innovate arkansas

They’re small – very small. They are 1/1,000th the width of a human hair. And they’re about to improve the lives of many.
Fayetteville’s NanoMech LLC is about to hit the market with nanparticle-based lubricants and coatings developed at the University of Arkansas.
NanoMech is working on nano-based coatings to improve medical implants, such as knee or hip replacements and dental implants placed into the jawbone.
“We’re trying to give the customer more than one function in the same type of coating,” said Ajay Malshe, NanoMech chief technical officer and University of Arkansas professor of mechanical engineering.
The coatings are porous, allowing tissues to grow into the implant and creating better adhesion. The coatings can also have growth promoters, stimulating tissue growth, or treatments to reduce bacteria growth to defend against infection. NanoMech is also working on lubricants that could increase the mobility and lifespan of implants.
While the implant coatings are valuable alone, NanoMech has also patented the application process. Nanoparticles can be quirky, and a process to apply these coatings needed to be developed.
Malshe said the idea for electrostatic spray coating (ESC) came to him while driving to the Tulsa airport in 1996.
ESC is not exactly new. The process has been used to paint aircraft, and Malshe decided to adopt the same idea for his nano coatings.
NanoMech will manufacture ESC systems and sell them to researchers. The systems should be ready to hit the market in early 2008 said Calvin Goforth, president of Virtual Incubartion Corp., which manages NanoMech.
NanoMech’s coatings can be used for more than biomedical products. The coatings also can be used in electronic and military applications.
These types of nano coatings could be applied to aircraft, and when stimulated, could change the color of the aircraft on demand.
“That’s one of the exiting things about NanoMech — is that we’ve got this core platform technology that has such a diverse set of promising commercial applications,” Goforth said.
The first nano-based products from NanoMech will be ready to market before the year’s end.
NanoGlide is a lubricant that holds nanoparticles in suspension for increased lubrication for oils and greases.
TuffTek cBN (cubic boron nitride) is a coating for cutting tools, a multi-billion dollar market that NanoMech is shooting for.
When cutting hardened steel or exotic alloys, the tools can quickly wear out. NanoMech says TuffTek can improve tool life 300 percent to 500 percent, saving companies money and time.
TuffTek is in alpha testing, but manufacturing the coating is the current challenge.
The cost for equipment and a facility can easily cost a few million dollars. NanoMech is in talks with potential investors.
As for the company’s growth, Goforth said, “It depends on who we ink the deal with.”