MARKET ANALYSIS

•  Nanocomposites are at an interesting stage in their product-life cycle, moving from innovation to the growth phase, according to Frost & Sullivan. The market analyst estimates that the "world nanoparticles in composites market" earned revenues of $33.7 m in 2006 and could reach $144.6 m in 2013.

At the same time, industry watchers caution that the high prices of nanoparticles (including nanotubes and nanofibres) remain a key concern.

"Taking the industry out of the labs and into the markets is a major challenge for suppliers in the nanocomposites market," explained Hariharan Ramasubramanian of Frost & Sullivan. "Very often, suppliers have found it difficult to replicate their successes in the lab to large-scale production lines."

PRODUCTION

•  Bayer MaterialScience is opening a second carbon nanotube (CNT) production facility at H C Starck in the town of Laufenburg on the German–Swiss border. The new plant has an annual capacity of 30 metric tons and pushes Bayer's total capacity up to 60 metric tons per year.

"The investment in Laufenburg represents an important step towards gaining access to large, lucrative industrial CNT applications and securing long-term market share," said Martin Schmid, head of global Baytubes operations at Bayer MaterialScience.

FUNDING

•  NanoSight, a UK developer of nanoparticle sizing and tracking systems, has completed a successful round of angel funding, building on previous investments from NESTA, Strathdon and South West Ventures. The latest investment comes from members of the SWAIN and OEI Investment Networks, although figures were undisclosed. Nanosight's customers include BASF, ICI, BP, Unilever and Roche.

"The investment round was oversubscribed, which is very encouraging for the company, and brings on board a group of investors with experience in growing high-technology companies," commented John Knowles, chairman of NanoSight. "We aim to use the funds to support the growth of our worldwide distributor network and to increase the functionality of the NANOSIGHT LM20 and LM10 systems."

•  Semi Scenic, a Lanarkshire-based semiconductor support specialist, has secured a contract worth more than $1 m to supply essential components to the UK's flagship micro- and nanotechnology project based in Scotland. Semi Scenic has agreed the deal with Semefab (Scotland), a Glenrothes semiconductor manufacturer at the forefront of the UK's centre for micro- and nanotechnology (MNT) network.

The announcement comes as Semefab plans to further expand its operations and investment in the £15 m UK MNT project. It has acquired a 3000 m2 facility adjacent to its existing premises in Fife that will enable it to roll out the next phase of the project. Scottish Enterprise has invested £3 m and the Department of Trade and Industry a further £3.6 m in Semefab to establish a UK centre of excellence in micro- and nanotechnology processing.

PEOPLE

•  Unidym, a manufacturer of CNTs, has appointed Ralph Harms as its chief financial officer. Harms has worked for a number of high-growth technology companies specializing in semiconductors, data networking and telecommunications, software and internet infrastructure.

"Ralph has experience in building the infrastructure necessary to successfully deal with the intricacies of technology manufacturing and licensing businesses," commented Art Swift, Unidym's president and CEO. "[His] background is an essential addition to Unidym as we expand our leadership position in carbon nanotube applications."

Unidym recently merged with Carbon Nanotechnologies and claims to possess a patent portfolio that covers nearly every aspect of carbon nanotube manufacturing and processing.

•  Former Zyvex production director Mark Banash has joined Nanocomp Technologies as vice-president of engineering. He will manage process scale-up and quality control as Nanocomp builds out its carbon nanotube yarn and sheet manufacturing operation.

Nanocomp says that it is the only company to produce both multifunctional non-woven sheet and yarn textiles from long, pure, single-wall carbon nanotubes. Potential applications for the strong, lightweight and conductive materials include body armour, structural composites, energy storage and electronics thermal management.

•  Oerlikon has named Jeannine Sargent to head up its newly created Oerlikon Solar division as the firm brings its solar-related business under the one umbrella. Sargent was most recent executive vice-president and general manager of metrology and instrumentation at Veeco Instruments.