"Acquiring this intellectual property is a prime example of NanoDynamics' business strategy to find scalable, high-volume processes for significant and commercially useful nanomaterials," said Dr. Alan Rae, Vice President of Market and Business Development for NanoDynamics.

"Quasam is a broad family of nanocomposite materials with wide ranging applications and usefulness that has yet to be fully exploited in the commercial markets. Our goal is to leverage this unique material's potential, establishing it as a more effective and more economic coating and manufacturing solution."

Quasam, which can be produced as either a thin-film coating or as a bulk material, exhibits an incredible combination of ultra-low weight with strength, stiffness, hardness and thermal stability, all approaching that of a natural diamond. In addition, it also demonstrates chemical and corrosion resistance, biocompatibility, electrical conductivity and excellent barrier properties even in nanometer thickness.

This new class of material can be tailored to provide a wide range of desired performance characteristics useful in broad applications for managing both bulk and surface properties.

For example, wear-resistant medical prostheses, de-icing coating for aircraft wings, antiallergenic coatings to prevent reaction to silver or metal earrings, impermeable but flexible gas barrier coatings, and low-k dielectric materials to make more effective semiconductor devices.

An additional feature of Quasam materials is their ability to act as a "smart-skin", which provides the ability to measure stress and detect structural damage before incidence. According to Dr. Dorfman, a Quasam coating on an aircraft wing, oil pipeline or structural elements of a space shuttle could provide detection of stress build up long before failure or catastrophe occurs.

NanoDynamics intends to produce the material at its facilities in Buffalo as well as partner with coating specialists through its ND Innovations business unit, in order to introduce the nanocomposite materials to end-users in the aerospace, semiconductor, medical, electronic and energy industries.

Dr. Dorfman, the inventor of Quasam, has spent over 30 years researching carbon and carbon-based materials and methods of their stabilization. In 1994, he received the first US patent for "nanocomposites".

That material, Dylyn, was licensed to a multi-billion dollar European materials company and has subsequently been commercialized in facilities in Europe, Singapore and the United States. In addition to being the founder and principal of Atomic Scale Design, Dr. Dorfman is currently an Associate Professor at Clarkson University.

NanoDynamics