Nanomaterials, the newest term in technology today, has the greatest potential for the future with companies like BASF (NYSE ADR: BF), Dow Chemical (NYSE : DOW), Eli Lilly (NYSE:LLY) and IBM (NYSE ADR: IBM) creating new products from cosmetics and adhesive coatings to nanoelectronics. The commercial development of nanomaterials, however, and their integration into new products, depends on cost, reliability, quality, and whether they can be mass produced.

According to The Freedonia Group, Inc., a Cleveland, OH-based economics and industrial research firm, the US nanomaterials market alone will surpass $1 billion in 2007, driven by the development of basic nanomaterials such as metal oxides, nanotubes and particles.

Size Matters: Zinc oxide (ZnO), which is used in products ranging from UV absorption coatings and cosmetics to anti-bacterial additives and adhesives, is typically manufactured by the French process where zinc metal is vaporized and then oxidized. This method can produce ZnO particles with average sizes of 700nm or less. 

A microfine zinc oxide or Z-COTE^® process, which is developed and patented by BASF, is capable of manufacturing ZnO particles smaller than 200nm in diameter. Because of their size and transparency, sunscreens and cosmetic products which use Z-COTE^® microfine ZnO particles can provide superior UV protection over those using larger ZnO particles.

ZnO nanoparticles, with particle sizes less than 100nm, are commercially produced using a Physical Vapor Synthesis (PVS) process developed by Romeoville, IL-based Nanophase Technologies Corporation (NASDAQ: NANX). Based upon the same principles as the French process, a solid Zn precursor is first vaporized using arc energy. An  oxygen reactant gas is then added to the Zn vapor to form an oxide, which is then cooled at a controlled rate and condenses. 

This process produces ZnO nanoparticles with average sizes ranging from 8-75 nm. According to EDGAR Financials, Nanophase Technologies generated a revenue of $5.08 million last year from sales of nanocyrstal materials and other products including advanced ceramics and coating materials.

Applied Nanoworks Inc, based in Watervliet, NY, announced their latest product this past April, PinnacleAF Zinc Oxide powder nano-colloid, the first in their line of nanomaterials available on a commercial scale in water suspension. PinnacleAF, with a size of 2-6 nm, is 80% smaller than other zinc oxide nano-powders that range from 15-20 nm.

According to Applied Nanoworks, their new product also offers an approximate 400% improvement  in UV absorption levels and an estimated 500% increase in particle surface area which should enhance performance in industries where a larger surface area may be desirable to react with other chemicals. 

Smaller Is Beautiful: Since early 1980, nanocrystallites made from semiconductor materials such as cadmium selenide (CdSe) have been found to absorb white light and then re-emit it in a specific color. "Quantum dots are emerging as the most viable semiconductor nanotechnology for future higher performance communication systems, biomedical imaging, environmental sensors, and infrared detection," said Dr. Anupam Madhukar, Professor of the USC Viterbi School of Engineering. 

Founded in 1998, Hayward, CA-based Quantum Dot Corporation (QDC), is a nanotechnology company which develops products for biomolecular detection which employ nanometer-sized quantum dot particles, called Qdot®. The company offers a conjugation (chemical joining) kit designed to allow its customer's biomolecules such as antibodies, proteins or biotin to conjugate to its Qdots. 

Quantum Dot's nanocrystal fluorophores are sold to biopharmaceutical and academic laboratories for life science research utilizing fluorescence microscopy, biochemical and cellular assays, and gene chip analysis. Advantages of this new nanometer quantum dot technology in biomolecular detection include extreme brightness for applications requiring high sensitivity.  Quantum Dot currently has over $37.5 million from venture groups and has multiple patents and patents pending. 

Bio-Nanomaterials:  With a goal of reducing the unpleasant side effects for patients that are associated with current treatments and drug doses, research scientists are now working on novel cancer therapy treatments and drug delivery methods to diseased cells using magnetically guided biodegradable nanospheres.

Triton BioSystems, Inc. (TBS) a Chelmsford, MA-based company, develops non-invasive targeted therapeutics that use heat to treat late-stage breast, lung, colon, pancreatic and prostate cancers. The TBS Targeted Nano-Therapeutics™ (TNT™) System is an injectable product that uses nanoscale magnetic spheres made of a special formulated material that when activated, cause cancer cell death with very localized lethal heat. 

The heat is generated only in the magnetic nanospheres during the application of external magnetic energy. Since the spheres are so small, the heating is very local and does not harm the healthy vital tissues or organs nearby, unlike chemotherapy or radiation. In late 2002, TBS merged with Thermonix Inc, so that combined, the two companies can further their product development effort. The company is in pre-clinical development and in 2006, is anticipated to begin human clinical trials.