Picture of the day

Graphite nanoparticles

Image derived from black and white Scanning Electron Microscope images that was digitized and computer painted. (click to see larger version)

Learn more at Cris Orfescu's Premiere Artist Portfolio (RR: This is another of my favorites.)

NANOART - Limited edition prints. Nano-dimensional features of different materials are revealed with an electron microscope after samples have been previously prepared. The image is created by electrons (electric charged particles) rather then photons (particles of light) as in photography. The black and white electron microscope image is digitally processed, computer painted and manipulated, and printed with archival inks on fine art archival paper or canvas - contact the artist for details. All prints are signed and numbered by the artist.

To see the entire series, visit the Nanotechnology Now Gallery.

Quote of the day

"Nanotech is where breakthroughs are likely. Forget about just the cancer-detection and other advanced medical tools it's midwifing and the next-gen consumer electronics such as super-bright displays. On a planet that's on the cusp of catastrophic climate change, nano-engineered materials have the potential to make a real difference. Imagine solar power cells that are far cheaper and more efficient; batteries that allow for more efficient electric cars; components that make cleaner coal-fired power plants. These and other applications are hardly trivial--they'll save energy, reduce pollution, and maybe go a little way to making sure Times Square won't be under water for the next millennium celebration."

~David Talbot, Technology Review
http://www.technologyreview.com/blog/posts.aspx?id=17430

Interview with Norm Wu

Today, I would like to present an interview that I did with Norm Wu
Managing Director, Alameda Capital.

RR: What is your definition of nanotechnology?

At Alameda Capital, we view nanotechnology as the commercialization of technology that takes advantage of unique phenomena that exist at the atomic and molecular scale, giving rise to new and useful properties at the macro scale. Examples of such phenomena might include surface effects (such as what you get when nanoscale fibers repel liquids by changing the surface tension of a fabric), molecular forces (such as the Van der Waals forces that provide the potential for next generation non-volatile semiconductor memory based on the natural attraction of closely spaced nanowires with one another), thermal vibration (such as selectively directing thermal vibration energy to harmful bacteria to break them down), or quantum effects (which will someday enable high performance quantum computing). Commercialization is the key word that differentiates real nanotechnology from nanoscience (which is basic research at the nanoscale).

Our investments will be in the traditional market sectors of IT, life sciences and energy where the convergence of multiple technologies, including advanced materials, creates an opportunity for new companies that can integrate such multiple disciplines to capture share with a proprietary set of products. We call this "convergent technologies." Many, but not all, of these opportunities will stem from nanotechnology.

RR: As things stand today, which nanotechnologies will you likely invest within the next five years, and why?

We are currently excited about a number of sensor and imaging technologies for security and medical diagnostics, new display technologies, next generation semiconductor devices (first memory and later logic), and certain alternative energy technologies. Each of these have large existing markets, reasonable capital requirements, good technology maturity, and talented entrepreneurs who have developed a compelling value proposition based on the convergence of nanotechnology with other technologies.

RR: Overall, what do you like about nanotech as an investment area?

Nanotechnology, if commercialized on a timely basis, has the potential to transform large existing markets. It's usually not about creating new markets, although there is some potential for that too. Nanotechnology also provides a great opportunity for start-ups to capture market share from existing competitors by being smart about how they integrate nano and other technologies to create compelling new properties resulting in such products as low cost/ultra-sensitive medical imaging, low energy high brightness displays, ad hoc wireless sensor networks, high density memory storage, low cost photovoltaics and more.


Read the entire interview, here:
www.nanotech-now.com/products/nanonewsnow/issues/017/017.htm#Wu

Picture of the day

20x20um organic film, cc mode

Pacific Nanotechnology provides products and services that facilitate advances in nanoparticle technology and research. Our products are optimized for research, development, and process control applications when visualization, modification, and measurement of nanoparticle or nanopowder is critical.(click to see larger version)

To learn more about and to see more of these images, check out the following pages:

Pacific Nanotechnology Nanoparticle Image Gallery AFM images of nanoparticles, AFM data of nanopowders, AFM images of thermoplasitc elastomer, carbon nanotubes, polysterene particles, polymer particles, quantum dots, QD, latex spheres, drug powder, drug crystallines, polished quartz,blood cells, CNT, DNA, sol-gel, inclusions, triblock co-polymer, colloids, colloidal gold, colloidal gold spheres, carbon black, polypeptides, calcium phosphate, CaP, etc.

Pacific Nanotechnology Nanoparticle Technology

To see the entire series, visit the Nanotechnology Now Gallery.

Quote of the day

"The successful companies will be those that can commercialize innovations that merge biotechnology, infotechnology, cognitive intelligence and nanotechnology."

~Robert McMahan, Ph.D., S enior Advisor to the Governor of North Carolina for Science and Technology www.nanotech-now.com/news.cgi?story_id=21257

Plasma Gasification

The facts
America generates 245 million tons of municipal solid waste every year, a figure that continues to grow.

The problem
Landfills are filling up, land is no longer easily available, and toxic chemicals leach into the soil and water table. In addition, landfills and incineration are becoming regulatory, socially and environmentally unacceptable.

The technology that may cure the problem
Plasma gasification (PG) -- Turns trash into clean energy and produces salable fuels, valuable metals and silicates, and chemicals for plastics. It is capable of breaking down almost any material--right down to its constituent elements--except for nuclear waste.

One of the companies with the potential solution is the Startech Environmental Corporation (www.startech.net -- OTC Bulletin Board: STHK -- http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=sthk.ob&d=t) (the remainder of this article is about Startech and their process, unless otherwise stated)

How it works
Waste materials, including hazardous and nonhazardous solids, liquids and gases, are fed into a chamber (the Plasma Converter) where they are subjected to a plasma arc. “The arc in the plasma plume within the vessel can be as high as 30,000 degrees Fahrenheit ... three times hotter than the surface of the Sun. When waste materials are subjected to the intensity of the energy transfer within the vessel, the excitation of the wastes' molecular bonds is so great that the waste materials' molecules break apart into their elemental components (atoms). It is the absorption of this energy by the waste material that forces the waste destruction and elemental dissociation.” (1)

By-products are synthetic gas (“syngas” AKA: Plasma Converted Gas or PCG) and “an obsidian-like stone, which is non-toxic and non-leachable” that can be used as a raw material for other products for the construction and abrasives industries.

The process also generates more electricity that it consumes; the PCG can be used to generate steam that in turn can drive a generator or turbine that produces electricity, or to make hydrogen or methanol.

Some of the waste stream products that may benefit the most (those that are the hardest or costliest to dispose of or are the most toxic [*]) include:

 Medical waste
 Outdated pharmaceuticals
 PCBs
 Chemical agents
 Hazardous incinerator ash
 Various biological wastes
 Sludges
 Paints and solvents
 Electronic industry waste
 Contaminated soils
 Asbestos

[* current disposal costs are approximately $900 to $2,000 per ton, and rising]
(2)

Who else has similar technology?

Renewable Energy Technologies (www.cogeneration.net/plasma_gasification.htm)
Geoplasma (www.geoplasma.com)
Recovered Energy (www.recoveredenergy.com)
PyroGenesis (www.pyrogenesis.com)
EnviroArc (www.enviroarc.com)
Plasco (www.plascoenergygroup.com)
Safe Waste And Power (www.safewasteandpower.com)
and others

Who is funding it or has invested in it? Among others:

Cornell Capital Partners, L.P. (Sept. 19, 2005: “up to $20 million of funding in the form of a Standby Equity Distribution Agreement (SEDA) to be drawn down incrementally over a 24-month period at Startech's sole discretion.”)
The Department of Energy (DOE) (Aug. 3, 2005: “$500,000 for further demonstrations of the Company's StarCell Hydrogen system … to demonstrate the production of hydrogen from Municipal Solid Waste.”)

Markets

Municipalities that are running out of landfill space
Businesses and municipalities that need to comply with existing and future environmental regulations regarding landfills and incineration
Businesses looking for alternatives to fossil fuels
Municipalities looking for ways to meet power needs

Potential drawbacks

There has been concern by environmental groups that the “obsidian-like stone” may contain heavy metals that could leach into groundwater. Startech states that “No hazardous organisms or agents that go into the Plasma vessel survive” (3) and that the “stone” is non-toxic and non-leachable.

The up-front costs of up to hundreds of millions of dollars will be hard for many municipalities to swallow, despite the advantages inherent in the technology.

David J. Phillips (10Q Detective) sounds several cautionary notes, here http://smallcap.seekingalpha.com/article/27196

Upsides (according to Startech)

Generates more electricity than it consumes
Eliminates the need for new landfills and incinerators
Could empty out existing landfills and return the land to other uses
Could also process bio-hazards such as anthrax

The cost

A $250 million Startech Plasma Converter can handle approximately 2,000 tons of waste per day, an amount that is roughly what a city of 1 million people produces. It is estimated that the cost could be recouped in around 10 years, given today’s dumping fees. And when you consider that the system is capable of generating more electricity that it consumes, as well as the PCG, the payoff could come much sooner.

What may it replace? (Who will it put out of a job or cost money?)

Landfill operators who will loose revenues.

What may it enable?

It appears that the Startech “Starcell” has promise (the Company's hydrogen-selective membrane filter that separates hydrogen from the PCG). As there are no harmful by-products, and hydrogen can be produced from traditional waste streams, this technology may be one of several that helps enable a hydrogen economy.

Who is using it now, or will be in the near future?

The City of Chitre, Panama (a 200 ton per day PC facility)
The City of David, Panama (a 200 ton per day PC facility)
The City of Las Tablas, Panama (a 200 ton per day PC facility)
[all three intended for “processing municipal solid waste and producing ‘green electrical power.’”]
GlobalTech Environmental Corporation, a Chinese corporation (a 20,000 pounds per day PC facility, intended for processing PCBs Polychlorinated Byphenyls) and POPs (Persistent Organic Pollutants))
Future Fuels, Inc., (FFI) (a 100 ton per day PC facility, for a Waste-to-Ethanol Facility)
Mihama Incorporated (a 5 ton per day PC facility, for PCBs and PCB contaminated materials)
PlasTech Solutions, Ltd., Australia. (a 10 ton per day PC facility, for industrial and institutional wastes)
Ercole Marelli HiTech srl of Milan, Italy (contracts for “more than $40 million”)
And many more – see www.prnewswire.com/gh/cnoc/comp/113537.html and the press from the other companies listed above.


Disclaimer: I am not a stock analyst and this is not a suggestion to buy or sell stock in any of the companies mentioned, nor do I own stock in any of them.

Note: this is one of many of the types of reports we do for our clients at access-nanotechnology.com

(1) http://www.startech.net/plasma.html
(2) http://www.startech.net/overview.html
(3) http://www.startech.net/faqs.html