The Challenges in Commercializing Nanomaterials

1. The Challenges in Commercializing Nanomaterials Keith Blakely kblakely@nanodynamics.com

2. Contents • Technology exploitation – and lessons learned • Nanotechnology as a toolkit • Nearer-term opportunities in nanotechnology

3. Technology Exploitation…and lessons learned

4. “The Valley of Death” • The customer • I want a characterized and • economic product that fits my • process, and is produced using • a characterized and scalable process • The inventor • I have made a prototype • It has really interesting properties • There is a potential market for it

5. Past Technology Booms • Inventions usually in corporate labs or universities • Bandwagon of companies jumping on the trend • “Plastics, my boy” (The Graduate) 1960’s • Structural ceramics (1970’s-1980’s) • Optoelectronics(late 1990’s) • Nanotechnology (2000’s) • Boom and bust • Consolidation • Survivors develop mature profitable businesses

6. Structural Ceramics • Kent Bowen (MIT) and others – microstructure control is critical and can allow you to develop great properties • Major hype on ceramics use in everything from turbochargers to kitchen knives • Boom, bust, consolidation • Why were expectations not met? • Product designs didn’t stand still and wait for the materials to mature • The ceramic turbocharger was sidestepped by multiple valves per cylinder, variable valve timing etc. • High strength metals, plastics, and composites competed • Many applications weren’t cost-effective – kitchen knives? • Engineers and designers weren’t comfortable with brittle materials in many applications • Still a good business in wear parts, refractories, bearings, armor, semiconductor equipment, microelectronics…

7. Lessons • Your team is critical – creativity balanced by experience (it’s not just the science that matters) • Avoid a one-trick pony – look for a technology or market platform with flexibility and real sustainable market pull • The existing technology won’t stand still • Manage your development and execute carefully • Manage your product portfolio and bear in mind the time to commercialize • Manage your supply chain to be the low cost supplier

8. Nanotechnology as a Toolkit

9. Will Nanotechnology be the Same Boom and Bust Story? • Time will tell! • There are similarities and differences • Market pull from electronics / medicine / defense / energy • Huge diversity of processes • Chemical • Physical • Biological • Huge diversity of products • Particulate • Nanostructured materials • Composites • Coatings • Too much money chasing opportunities

10. How can nanotechnology help? It allows us to develop: • Uniform particles • Reactive particles • Unusual properties • Nano-structured materials (tubes, balls, hooks, layers, surfaces) • Directed assembly and other novel processes • It is a “toolkit” to allow us to make improved products The technology behind the improvements will usually be invisible to the consumer (tires, tennis balls, sunscreen, car wax, ski wax, golf balls…..)

11. Crossover in technologies and markets is real – NanoDynamics products and markets

12. Nearer-term Commercial Opportunities

13. Automotive Chemical Engineering Electronics Construction Medicine Textiles Energy Cosmetics Food and drinks Household Sporting goods Application industries (VDI Technologiezentrum EC Report)

14. Electronics • MLCC electrode materials and dielectrics • 50 – 300 nm Ni and BaTiO3 • New Pd-Ag systems will revive precious metal electrode systems • Embedded Capacitors • Use of nanomaterials to increase effective K Clarkson University / NanoDynamics

15. Coatings and adhesives • ITO • Electrically conductive properties from sputtered systems for highest electrical conductivity • IR absorbing coating systems using suspended nanoparticles • Transparent conducting adhesives with <10% ITO MMP/NanoDynamics

16. Nanotech in Energy Solar Cells

17. Solid oxide fuel cell • Fuel flexibility • Rapid start • High efficiency • Cost-effective

18. Nanotech in Consumer Products

19. Nanotech in Consumer Products

20. Nanotech in Defense & Homeland Security • Advanced armor and munitions • Biological and chemical sensors • Adaptive camouflage • “Smart skin” • Portable power

21. So Why Isn’t Everyone Getting Rich? • Application potential is huge; current consumption is not • Design engineers aren’t aware of products, properties, suppliers, standards, or risks • Manufacturers haven’t reached critical mass or come down the cost curve adequately yet • Lots of discussion and dialogue between material producers and end users is still needed

22. Our Strategic Approach • Select a limited number of value-added or end-use products to manufacture that incorporate nanomaterials • Demonstrate the value proposition to the market place and promote it • Expand the interest and application into other industries, products, and markets • Acquire conventional product lines and integrate nanomaterials to create new products and opportunities

23. Summary • New materials have historically been challenging to commercialize • 15 – 20 years on average from discovery to first commercial use • Nanotechnology has all the necessary components of a “bubble” • Finding products that can use the advantages of nanomaterials today is critical