compact, Mutoh is able to add quite a bit more logic to the module itself. The spectrometer modules include an integrated A/D converter, temperature sensor, voltage regulator, onboard 8MHz oscillator, real-time clock, 16-bit CPU running at 80MIPS, double-precision floating point support, 8K of SRAM, 128K of EEPROM, two pulse width modulated (PWM) control lines to sync external light sources, and high-speed serial I/O. All the processing that needs to be done to deliver calibrated spectral data is handled by the module itself. Competing modules do not include this much capability, and require additional back-end logic. The designs are highly customizable, low-cost, rugged monolithic design, and offer a high degree of versatility.

Contact Phil Stern (pstern@yet2.com).

Rockwell Collins: Low-Cost Liquid Metal Cooling

Liquid metals have been used to cool small nuclear reactors since the commissioning of the submarine USS Seawolf in 1957. The thermal conductivity of liquid metal cooling approaches can between 10x and 100x better than copper. However, the cost of the liquid metal and the ability to pump it effectively have prohibited the use of liquid metal in high-performance, high-current, and high-thermal-density electronics applications where size, weight, and efficient heat dissipation are paramount considerations. This proposed technology pumps its liquid metal coolant (a compound of gallium, indium, and tin eutectic) using a high-reliability, solid state, low-power pump. The technology provider is not aware of any comparable approaches to liquid metal cooling currently on the market. The technology is protected by 5 US patent applications (not published).

The candidate technology provides a liquid metal cooling system at less than 10% the cost of previous attempts at liquid metal cooling systems for electronics application. It is comparable in cost to vapor chambers, but is much more efficient and is unaffected by gravity. The system can be integrated into a PC board or can be provided in separate products that would cool selected components or areas of an electronic assembly. The technology has seven times the effective thermal conductivity and one third the depth requirement of vapor chambers, while offering 10 times the thermal conductivity per unit of weight. Rather than carry the heat to a traditional fan, this technology can spread the heat efficiently and broadly such that fans may not be required.

Contact Tracey Dodenhoff (tdodenhoff@yet2.com).

W2P4U: Business Cards with Unique Style

When was the last time you were excited by a business card? W2P4U specializes in business cards that come bound in pads and are unique, stylish, and impressive.

Their uniqueness and outstanding high quality will communicate the uniqueness of your business and will become an “ice breaker.”

The pads are delivered in a package designed to create a feeling of ceremony, as if you, the customer, are receiving and opening a gift.

A dynamic, innovative, and complete business card solution. Revolutionizing the way in which companies order printed material, W2P4U offers a state-of-the-art online ordering system that saves time, cuts down on mistakes and saves you money.

Contact Dr. Eugene Buff (ebuff@yet2.com).

Sabirmedical: Real-Time Blood-Pressure Monitoring

The gold standard for Arterial Blood Pressure Measurement is based on either the oscillometric or Korotkoff approach. However, these two techniques require an inflatable cuff and, therefore, fail to provide real-time and constant blood pressure measurements. There are some other approaches based on the Pulse Propagation (Differential Pulse Transit Time) or light absorption with Plethysmography, but they all require calibration by means of the standard methods.

The technology we would like to present differs from those outlined above in the sense that it can monitor the arterial blood pressure levels in real-time and constantly without any kind of calibration of the system. Moreover, the confidence in the measures in this stage of development is very similar to that of the “gold standard systems.” The error for the SBP is ±0.61 mmHg (std = ±6.87) and DBP ±0.22 mmHg (std= ±4.55).

The end system presents seamless integration capabilities due to the fact that it could be placed in a wrist-watch for monitoring sportsmen, soldiers, or ER personnel (firefighters) and avoid “heat-strokes” (this condition is preceded by a decrease of 20% in the Mean Arterial Pressure).

Contact Hanna Adeyema (hadeyema@yet2.com)

Consumer Products/Packaging Enablers

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Kimberly-Clark: Low-Cost Conductive Nonwovens Enable Single-Use Electronic Consumer Goods

Kimberly-Clark has developed a low cost conductive nonwoven (cNonwoven) by co-forming chopped carbon fibers with cellulose or synthetic material.

• Carbon Fiber
• Fiber Width: 0.0002-0.0004 inches (5 -10 mm) in diameter
• Fiber Length: 3 mm chopped
• Composed mostly of carbon atoms (92-95% purity)
• Water soluble sizing

Patent App US11/888,258 (publication US20090036850), Pat App US 11/888,334 (publication US20090036012) and six additional unpublished US patent applications.

• Cost effective and commercial raw material
• Wide range of capabilities to be exploited
• Simple material with multiple benefits
• Geared to low end semi-durable and disposable applications
• Very precursory analysis of applications and processing
• Holds promise as a very flexible converting and end use substrate

Contact Phil Stern (pstern@yet2.com).

Procter & Gamble: Engineered Properties for Non-Wovens, Films, Laminates, at Low Cost; for Wound Care, Building Construction, and Other Wrap-Type Applications

A suite of nonwoven technologies proven on real-world manufacturing lines offers low-cost/low-capital mechanical processes to impart specific engineered properties to commodity-priced nonwovens, films, and laminates, and even to non-polymeric materials. A wide range of textures, controllable permeability, aperturing, multilayer composites, elasticity without elastic chemistry, and a host of other features comprise various aspects of the suite. The techniques have proven themselves on P&G production lines and those of its worldwide strategic partners both financially and from an engineering standpoint. Many of the technologies operate at room temperature, without adhesives, and are suitable to high-speed lines (in excess of 500 FPM). They are compatible with production lines that may need to start and stop. They enhance the performance of low-cost materials — adding strength, puncture resistance, stretch, texture, permeability, and more — in ways that not even melt-based systems using higher-cost materials can achieve. They open potential new markets — such as a new category of disposable fabric home goods (sheets, curtains, pillows), new packaging options, and agricultural products — that don’t currently exist. Market estimates for nonwoven rollgoods anticipate an over 40% increase within four years, according to US and EU industry trade groups. New markets opened by these manufacturing technologies could increase even that.

Contact Tim Bernstein (tbernstein@yet2.com).

Nanopack: Clay-Based Clear Oxygen-Barrier Packaging

Nanopack has developed a nano-clay-based clear food packaging flexible barrier coating that is good-barrier, extremely low-cost, easy to apply and environmentally-friendly. It can be applied using existing printing and/or coating equipment, and is commercially available.

Contact Tim Bernstein (tbernstein@yet2.com).

Vorbeck: Conductive, High-Strength Graphene and Smart Packaging

• Performance Edge
• Higher conductivity than conventional carbons
• Longer printed traces enable new, more functional design options
• Thinner printed traces use less material
• More robust films with excellent flexibility and creasibility – functional after hundreds of flexes and full creasing
• Enables heavy-use applications and printing on paper and paper-board – can print on a flat box template and then fold into shape
• Cost Advantage
• 80% cheaper than silver
• Silver inks are expensive and require sintering
• Vor-ink™ enables truly disposable electronics
• Case Studies
• Smart pharmaceutical blister packaging – ensures compliance with dosing
• Monitoring of perishables during transport
• Games and entertainment
• More noticeable packaging and displays with active voice/visual components

Contact Tim Bernstein (tbernstein@yet2.com).